Quickview: Event Apps Made Easy

The holiday season is upon us, and chances are you're hosting an event or two to celebrate with clients, friends, and family. Traditionally you likely send blast emails to your guests with event details or use services such as Evite.com to manage invitations.

Today, you can enhance your event with your own mobile app using a free service called Yapp.

Yapp allows you to build your own event app without writing a single line of code. It offers 20 themes for your event, all of which allow you to list your event details--such as date, time, and location--as well as integrate social updates from Twitter.

So why would you need an app for your event?

Sharing your event information via mobile app makes it easy for your guests to find your event details. Instead of sorting through their crowded email inbox for your invitation (is it in the Inbox? Deleted Items? Archive?!?), guests just open Yapp and view your event.

Yapp allows you, as the event administrator, to send push notifications to everyone who has installed your event on their device (provided they permit push notifications from Yapp at the time of installation). That provides a quick and convenient way to message everyone interested in your event.

Also, Yapp integrates with the device's maps application so guests can easily get driving directions to your event. And should you desire, you can connect your event with a Twitter account or hashtag to enable "back channel" conversations about your event. When configured, guests can also upload and share photos on Twitter directly from Yapp.

Each Yapp event receives its own unique ID, and only people who know the ID can view your event. You can send a URL to your Yapp event or provide guests with a QR code they can use to take a picture with their phone. With a private event, you probably don't want to connect it with a public Twitter feed!

Search for the app titled "YappBox" in both the Apple App Store and Google Play market, and explore making your own event apps today.