Apple acquires Canadian start-up Buddybuild, a mobile iteration platform

Apple has acquired Canadian start-up Buddybuild, a mobile iteration platform, which builds integration and debugging tools for iOS developers, for an undisclosed sum.

''We're excited to share that the Buddybuild team has joined the Apple engineering group at Apple to build amazing developer tools for the entire iOS community,'' Buddybuild said in a statement today.

According to the company, it would continue to be based in Vancouver, a hotbed of developer and engineering talent. ''The buddybuild service will remain available to existing customers to build, test and ship iOS apps to testers through buddybuild.com,'' it added. The startup has now stopped accepting new customers.

''Existing 'Free Starter' plans and Android app development will be discontinued on March 1, 2018,'' the company said. TechCrunch reported that buddybuild would become part of Xcode, Apple's suite of development tools for iOS, macOS, watchOS and tvOS.

Former Amazon employees Dennis Pilarinos and Christopher Stott founded Buddybuild in 2015.

Apple acquired TestFlight in 2014, which began to require users to employ Xcode to utilise the service.

According to commentators, the system would likely fit nicely into Apple's existing set of tools, offering additional methods for testing, debugging and deploying mobile apps through a proprietary channel.

Also it would make the iteration of apps for iOS that much easier than before.

According to commentators, Apps are important for smart phone makers as they attract users to buy their devices, and when the pace of smartphone acquisition tapers off with maturing markets, apps increasingly become a revenue stream in their own right.

Meanwhile, according to Buddybuild, "For iOS developers, Buddybuild can take care of all the work associated with code signing, and managing provisioning profiles for you ibtimes.co.in reported.

''Beta testers and stakeholders get a streamlined, one-click install experience as Buddybuild manages provisioning profiles and devices for you."