Apple has announced a new initiative to support engineering talent and accelerate growth in India’s iOS developer community.
The company will establish a Design and Development Accelerator in Bengaluru, the home of India’s startup scene. Tens of thousands of developers in India make apps for iOS, and this initiative will provide additional, specialized support for them, says Apple CEO Tim Cook. Apple’s team will work to inspire and instruct developers on best practices, help them hone their skills and transform the design, quality and performance of their apps on the iOS platform, he adds.
Each week, Apple experts will lead briefings and provide one-on-one app reviews for developers. The facility will also provide support and guidance on Swift, Apple’s programming language created to build apps for iOS, Mac OS X, tvOS, and watchOS.
Bengaluru is now home to more technology startups than any other part of India. Over one million people in the city work in the tech sector, and over 40% of graduates from local universities specialize in engineering or information technology.
“This is a huge vote of confidence in India’s developer community and a tremendous opportunity to gain world-class design and development expertise,” says Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal. “Apple’s support will help drive growth and accelerate progress among the country’s vast talent pool.”
“We have worked closely with Apple to transform the Snapdeal app and offer our users the best possible experience,” says Snapdeal co-founder and CEO Kunal Bahl. “Apple’s expert guidance on the interface and user experience has helped us build an app that our consumers love. We are thrilled Apple will have a local presence which will amplify our efforts to develop more high-quality apps for our digital commerce ecosystem.”
“Apple’s investment in Bengaluru through its iOS Development Accelerator will have far-reaching effects for the area’s rapidly growing and highly talented developer community,” adds NASSCOM President R Chandrashekhar. “The skills and training they gain through this effort will significantly improve their app design and help them reach a broader market. Initiatives like these move the country forward in our efforts to advance a growth-led and sustainable technology sector.”
The iOS App Design and Development Accelerator is expected to open in early 2017.
