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Salesforce Teams with Apple on Mobile Business Apps

Salesforce is collaborating with Apple in a pact the companies said Sept. 24 will enable “powerful new mobile apps” for business.

The strategic partnership brings together the Salesforce customer relationship management (CRM) platform and Apple’s iOS mobile operating system. Salesforce is working with Apple to redesign its app to “embrace the native mobile platform with exclusive new features” on iOS, the companies said in a joint news release.

The companies also plan to provide tools and resources for “millions of Salesforce developers to build their own native apps” via a new Salesforce Mobile Software Development Kit (SDK) for iOS, as well as a new iOS app development course on Trailhead, Salesforce’s free, web-based learning platform, they said.

The announcement came on the eve of Dreamforce, Salesforce’s annual conference in San Francisco, Sept. 25-28.

It’s not the first time the companies have collaborated. On the last day of Apple’s 2017 Worldwide Developers Conference, it touted the Business Chat enterprise customer support platform for iOS 11 that leveraged iMessage Apps introduced in iOS 10 and integration with Maps, Safari and Spotlight search, in partnership with existing customer service platforms from companies including Salesforce.

“We’re excited to work with Salesforce and that their industry-leading CRM will embrace native iOS and deliver exclusive new features on iPhone and iPad,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said in the Sept. 24 news release. He added: “With the powerful combination of iPhone, iPad and iOS — the best hardware and software for business — together with native Salesforce apps and the new Salesforce SDK, we can deliver great customer experiences for businesses around the world.”

Through the partnership, “we’re bringing together the world’s #1 CRM platform with iPhone and iPad, the world’s best devices for business,” Salesforce co-CEO and chairman Marc Benioff said in the announcement. He added: “Together, Salesforce and Apple are defining a new era of mobile innovation with native apps on iOS, and empowering millions of people with access to Trailhead and the skills they need for the jobs of the future.”

Dreamforce 2018 attendees will get an early look at the new Apple and Salesforce offerings in the Salesforce Campground (Moscone South Halls ABC) or the Trailhead Area (Moscone West Level 1).

The Get Started with iOS App Development Trail is already available at trailhead.com/apple. The new Salesforce Mobile SDK for iOS will be available by the end of 2018. The rebuilt Salesforce Mobile App will be available in early 2019 and the first Trailhead Mobile App will launch later next year, the companies said.

According to Apple and Salesforce, the initial focus areas for the partnership include:

• Native Salesforce iOS apps for business: Salesforce, working with Apple, will redesign the Salesforce Mobile App to give customers rich experiences exclusively on iOS, with unique Apple capabilities including Siri Shortcuts, Face ID and Business Chat. Salesforce will also introduce the first Trailhead Mobile App, first on iOS. The partners will also deliver powerful iOS apps for industries and small business they said will serve their specific customer needs.
• Empowering Salesforce developers on iOS: Apple and Salesforce are developing the first Salesforce Mobile SDK that is optimized for Swift, Apple’s modern programming language. The native SDK will enable businesses and developers to build and deploy apps for iPhone and iPad on the Salesforce Lightning Platform, adding to the hundreds of thousands of iOS apps for business in the App Store today.
• Accelerating developer learning and career growth: Apple and Salesforce believe strongly in the democratization of technology and empowering developers — with any education level or background — to learn skills for the jobs of today and tomorrow. To support developer learning and career growth, Apple is launching a new Get Started with iOS App Development Trail that will teach anyone how to build native iOS apps in Xcode with Swift.
For more information about the partnership, visit: salesforce.com/apple or apple.com/business/partners.