Apple And Salesforce Strategic Partnership Melds iOS And CRM For Pros

Apple has announced a strategic partnership with Salesforce that will combine iOS and the Salesforce customer relationship management platform to bring new features to business users. The two companies are working together to bring Salesforce developers a new Salesforce Mobile SDK for iOS and a new iOS App Development course available via a free, web-based learning platform Salesforce calls Trailhead.

Apple CEO Tim Cook notes that the new SDK and native Salesforce apps along with iOS on Apple device will give developers the tools they need to deliver better customer experiences. Salesforce plans to completely redesign its mobile app in cooperation with Apple to add capabilities like Siri Shortcuts, Face ID, Business Chat, and other features. A Trailhead mobile app will also land on iOS and partners will be developing apps to serve specific business needs.

Bringing more power to Salesforce developers is a big push with the partnership. Part of that empowerment of developers is to roll out the Salesforce SDK optimized for Swift, which is Apple‘s programing language. Using the new SDK will allow business and developers to build apps on the Salesforce Lightning Platform.

Apple and Salesforce also want to make it easier for developers to learn to code apps using the new platform. Specifically, they want developers of any education level or background to be able to learn skills for the changing job market. Apple is launching a Get Started with iOS App Development Trial on Salesforce's Trailhead app to teach people how to build native iOS apps in Xcode with Swift; this addition is available today. The Salesforce Mobile SDK for iOS will launch by the end of 2018. The completely revamped Salesforce Mobile App will launch in early 2019 with the Trailhead mobile app launching sometime next year.