Apple Acquires Canadian App Development Startup Buddybuild - MacRumorsOpen MenuShow RoundupsShow Forums menuVisit ForumsOpen Sidebar
Skip to Content

Apple Acquires Canadian App Development Startup Buddybuild

Apple recently purchased Vancouver-based app startup Buddybuild, according to a blog post on the Buddybuild website (via iMore).

Buddybuild's website describes the company as a "continuous integration, continuous deployment, and user feedback platform for development teams." In other words, Buddybuild offers tools for developers that are designed to let them quickly and easily build apps through GitHub, BitBucket, or GitLab.

buddybuildapple
The entire Buddybuild team will be joining the Xcode engineering group at Apple to "build amazing developer tools for the entire iOS community," with Buddybuild being rolled into Xcode itself.

Buddybuild will continue to operate out of Vancouver, Canada, and the Buddybuild service will remain available to existing customers for building, testing, and shipping iOS apps.

We're excited to share that the buddybuild team has joined the Xcode engineering group at Apple to build amazing developer tools for the entire iOS community.

We've always been proud to be a Canadian company, so we're also pleased that we will be staying right here in Vancouver -- a hotbed of developer and engineering talent.

Though the service will remain available for current customers, the company is no longer accepting new customers. Current free starter plans and Android app development tools will be discontinued on March 1, 2018 following the acquisition.

Popular Stories

Ascend io

Apple Acquires Ascend.io

Friday October 30, 2026 6:06 am PDT by
Apple this year acquired Ascend.io, a California-based company that developed technology to help businesses automate the collection and analysis of data, and more recently introduced AI agents to help engineers manage this data. The acquisition was revealed in a notice posted on the European Commission's website today, and Ascend.io's own website mentions "winding down operations as we prepare ...
samplab

Apple Buys AI Audio Editing App Samplab

Monday October 19, 2026 3:35 pm PDT by
Apple acquired AI audio editing app Samplab in June, according to a notice shared today by the European Commission. Samplab offered a desktop app and plugins for converting audio to MIDI, detecting and editing chords, stem splitting for isolating different parts of a song, and editing notes in polyphonic audio without affecting the timbre of the original. Apple could fold the company's...
apple pro tell logo

Apple Launching Five New Products Today

Thursday November 5, 2026 12:59 am PST by
Apple is launching five new products on Friday, November 6, following pre-orders that opened last week, including its first touchscreen MacBook Pro models. The following new products will be available from today: iPad mini with OLED display and A20 Pro chip iMac with M6 chip 14-inch MacBook Pro with M6 chip 14-inch MacBook Pro with OLED touchscreen 16-inch MacBook Pro with OLED...

Top Rated Comments

eveluvsrainbows Avatar
116 months ago
RE: "Buddybuild offers tools for developers that are designed to let them quickly and easily build apps through GitHub, BitBucket, or GitLab."

Looks to be a VERY DUMB move on Apple's part ... another one they didn't think thru.

Simple apps will now be REPLICATED in the tens of thousands, instead of 100s or 1000s.

It will swamp their App Review teams, and clutter-up the iOS App Store even more so than it already is, which is basically just one BIG F!@#ing Mess !

My guess, Phil Schiller made the call on this one.
....I don't think you know how Buddybuild works.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
116 months ago
I don't think they will be there in a year or so. Apple just doesn't want employees to jump ship immediately. Give them time to plan the move to the space ship.

doubt it. apple still has a development site in Vancouver from a startup they picked up 10 years ago. I know a bunch of people that work there
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
chucker23n1 Avatar
116 months ago
Could this be related to the threat of shutdown to other generic app builders? Is Apple planning to create their own app authoring system for individuals or companies that want a cheap, simple, turnkey solution?
No. This is tooling to make engineering easier.

RE: "Buddybuild offers tools for developers that are designed to let them quickly and easily build apps through GitHub, BitBucket, or GitLab."

Looks to be a VERY DUMB move on Apple's part ... another one they didn't think thru.

Simple apps will now be REPLICATED in the tens of thousands, instead of 100s or 1000s.

It will swamp their App Review teams, and clutter-up the iOS App Store even more so than it already is, which is basically just one BIG F!@#ing Mess !

My guess, Phil Schiller made the call on this one.
My guess, you neither know much about Phil Schiller, who is quite competent, nor this company, whom the article described (consider reading it), nor software engineering.

I don't think they will be there in a year or so. Apple just doesn't want employees to jump ship immediately. Give them time to plan the move to the space ship.
Why? Apple has several Software teams outside Cupertino. iWork in Pittsburgh, for instance
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
diego Avatar
116 months ago
Nice to hear that they will be staying in Vancouver!
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
116 months ago
Why not? Contrary to popular belief, many tech workers don't want to move to California. There are so many examples of companies leaving offices and expanding their presence in Canada because of this. Google and Fitbit come to mind.
And Vancouver is on the same timezone as SF, so managing a remote team is not really inconvenient.
They have people working from the EU and an R&D office in Israel so why not Canada?
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
116 months ago
Could this be related to the threat of shutdown to other generic app builders? Is Apple planning to create their own app authoring system for individuals or companies that want a cheap, simple, turnkey solution?
Apple isn't shutting down generic app builders, they will require apps built through a system like that to be submitted on developer accounts for each company though rather than all through a single developers account.

Also BuildBuddy is not some sort of template app creator, rather it's a Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery (CI / CD) system that helps automate building and distributing development builds.

Xcode 9 has some CI features via its Xcode Server component and I expect Xcode 10 to have an expanded feature set now that Apple has acquired this company.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Latest Stories
Siri AI Rumored to Become 'More Like an Agent' as Early as Next Year
Siri AI Rumored to Become 'More Like an Agent' as Early as Next Year
4 hours ago
Apple Taking New Approach to Developing iOS 28 and macOS 28
Apple Taking New Approach to Developing iOS 28 and macOS 28
5 hours ago
Early Apple Black Friday Deals on Apple Watch, MacBook Air, and More
Early Apple Black Friday Deals on Apple Watch, MacBook Air, and More
1 day ago
'Backglow' Lets You Customize New MacBook Pro's Glowing Apple Logo
'Backglow' Lets You Customize New MacBook Pro's Glowing Apple Logo
1 day ago
Top Stories: Apple Product Launches, iOS 27.3 Beta, and More
Top Stories: Apple Product Launches, iOS 27.3 Beta, and More
1 day ago
More Fun iPhone Duo Apps: 30 New Picks to Try
More Fun iPhone Duo Apps: 30 New Picks to Try
2 days ago
Hands-On With Apple's New OLED Touchscreen MacBook Pro
Hands-On With Apple's New OLED Touchscreen MacBook Pro
2 days ago
Apple Store With All-New Design Opening Soon in Southern California
Apple Store With All-New Design Opening Soon in Southern California
2 days ago
Control the Glowing Apple Logo on Your New MacBook Pro
Control the Glowing Apple Logo on Your New MacBook Pro
2 days ago
Apple Shares New 'Apple Card: Apply and Use in Minutes' Ad
Apple Shares New 'Apple Card: Apply and Use in Minutes' Ad
2 days ago
Apple Says More Than 100,000 Apps Optimized for iPhone Duo, Here's What's Still Missing
Apple Says More Than 100,000 Apps Optimized for iPhone Duo, Here's What's Still Missing
2 days ago
Early Black Friday Deals Kickoff With Steep Discounts on Apple Watch Ultras and More
Early Black Friday Deals Kickoff With Steep Discounts on Apple Watch Ultras and More
2 days ago
The MacRumors Show: iOS 27.3 Looks Like a Huge Update
The MacRumors Show: iOS 27.3 Looks Like a Huge Update
2 days ago
Best Buy's Black Friday Event Begins With Sitewide Savings on Apple, TVs, More
Best Buy's Black Friday Event Begins With Sitewide Savings on Apple, TVs, More
2 days ago
Apple Releasing Yet Another Two New Products Next Week
Apple Releasing Yet Another Two New Products Next Week
2 days ago
MacBook Air Drops to Lowest Price in Months With Amazon's $250 Discount
MacBook Air Drops to Lowest Price in Months With Amazon's $250 Discount
2 days ago
Apple Rumored to Drop the iPhone's Action Button Next Year
Apple Rumored to Drop the iPhone's Action Button Next Year
2 days ago
Apple's Extended Return Policy Now in Effect for 2026 Holiday Season
Apple's Extended Return Policy Now in Effect for 2026 Holiday Season
2 days ago
Apple Music Classical Updated With New Icon and Refreshed Design
Apple Music Classical Updated With New Icon and Refreshed Design
2 days ago
OLED iPad Mini, M6 iMac, and New MacBook Pros Available From Today
OLED iPad Mini, M6 iMac, and New MacBook Pros Available From Today
2 days ago
Apple Surveys iPhone Duo Buyers About Crease and Camera
Apple Surveys iPhone Duo Buyers About Crease and Camera
3 days ago
Apple's First Touchscreen Mac is Now Arriving to Customers
Apple's First Touchscreen Mac is Now Arriving to Customers
3 days ago
Claude Gets Personal Finance Feature With Bank Account Linking
Claude Gets Personal Finance Feature With Bank Account Linking
3 days ago
Apple Arcade Adds Crossy Road Rush and NBA 2K27
Apple Arcade Adds Crossy Road Rush and NBA 2K27
3 days ago
Apple's New HomeView Smart Home Hub: Here's How Much RAM It Has
Apple's New HomeView Smart Home Hub: Here's How Much RAM It Has
3 days ago
iPad Mini vs. iPad Air Buyer's Guide: Now Just $50 Apart
iPad Mini vs. iPad Air Buyer's Guide: Now Just $50 Apart
3 days ago
First iOS 27.3 and macOS Golden Gate 27.3 Public Betas Now Available
First iOS 27.3 and macOS Golden Gate 27.3 Public Betas Now Available
3 days ago
Apple Announces a New Mac Sales Record
Apple Announces a New Mac Sales Record
3 days ago
Paid $200 for Logic Pro? Apple Says You Won't Get This New Feature
Paid $200 for Logic Pro? Apple Says You Won't Get This New Feature
3 days ago
Instagram's Edits Video Editor is Now Available on Mac
Instagram's Edits Video Editor is Now Available on Mac
3 days ago