Apple has a new app on the market.
On Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025, the tech company introduced Apple Invites, which allows Apple device owners to create custom invitations to round up friends and family for any occasion, the tech giant shared in a news release. The app lets users invite friends from their contact list to an event, share the invite with a link, add photos to shared albums, and interact with an Apple Music playlist.
“With Apple Invites, an event comes to life from the moment the invitation is created, and users can share lasting memories even after they get together,” Brent Chiu-Watson, Apple’s senior director of worldwide product marketing for apps and iCloud, said. “Apple Invites brings together capabilities our users already know and love across iPhone, iCloud, and Apple Music, making it easy to plan special events.”
While an iCloud+ subscription, which starts at 99 cents, is required to create invites, anyone — including Android users — can RSVP and view information about the event.
According to Morning Brew, the app resembles Partiful, which was named Google Play’s Best App of 2024 and was a finalist in the Cultural Impact category of Apple’s App Store Awards.
Apple’s app comes weeks before its Feb. 25, 2025, annual shareholders meeting. On Jan. 10, the company released its proxy statement with a list of proposals, including one request to cease its “Inclusion & Diversity program, policies, department, and goals,” AFROTECH™ previously reported.
The National Center for Public Policy Research (NCPPR) reportedly plans to present an anti-Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) proposal to Apple during the meeting.
The conservative think tank argues that DEI initiatives create potential litigation risks and could provoke negative customer and employee responses. NCPPR further contended that thousands of Apple employees could become “potential victims” of discrimination due to DEI efforts and that if they decide to sue Apple could face “tens of billions of dollars” in losses.
In response to the forthcoming proposal, Apple’s board of directors is advising its shareholders to vote against any proposals that would eliminate DEI efforts.
“At Apple, we believe that how we conduct ourselves is as critical to Apple’s success as making the best products in the world,” Apple said in the proxy, per AFROTECH™. “We seek to conduct business ethically, honestly, and in compliance with applicable laws and regulations, and our Business Conduct and Compliance policies are foundational to how we do business. And we strive to create a culture of belonging where everyone can do their best work.”
