Apple’s aggressive push into the Indian territory, which is one of the fastest growing smartphone markets, is today taking shape with the official opening of the company’s App Accelerator in Bengaluru. The program is now open to iOS developers in the country, who aim to improve upon their apps’ experience by gaining access to specialized tools, support, and guidance from Apple experts.
This announcement comes about a year after the Cupertino giant stated that they want to explore more opportunities to interact the iOS developers in the country. And with India being a significant center for their ecosystem, the company said that it would open an iOS app design and development accelerator program in the Silicon Valley of India. They’ve now made good on their word.
While announcing the app accelerator program for India, the vision for the project had been described by Apple chief executive Tim Cook as under:
India is home to one of the most vibrant and entrepreneurial iOS development communities in the world. With the opening of this new facility in Bengaluru, we’re giving developers access to tools which will help them create innovative apps for customers around the world.
Under this first-of-its-kind accelerator facility in India, Apple experts will lead briefings and provide one-on-one app reviews for developers. They will also provide developers with support and guidance for Swift, which is Apple’s all-powerful and intuitive programming language created to build apps for iOS, Mac, Apple TV and Apple Watch. The developers will be exposed to best practices that’ll help hone their skills, while also improving the quality of content on the App Store.
Each week, Apple’s expert team will guide over 500 Indian iOS developers on design best practices. This will enable them to further refine their skills to create amazing iOS apps and transform the quality and performance of the same. Apple Technology Evangelists will also provide specialized briefings and detailed app analysis feedback for developers. The same will enable developers to improve the user experience to attract more users.
Philip Schiller, SVP of Worldwide Marketing at Apple is currently visiting the country to reaffirm the importance of India as one of their prominent markets. Commenting on this launch, he said,
We are impressed by the great entrepreneurial spirit in India, and are excited to provide a platform for these developers to share their innovations with customers around the world.
Though the accelerator already houses a handful of developers, the company is now accepting applications from any registered Apple developer. The sign-up process is currently live on Bengaluru accelerator’s website. Schiller further continued to add,
In just the first few weeks, we’ve already seen some incredible developers here at the App Accelerator Bengaluru, including Practo and Reliance Games, create innovative apps that can meet the needs of customers in India and around the world.
Commenting on their participation, Shashank ND, Founder & CEO of Practo said,
We are thrilled to be one of the first developers to collaborate with the team at the App Accelerator. The Accelerator has really helped us make the best use of iOS technologies to rapidly digitise and improve the healthcare experience for millions of consumers in India.
