How to Create an Event App in 6 Steps (2026)

By Sigsten Gustavii· 27 October 2026· 9 min read

To create an event app, gather the programme, speakers and venue details, describe the attendee and organiser screens to an AI app builder like Borel, test the schedule on a live iPhone, then hand it to a few attendees through TestFlight before publishing it on the App Store.

A good event app answers one question better than the printed programme: what should I do next, and where? Everything else is a bonus. It also has a short life, often a week of heavy use a year, which is why an AI builder fits it well: you can make a new one for each event in an afternoon instead of paying for a platform all year.

What an event app needs

The programme lives in Borel Cloud, Borel's database, so an organiser's change reaches every attendee the next time their app refreshes, with no App Store update.

Conference, festival, wedding or meetup?

The kind of event changes what matters most:

• Conferences live on the schedule, rooms, speakers and Q&A.
• Festivals need a map of stages, set times and a clear "now playing".
• Club and community meetups repeat every month, so a list of upcoming events, RSVPs and a members area matter more than one programme.
• Weddings are personal: the day's timeline, directions and a photo wall for guests. A planner for the couple is a different app; this guide is about the one guests use on the day.

Calendar, reminders and maps: the native advantage

This is where a native iPhone app beats a web page. Tap "Add to Calendar" and the session appears in the iPhone's own Calendar, with the room in the location field. Save a talk and a reminder fires ten minutes before it starts, even with the app closed, because it is scheduled on the phone itself. Tap the venue and Apple Maps opens with directions.

These reminders are local notifications. Borel apps don't send push notifications, so an organiser can't push a "Room change!" message to every phone at once. Post updates in the app's news list, show a banner when the app opens, and announce big changes in the room as well.

Design the screens attendees open most

At a busy event people glance at their phone for three seconds between conversations, so the design should answer at a glance:

1. Now and next. The home screen shows what is on now and what starts next, with the room in large type.
2. One tap to the room. Every session links to the floor plan with its room marked.
3. Big, readable times. Use the attendee's own time zone and the venue's, clearly, if they differ.
4. A calm agenda. Saved sessions in a single list, with clashes marked rather than hidden.
5. Dark mode and large text. Native SwiftUI follows the iPhone's settings, which helps in a dark hall and for older guests.

Keep the organiser tools out of the attendee's way: a staff sign-in that reveals edit buttons is enough.

Tickets and payments

A ticket to a real-world event is a service used outside the app, so Apple's Guideline 3.1.3(e) keeps it out of in-app purchase. Most organisers sell tickets on their existing ticketing site and let the app read a ticket code for check-in. If you want to sell inside the app, add your payment provider's key under Tools, in Keys, and Borel calls it from its own server, never from the app. Something digital, like a recording of the talks, would go through Apple's in-app purchase instead.

Attendee chat and Apple's content rules

Q&A, comments and an attendee list make an event app social, and that brings Apple's Guideline 1.2 into play: a way to filter what people post, report it and block someone, plus your contact details. Borel's moderation kit adds Report and Block to every question, comment and profile, checks text before it is posted, and lists blocked people in settings. For a small, invite-only event, consider keeping the attendee list to people who opted in.

App Store rules for event apps

Submit early. Review is often quick, but an event date doesn't move, so leave at least a week for a rejection and a second try.

What an event app costs

For a one-off conference, that can be a single month of Pro plus Apple's membership. See pricing for every tier.

How to choose the right event app builder

• Borel, for your own native iPhone event app with calendar, reminders, maps and check-in, built from a description.
• [CatDoes](/compare/catdoes), if a large share of attendees use Android; it builds React Native apps for both stores.
• An event platform, if you need badge printing, lead scanning for exhibitors and Android on day one, and have the budget.
• A web page, if the event is small and nobody needs reminders or offline access.

How to do it with Borel, step by step

Step 1: Gather the programme

Collect sessions with day, time, room, track and speaker, the speakers' bios and photos, the venue address and a floor plan picture. A spreadsheet pasted into the chat works.

Step 2: Describe the app

Make an app for Nordic Product Days, a two-day conference in Stockholm on 12 and 13 March. Anyone can browse the schedule by day and track without signing in. Each session shows time, room, speaker and description, with buttons to save it to My agenda and add it to the iPhone Calendar. Remind me 10 minutes before each saved session, with the room. Speakers have a page with photo, bio and their sessions. A Venue tab shows the address with directions in Apple Maps and a floor plan picture. Attendees can sign in with email to ask questions on a session; questions can be reported and people blocked. Staff sign in to edit sessions, post updates in a News list, and scan ticket QR codes at the door to check people in.

Borel's planner, Penny, asks about anything unclear, then Rivet writes the app in Swift with SwiftUI and Xcode builds it on Borel's Mac. No Mac of your own is needed.

Step 3: Check it on a live iPhone

The app opens in the iOS Simulator in your browser. Save three talks, add one to the calendar, ask a question and move a session as staff. Check the attendee's agenda shows the new time.

Step 4: Polish the look

Use your event's colours and logo; attach them and ask "use our logo on the schedule header and our brand blue for buttons". Ask for a "Now and next" card on the home screen, which attendees use most.

Step 5: Test with real attendees

With Pro, Borel Companion installs the app on your iPhone so you can try the camera check-in and reminders. Then invite volunteers and speakers through TestFlight, which takes up to 10,000 external testers.

Step 6: Publish well before the date

Stamp checks the app for the rules Apple most often turns apps down for, and Publish builds, signs and uploads it under your own Apple Developer account. Aim to submit at least two weeks ahead.

The Bottom Line

An event app earns its place by answering "what's next, and where?" on the phone in everyone's pocket. With Borel, the schedule, agenda, calendar, reminders, maps, check-in and moderated Q&A come from one description, natively on iPhone, and the programme stays editable until the last session. Describe your event on Borel and see the schedule on a live iPhone today.

I started Borel because I wanted to make iPhone apps without a Mac or a team behind me. If this helped you build something, I would love to see it.

– Sigsten

Make your iPhone app in Borel

Describe the app you want and see its first screens before you pay anything.