Apple picks up iPad and iPhone automation tool Workflow
Apple has concluded negotiations to purchase iPad and iPhone automation tool Workflow which serves to facilitate combining multiple apps and functions in order to automate more complex tasks.
Built by a small team of coders including Ari Weinstein, who rose to prominence by jailbreaking iPhones to run unapproved software, Workflow has been out in the wild for a number of years – building up users and downloads in the process.
Having parted with an undisclosed sum Apple will also obtain the services of Weinstein together with the rest of the team including Conrad Kramer, Ayaka Nonaka and Nick Frey.
In a statement Weinstein said: “We are thrilled to be joining Apple. We’ve worked closely with Apple from the very beginning, from kickstarting our company as students attending WWDC to developing and launching Workflow and seeing its amazing success on the App Store. We can’t wait to take our work to the next level at Apple and contribute to products that touch people across the world.”
The Workflow app won an Apple design award in 2015 for its ease of use and accessibility and is unlikely to dent Apple's mammoth war chest, having generated a record $78.4bn in the final quarter of 2016.