Apple Inc and German software maker SAP SE will release a tool aimed at helping developers build iPhone apps for big businesses, the two companies said. The software tool, to be released on March 30, is designed to let developers easily feed data between SAP's business-oriented software systems and Apple's consumer-oriented iOS mobile platform. SAP plans to change that by working directly with Apple on software tools that will make it easier to access data on SAP systems from apps on an iPhone or iPad, an effort that began last spring. In 2014, Apple launched a partnership with IBM Corp to help build custom iOS applications for businesses. But according to App Annie, an analytics firm that tracks App Store metrics, iOS downloads were up only 12% in 2016 to 30 billion apps, and 80% of download growth for iOS apps came from China.

Source: The Star February 28, 2017 07:04 UTC