Apple has added Canadian startup Buddybuild to its expanding business portfolio, and the latest acquisition appears to further strengthen the company's iOS development platform.
Buddybuild revealed the deal on its official site and indicated that as a direct result of the buyout initiated by Apple, there will be key changes to expect. Foremost is that the service will no longer be accessible to Android app developers. This takes effect beginning March 2018.
"We're excited to share that the Buddybuild team has joined the Xcode engineering group at Apple to build amazing developer tools for the entire iOS community," the company announced, likewise confirming that Buddybuild will soon become an exclusive iOS developer tool.
The Canadian firm also made clear that its entire roster of talents will remain in Canada and that its core service "to build, test, and ship iOS apps to testers" will remain available to existing users. However, Buddybuild will stop accepting new customers.
Buddybuild Primer
Buddybuild operates from Vancouver in British Columbia and runs with the help of 40 full-time engineers. The company was established in 2015 by former Amazon employees. As stated on its official site, Buddybuild is a mobile iteration platform with focused expertise on integration and debugging implementations.
Developers favor Buddybuild, as the tool affords them quick and easy deployment of mobile applications through multiple channels such as GitHub, BitBucket, or GitLab.
Buddybuild counts high-profile clients such as The New York Times and Mozilla, somehow giving a clue on the company's competent services and explaining why Apple took notice. In a business sense, Apple buying Buddybuild is a move to beef up the iOS ecosystem against rival Android by Google.
The Xcode engineering group absorbing Buddybuild will only make the iOS environment more developer-friendly and presumably make Apple steps ahead of Google.
Benefits To End Users
App developers having access to a powerful tool such as Buddybuild will likewise translate to new features for the iPhone and iPad. Apple's tactic of making life easier for developers will lead to the creation of a distinct iOS user experience.
For instance, the AR functionalities and better camera features packed with the latest iOS device became more relevant with the release of compatible applications on the App Store. In large part, this was made possible because Apple engineered an ecosystem that attracts alpha developers, and tools like Buddybuild play an essential role.
The Buddybuild acquisition is part of Apple's ongoing efforts to push Xcode in the front and center of its mobile development platform.
