Partiful Calls Apple a Copycat for New Invites App

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.

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

Come up with your own ideas. We know you have them, so make yours come to life. Don't simply copy the latest popular app on the App Store, or make some minor changes to another app's name or UI and pass it off as your own. In addition to risking an intellectual property infringement claim, it makes the App Store harder to navigate and just isn't fair to your fellow developers.

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.

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Top Rated Comments

chrono1081 Avatar
9 weeks ago
Never once have I ever heard of Partiful.
Score: 66 Votes (Like | Disagree)
spazzcat Avatar
9 weeks ago

Never once have I ever heard of Partiful.
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.
Score: 33 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DFZD Avatar
9 weeks ago
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.
Score: 29 Votes (Like | Disagree)
oneMadRssn Avatar
9 weeks ago
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.
Score: 29 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jz0309 Avatar
9 weeks ago

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.
Sometimes I read the comments and feel that Apple cannot do anything right …
Welcome to MR and opinions of the 1M+ MR user base
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mxrider88 Avatar
9 weeks ago
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.
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)