Partiful Calls Apple a Copycat for New Invites App

[turbineseaplane]

Wow that's bad. Apple even copied the "Crown" to designate a host. They could've used anything else.

Wow, you're right about Apply copying the Crown
That is just really really bad on Apple's part

 

[contacos]

The App is even honored with the Editors Choice Award. Clearly Apple knows it exists. They even took its crown

 

[darngooddesign]

I guess Evite+ is mad at Apple.

 

[fontman]

The developers behind well-known event app and website Partiful today suggested that Apple was in violation of its own App Store guidelines for the release of the new Invites app.

On social media, Partiful shared a screenshot of rule 4.1, which covers copycat apps.

Partiful is designed to allow users to send customized event invitations with just a few steps, and it has a feature set that is similar to Apple's new Invites app. Partiful still has options that set it apart from Invites, such as better cross-platform functionality. Unlike Invites, Partiful does not require event attendees to enter an email address to confirm their event attendance, and invitations can be created through an app or from the web.

Apple lets invitations be sent to non-Apple users, but an email address is required. Creating an invite is tied to an iCloud+ subscription, so it is not free for anyone to use like Partiful.

WHO are you nerver heard of your app.

When Apple creates an app or a feature that has functionality found in a third-party app, it is referred to as sherlocking. The name dates back to a "Sherlock" search tool in OS X that Apple enhanced with features that were cribbed from a third-party app called Watson. Watson's developers accused Apple of copying the product without compensation, and from then on, sherlocking has been used to describe apps that are supplanted by Apple.

There are similarities between Partiful and Invites, but event-focused apps and websites are a popular category and there are services that pre-date Partiful too, like Evite. Checking the App Store shows no shortage of popular event planning apps, including Paperless, Invitation Maker, and Punchbowl, in addition to Evite and Partiful, so there is no clear indication that Apple set out to copy Partiful or any app in particular.

Article Link: Partiful Calls Apple a Copycat for New Invites App

 

[turbineseaplane]

WHO are you nerver heard of your app.

Apple sure had heard of them when they started ripping off exact concepts (like the Crown)

 

[frenchcamp49er]

I stopped counting after 10 invite apps.

 

[oneMadRssn]

Everyone here seems to be missing the point.

The point is that Apple is not acting as a fair competitor on their own platform. Apple is yet again proving that the App Store rules apply to everyone else, but not to Apple. This is the kind of thing that (used to) get you into a lot of trouble with anti-trust regulators.

 

[macfacts]

Never once have I ever heard of Partiful.

this is going to show potential vision pro app devs, why make a vision pro app, when apple is going to copy it, leading to a waste land of apps for the vision pro. Mission accomplished.

 

[contacos]

WHO are you nerver heard of your app.

Well at least 48K people in the US alone have heard of it and it’s even awarded the Apple Editors Choice.

You aren’t the center of the universe 😉

 

[frenchcamp49er]

Apple sure had heard of them when they started ripping off exact concepts (like the Crown)

10+ invite apps in the store already. Who copied whom.

 

[Eminemdrdre00]

Wow, you're right about Apply copying the Crown
That is just really really bad on Apple's part

View attachment 2479112View attachment 2479114

And Partiful was a finalist in Apple's 2024 App Store Awards: https://developer.apple.com/app-store/app-store-awards-2024/

 

[Tyler O'Bannon]

Never once have I ever heard of Partiful.

Maybe you’re not very Partiful

 

[verniesgarden]

They're not wrong. Partiful looks very similar lol.

looks like they designed an app using apple's design language. which apple has a whole site about.

 

[Tyler O'Bannon]

They should try advertising before accusing Apple of being a copycat.

But advertising is EVIL. Privacy privacy privacy.

/s

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Sometimes I read the comments here and feel that there’s nothing that Apple can do that won’t be defended by their loyal fans.

Only “sometimes”??? 😉

 

[Tyler O'Bannon]

Apple has done this many times before. They add a feature or make an app that utterly decimates somebody else.

 

[frenchcamp49er]

Well at least 48K people in the US alone have heard of it and it’s even awarded the Apple Editors Choice.

You aren’t the center of the universe 😉

There are more iPhone users than that in San Francisco

 

[turbineseaplane]

And Partiful was a finalist in Apple's 2024 App Store Awards: https://developer.apple.com/app-store/app-store-awards-2024/

I mean ... folks can cheerlead for Apple all they want, but this is flat out disgusting behavior from them

 

[McKodiak]

Partiful should use their ecosystem and invite Apple to court.

 

[contacos]

There are more iPhone users than that in San Francisco

Your point? If Taylor Swift stole a song from a High School Student in Idaho, it still wouldn’t make it right just because she’s more famous.

 

[jonnyb098]

Apple is literally breaking their own app creation guidelines:

 

[timber]

So they got sherlocked. Won't be the first or the last.
They either have a really good copyright/patent set to go after Apple or come up with something extra to differentiate.
Don't really see anyone paying for that so that's it. It sucks.
If there was anything special about doing invites Apple would probably have bought them and folded the app inyo their portfolio like so many examples before.

 

[9081094]

Everyone here seems to be missing the point.

The point is that Apple is not acting as a fair competitor on their own platform. Apple is yet again proving that the App Store rules apply to everyone else, but not to Apple. This is the kind of thing that (used to) get you into a lot of trouble with anti-trust regulators.

And that’s one part of the reason the EU is looking into it. Apple could rewarded the developers to buy their app instead of just copying it. I hope the developers will take it to court and they’ll get even more than what’s worth paying for buying their app instead.

 

[thefrost]

Partiful Calls Apple a Copycat for New Invites App

Maybe they should be more Partyful and let it slide /s

 

[dannyyankou]

I usually like to take the developer’s side on things like this, but come on. There’s a difference between copying a unique, original idea, and making an app like this. Invitation apps are not a new concept. Partiful was founded in 2020. Does anyone really think they were the first invitation app?

In fact, you can make an argument Partiful copied Evite-

‎Evite: Party Invitation Maker

‎Evite helps you connect with friends and family for your most important life moments—from kids' birthdays to weddings to holidays—by offering 1000s of Free and Premium digital invitations for every occasion. With Evite's easy-to-use invitation maker, you can be the invitation creator you've...

apps.apple.com

And hundreds of other apps like that.