Buddybuild, a somewhat popular mobile development tool for iOS and Android, was recently bought by Apple for an undisclosed amount. With this purchase, the parent company aims to improve the experience of creating apps for their various platforms, such as iOS, macOS, or tvOS.

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Buddybuild offers a range of services that make the development process easier, such as automatic compilation of source code, execution of testing code, as well as quick and easy deployment to customers and stakeholders. Buddybuild also integrates well with GitHub and other popular version control services.

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Apple plans on integrating these features into their own development ecosystem. This would encourage an influx of higher-quality software for their customers to purchase, either by making the development process easier or by attracting more experienced programmers. Because apps have become such a huge source of income for companies such as Apple and Google, it is important that the experience is competitive across platforms.

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There is of course some controversy over whether this purchase has benefitted customers. Buddybuild currently can be used for Android development, however, with their new relationship with Apple, Buddybuild will drop this feature and exclusively support Apple operating systems. This will affect projects that use Buddybuild for Android development, forcing programmers to switch to an alternative system that provides equivalent features.

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It would be fair, however, for Apple developers to still be excited by this acquisition, as it will potentially make their jobs simpler and easier. An optimist would hope that this will prompt Google to make a similar prioritization for Android developers, and create a better environment for the whole industry. The overall takeaway from this news is that it should benefit owners of both iOS and Android devices, at the expense of some projects that must switch away from Buddybuild to continue their Android development.