Customer relations software company Salesforce says it will join with Apple to create new business apps exclusively for iPhone and iPad.

Salesforce said Monday the partnership will focus on three areas: apps for industry and small business to improve customer relations; enabling businesses and developers to create Salesforce apps for iPhone and iPad; and promoting developer career growth by teaching anyone how to build iOS apps. The “Get Started with iOS Development Trail” app is available now, while the others will roll out later this year and in early 2019.

“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,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “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.”
Apple image

A screenshot from Apple-Salesforce partnership

The companies say that millions of developers would be able to build their own apps through the new Salesforce Mobile SDK for iOS and through Salesforce’s free web-based learning platform Trailhead.

“With this partnership, we’re bringing together the world’s number one CRM platform with iPhone and iPad, the world’s best devices for business,” said Marc Benioff, chairman and co-CEO, Salesforce. “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.”

Shares of Salesforce rose 1.5 percent in morning trading.

Highlights of the deal

Apple and Salesforce outlined what they see as key benefits of the deal:

  • 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 such as Siri Shortcuts, Face ID, Business Chat and more. Salesforce will also introduce the first ever Trailhead Mobile App, first on iOS. The partners will also deliver powerful iOS apps for industries and small business that 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 powerful and intuitive 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.