Apple is reportedly planning to implement a major change in its App Store, allowing developers to create apps that will work across its three different operating systems for the Mac, iPhone, and iPad.
The initiative is called “Marzipan,” and won’t be launching until 2021, according to Bloomberg. Its goal is to make things much easier for developers to create apps that could be used across different platforms. Bloomberg says that the new software development kit will be debuting at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference later this year. The kit will allow app makers and developers to port apps, such as iPad apps, to Mac.
Currently, developers have no choice but to write the code twice if they want to launch their apps on different platforms. With the new initiative, however, they can instantly develop cross-platform apps that will need no additional code to work. Although Marzipan won’t be launching until 2021, app makers can start developing as early as this year for the iPad and 2020 for the iPhone.
Another change is the way that apps are submitted in the App Store. Right now, developers have to submit apps multiple times if they want to get it on all three platforms, as each platform submission is different from the other. Apple is hoping that by 2021, developers will be able to submit their apps just once to the App Store. Users will then be able to download iPhone or iPad apps from their Mac, for example.
