According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple will be launching a new events and invites service as part of iCloud. This new service will differ from calendar, and will launch as early as “this coming week.”
The report describes “Confetti” as a “new way to invite people to parties, functions and meetings.” According to Bloomberg, Apple has been aiming to revamp the calendar app for years, and this is just the beginning of those efforts.
Gurman also adds that this new “Confetti” launch is tied to iOS 18.3, which begun rolling out to iPhone and iPad users late last month. This means that the service could be activated at any moment. Other than that, the report is light on details.
Last month, we exclusively reported this new invites service on 9to5Mac after discovering it in iOS 18.3 beta code. Here’s how my colleague Filipe describes the effort:
After analyzing the code, we believe that the app is designed to help users organize meetings and in-person events. Although Apple’s Calendar app can already be used for this purpose, the new Invites app will likely have some additional features.
Code suggests that the Invites app will integrate with iCloud and will even have a web version on iCloud.com. The new app also integrates with a new iOS 18 daemon called GroupKit, which manages database models for groups of people. This daemon has been present since the first release of iOS 18.0 and hasn’t been used by any Apple apps so far.
Essentially, the app will show you a list of the people invited to that event and who has already confirmed their attendance. It’s unclear whether Invites will actually be a stand-alone app or whether Apple has plans to integrate it with other parts of the system (such as a mini iMessage app). Presumably, the app will have a more fun interface than what the Calendar app currently provides for inviting someone to an event.
Personally, I’m quite excited for this upcoming service. I’ve long felt that there could easily be a way to simplify calendars, and I’m glad that Apple is taking a step in that direction.
What do you think of Apple’s upcoming invites/events service in iOS 18.3? Let us know in the comments.
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