Google Buys Twitter's Mobile App Tool 'Fabric'

By Vishal Goel, | January 19, 2017

The deal allows Twitter to offload an asset in the time when it is facing pressure to deliver growth.  (Carlos Luna/CC BY 2.0)

The deal allows Twitter to offload an asset in the time when it is facing pressure to deliver growth. (Carlos Luna/CC BY 2.0)

Tech giant Google has acquired Twitter's mobile app developer platform 'Fabric' for an undisclosed amount. Twitter launched Fabric in 2014 allowing developers to pick from different tools to improve their apps.

The deal allows Twitter to offload an asset in the time when it is facing pressure to deliver growth. For Google, absorbing Twitter employees working on Fabric will help it recruit mobile developers, which is a key constituent to its cloud computing service. 

Like Us on Facebook

According to Jason Titus, vice president of Google's Developer Product Group, the acquisition is an opportunity to bring together two amazing developer platforms, "to really have the best of breeds."

As part of the deal, Google now owns Twitter's popular tool, Crashlytics, which tracks software failures. Titus declined to reveal how many employees are moving over as part of that service.

In May, Google had announced its plan to extend Firebase, a cloud-based mobile software tool it acquired in 2014, into a broader platform, competing with similar offerings from Facebook and Twitter's Fabric. Firebase, which gives mobile app creators tools to build and monitor their apps more easily, is a critical service for Google to lure developers away from Apple and push them to create apps for the mobile web, where Google makes a bulk of its advertising dollars, according to Bloomberg.

Twitter's executives have reportedly been seeking ways to sharpen the company's focus as its user and revenue growth slows. The company also recently shut down Vine, its short-form video platform. During a failed process last year to find a buyer for the whole company, management also discussed spinning off non-core assets, people familiar with the matter said at the time.

Twitter had highlighted Fabric's potential in China while launching it in the year 2014. However, Jason Titus said that Firebase recently signed Jet.com, a U.S. e-commerce startup recently acquired by Wal-Mart Stores Inc., and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., as its customers.

©2024 Telegiz All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission
Real Time Analytics