iPhone-maker Apple has acquired Vancouver-based app tools startup Buddybuild for an undisclosed amount, a blog on the startup’s website said.
The startup has joined the Xcode engineering group at Apple to build developer tools for the iOS community. As part of the deal, the Canadian startup will continue operating from Vancouver and its service will remain available to existing customers to build, test, and ship iOS apps to testers, the blog added. However, the startup said it is no longer accepting new customers.
“Existing Free Starter plans and Android app development will be discontinued on March 1, 2018," the blog post read.
The company will no longer serve Android customers which it had added last February to its platform. Android devices have long dominated Apple iPhones in terms of market share but in the third quarter of 2017, Apple generated greater revenue from its apps than the Google Play Store.
According to an App Annie report, Apple's app revenue accounted for $11 billion in the third quarter of 2017, while the Google Play Store recorded app revenues of close to $6 billion. Combined, both iOS and Google Play generated $17 billion in revenues for Q3 2017, up 28% from the previous year, the report stated.
Besides BuddyBuild, Apple acquired TestFlight in 2014, which asked users to employ Xcode to take advantage of its service.
Xcode is a software stack used by the Cupertino-headquartered company to develop software for iPhones and Macs.
Buddybuild was founded in 2015 by former Amazon employees Dennis Pilarinos and Christopher Stott. Reportedly, the company has raised a total of $8.8 million in funding. In May 2016, it secured $7.6 million in a Series A round led by venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield. The startup provides app developers a single platform to code for big projects.
In March last year, Apple chief executive Tim Cook announced his intent to launch a startup accelerator for the iOS developer community in India. Through the accelerator, developers will be able to avail of tools and best practices to hone their skills and transform the design, quality and performance of their apps on the iOS platform, a company statement had said.
