Apple Inc wants to make it easier for software coders to create tools, games and other applications for its main devices in one fell swoop — an overhaul designed to encourage app development and, ultimately, boost revenue.
The ultimate goal of the multistep initiative, code-named “Marzipan,” is by 2021 to help developers build an app once and have it work on the iPhone, iPad and Mac computers, people familiar with the effort said.
That should spur the creation of new software, increasing the utility of the company’s gadgets.
Each new app is another revenue opportunity for Apple, because it takes a cut of many app-related purchases and subscriptions. The company has positioned its services division as a major growth area.
It plans at the end of next month to announce two new services: a premium Apple News subscription offering and an original video content initiative, Bloomberg News has reported.
Later this year, Apple plans to let developers port their iPad apps to Mac computers via a new software development kit that the company would release as early as its annual developer conference in June.
Developers would still need to submit separate versions of the app to Apple’s iOS and Mac App Stores, but the new kit would mean they do not have to write the underlying software code twice, the people familiar with the plan said.
Apple plans to expand the kit next year so that iPhone applications can be converted into Mac apps in the same way.
Apple engineers have found this challenging because iPhone screens are so much smaller than Mac computer displays.
By 2021, developers would be able to merge iPhone, iPad and Mac applications into one app, or what is known as a “single binary.” This means that developers would not have to submit their work to different Apple App Stores, allowing iOS apps to be downloaded directly from Mac computers — effectively combining the stores.
The plans are fluid and could be altered, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing private matters.
A spokeswoman for Cupertino, California-based Apple declined to comment.
The most direct benefit of the Marzipan project would be to make life easier for the millions of developers who write software for Apple’s devices.
For example, later this year Netflix Inc would be able to more easily offer a Mac app for watching video by converting its iPad app. By 2021, Twitter Inc, which has mostly abandoned the Mac, could publish a single app for all Apple customers.
Apple previewed the apps plan, without disclosing the road map, at its developers conference last year.
Bloomberg News first wrote about the initiative in 2017.
The work coincides with the company’s preparations to merge more of the underpinnings of its hardware.
Currently, iPhones and iPads are powered by Apple processors, while Macs use Intel Corp chips. Apple plans to start transitioning some Macs to its own chips as early as 2020, Bloomberg News reported last year.
Despite the app merger plan, Apple has said that it would not combine iOS and macOS into a single operating system.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last