Apple Is Trying to Revive the Group Trip
Apple Invites promises to make sure the trip doesn't fall apart before it even starts
Part of aging into adulthood is coming to the realization that certain friendships thrive in certain circumstances: there are friends you sign a lease with, friends you introduce to your family, friends who are good at a party and friends who are distinctly not, and more. But perhaps the rarest type of friend is the one who you want to travel with. I’ve found that the latter category has shrunk so much over the years that I would rather embark on pretty much any trip by myself than in a group.
We’ve bemoaned the group trip before; while they seem fun at their onset, they rarely stay that way. When you share a bed with someone or nitpick each others’ Venmo requests, you begin to see sides of them you never thought you would witness. And while some bonds strengthen after that fun road trip upstate or beach vacation in Tulum, equally often, they disintegrate altogether.
Nevertheless, Apple Invites is attempting to revitalize the group trip by streamlining the planning and coordination process. The new app aims to serve as a one-stop shop for all of the intricacies that come with planning an adventure with friends: you can set the time and place, include an itinerary in the description box (so long as it doesn’t exceed 1000 characters), and sync said trip with your Weather and Calendar apps to make things more convenient. The app even lets you create a shared playlist and photo album with all invitees. Bid adieu to the inevitable resentment toward your friend who never ends up forwarding the pictures you’ve been asking them to send for months.
However, Apple Invites fails to address what I feel is the most troubling aspect of the group trip: money. If you’re trying to avoid arguments with friends over itemized receipts, Apple Invites does not have you covered. Instead you’ll have to turn to apps like Splitwise to divide costs amongst your friends, or you can be like me and wait too long to pay your friends back via Venmo and pray there won’t be a Panama Papers one day that reveals how much you owe them.
Then there’s the fact that only one person gets to be the host of an event or trip, and guests can’t edit or add to the itinerary. Depending on your friend group dynamic, this could be a blessing or a curse. Most groups have a certified “mom friend” that, whether they’re happy to or not, ends up taking the lead in planning outings. The single host rule is especially fitting for those planning a bachelorette weekend or family reunion. However, if your posse is filled with more headstrong types or is simply the collaborative kind, it might be easier to just create a Google Doc.
Like all things Apple, this app’s greatest strength might be that it is, in fact, Apple, which basically has a monopoly on us all, from phones to watches to TV. So as frustrated as I am that Apple Invites once again forces us to sync and use solely their own applications, unfortunately I have to admit this app is convenient. In both my professional and personal life, I’ve found that important details fall by the wayside when people aren’t communicating in the same place — individual text conversations, group messages, and Instagram DMing always end up cannibalizing each other until everyone is confused as to what the plan is.
So, will Apple Invites ravage the social scene the same way Partiful has? Only time will tell, but I’ve already used it to plan my group trip to Montreal this summer.