Partiful Calls Apple a Copycat for New Invites App

[Johnny907]

Never once have I ever heard of Partiful.

Yes, because you’re not someone who was looking for a solution like Partiful or this new Invite app.
Once again instead of focusing on apps that are useful to the majority of the iOS install base or heck even just improving iOS itself, Apple tries to Sherlock another app of dubious value to anyone but event planners and organizers.

It’s the Clips of 2025. Remember that App? No? Yeah neither does anyone else.

 

[I7guy]

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

Yep. A masthead, body and footer. That design must have been copied.

 

[ApplesAreSweet&Sour]

MKB explained Apple's "shark"'ing so well:

 

[I7guy]

This is not marketing. This statement came in a few hours after Apple launched their latest tool for kids.

This is a gut response from a developer that saw his work being stolen by Apple. We could all show a bit of empathy instead of being so blinded by Apple. Their behavior is disgusting.
They got inspired throughout their history by other products, yes, but lately they just copy and rip off developers.
Look at the blood oxygen sensor debacle.

All while they can’t write 10 lines of code bug free.
Absolutely pathetic.

But if another phone manufacturer makes a phone with a rectangular screen and rounded corners they cry that everyone is copying their iPhone. I repeat, pathetic.

What exactly was ripped off. A masthead, body and footer?

 

[scrapesleon]

Hope they take apple to court enough of a trillion dollar company stealing the small business ideas

 

[zarmanto]

Not really a particular feature of Apple fans.

Having been part of quite a few different fan bases, I've found that the most ardent fans are often also the most angry critics, depending upon the circumstances. Thing is, people in at least this forum seem to often assume that any given critic in a conversation must be by definition not a fan... and that is a misconception that sometimes amuses me.

 

[CapitalIdea]

Your point being?

Clearly they are not particularly original or special. Their same functionality can be found on evite, CVENT, meetup, etc.

 

[NAStarr]

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.

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

Seems like apple’s “Invites” app is more of a modernized “Cards” app. Since they discontinued that app in 2013 it only makes sense they would rerelease it.

Partiful was founded in 2020… so after Apple created and decommissioned a card app.

 

[CapitalIdea]

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

It’s a shame that Partiful copied the crown icon from about 500 billion video games which use that as an indicator of a party leader.

 

[CapitalIdea]

Hope they take apple to court enough of a trillion dollar company stealing the small business ideas

I hope ALL the other party planning apps listed right there in the article which predate Partiful take Partiful to court for stealing their ideas.

 

[ArtOfWarfare]

Never once have I ever heard of Partiful.

Apple has - they have it showcased on their "Best Apps of 2024" page.

App Store Awards 2024 - Apple Developer

For over a decade, we’ve taken a moment at the end of the year to celebrate the very best and most impactful apps and games on the App Store — and the developers behind them.

developer.apple.com

This behavior from Apple is part of why all their app stores after the iOS one flopped - Apple is a horrible company to do business with and will rip you off at ever opportunity. They don't care about laws at all - they'd rather pay lawyers to stall for years until you can't pay to continue. Worst comes to worse, if they lose, the time they wasted in court let them continue to make more ill-gotten money than they have to pay to lawyers or as the penalty.

 

[cocky jeremy]

That's the thing, it's THEIR app store. They don't have to follow their own rules. Don't like it? Go make your own ecosystem and do it your way.

 

[jakey rolling]

Is it possible the "crown" icon is a industry standard to denote "Host"? I actually don't know so a real question.
I believe Discord has been using the crown to denote host/server for over 5 years.

If you don't know, then it's probably not a standard.

 

[glindon]

Hallmark has been making invitation cards for over 50 years. Perhaps they, too, should sue.

 

[DeftwillP]

Some of

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.

This x1000. We don't know the details yet and I imagine they won't be public until the case is settled in court. But some of you (looking at just the first page) are forgiving apple (again, we don't know if there's smoke here or not) just for the fact that you either haven't heard of the plaintiff or because you like Apple's AI better.

Let's hope a corporation never comes and "borrows" your intellectual property. Then we'll have the rest of your fellow fanbois here basically excusing it since everyone knows apple and nobody knows macrumorsusers app that needs better advertising.

Apple is certainly a victim of patent trolls and their ilk but immediately disregarding the plaintiff because you've never heard of them wild work.

 

[satchmo]

Can’t see shared screenshot. I delete X.

 

[rman0726]

….

 

[Unregistered 4U]

I haven't either, and they could handle this much better. They are going to get free advertising out of it, and I am pretty sure they didn't invent invite apps.

This IS their free advertising.

 

[rman0726]

….

 

[lkrupp]

Your point being?

Well now we have. That was the intent of their screed

 

[lkrupp]

MacRumors Apple haters will flock to this previously unknown app and extol its superiority over anything Apple can come up with. It’s what they do for a living.

 

[coolfactor]

This is not marketing. This statement came in a few hours after Apple launched their latest tool for kids.

This is a gut response from a developer that saw his work being stolen by Apple. We could all show a bit of empathy instead of being so blinded by Apple. Their behavior is disgusting.
They got inspired throughout their history by other products, yes, but lately they just copy and rip off developers.
Look at the blood oxygen sensor debacle.

All while they can’t write 10 lines of code bug free.
Absolutely pathetic.

But if another phone manufacturer makes a phone with a rectangular screen and rounded corners they cry that everyone is copying their iPhone. I repeat, pathetic.

This response is wrong on so many levels.

Apple just *added value* to a subscription service by adding a well-designed app that brings various worlds together (eg. Contacts, Photos, Music, Maps, Weather).

Now if Apple forced Partiful out of the App Store, that would be pathetic.

But yes, Partiful is effectively Sherlocked. Time to evolve.

 

[btrach144]

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

Your response still does not address that Apple is breaking section 4.1 of their App Store rules.

Rules for thee and not for me is getting really old with Apple.

 

[ekwipt]

Never heard of Partiful either, sucks to be them

 

[neuropsychguy]

This is a gut response from a developer that saw his work being stolen by Apple.... All while they can’t write 10 lines of code bug free.

Apple stole the work because it does something similar? I just downloaded both apps. They don't really look that similar. There are some similarities because Partiful follows some of the iOS design guidelines, but in my few minutes of interacting with the apps, they function and look differently from one another. Apple's app seems more polished in any case.