Apple plans to allow third-party developers to release universal apps that will work across iPhone, iPad and Mac by 2021, according to a new report from Bloomberg.
Part of the company’s ongoing “Marzipan” initiative, which it previewed at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in 2018, Apple will reportedly release a new software development kit (SDK) that will allow developers to port their iOS apps to macOS as early as this June.
To start, the initial SDK will only allow developers to port their iPad apps to the Mac. Moreover, developers will still need to submit separate versions of their ported apps to the iOS and macOS app stores.
By 2020, Apple will extend the kit so that developers will also be able to port their iPhone apps to macOS. The entire project will then culminate in 2021 when developers have the option to release a “single binary” that works across iOS and macOS.
News that Apple was working on universal iOS and macOS apps started to emerge in 2017. Initial speculation suggested the company planned to merge iOS and macOS into a single operating system. However, Apple senior vice president of software engineering Craig Federighi famously quashed those rumours at last year’s WWDC, saying iOS and macOS would remain separate from one another.
According to a recent report from MacRumors, Apple plans to hold WWDC from June 3rd to 7th in San Jose, California. Bloomberg reports Apple may also show off an early version of its upcoming modular Mac Pro computer.
Source: Bloomberg
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