In February, Apple notified the European Commission that it would be acquiring certain assets from and have the right to hire certain employees from Rabbit 3 Times, the company behind the award-winning app design tool Play. The notification was published on the European Commission's website this week, following a four-month waiting period.
Play was a Mac and iPhone app that allowed designers to prototype iPhone app interfaces using Apple's SwiftUI frameworks, and then send them to Xcode.
"Play is a sophisticated yet accessible tool that lets users build interactive prototypes with SwiftUI frameworks," said Apple. "Its thoughtfully crafted user interface is both powerful and easy to navigate, helping designers create interactive prototypes and collaborate across Mac and iPhone, all synced in real time for seamless creativity."
Play is no longer available in the App Store, presumably due to Apple's acqui-hire.
Apple could use the intellectual property that it acquired from the Play app to improve Xcode, but its exact plans remain to be seen.
WWDC is set to start on Monday, June 8, and ahead of the keynote event, Apple has announced the winners of its annual Apple Design Awards. The Apple Design Awards recognize apps and games for their innovation, ingenuity, and technical achievement.
Apple chose one app and one game for each of the six award categories.
Delight and Fun - Grug (App) and Is This Seat Taken? (Game)
Innovati...
Wednesday June 3, 2026 12:52 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Apple today said App Store rules in Texas are changing due to the enforcement of SB 2420, a law that adds age assurance requirements for app marketplaces and developers.
Apple users located in Texas will soon be required to confirm whether they are 18 years or older when creating an Apple Account. Apple Accounts for users under 18 must be part of a Family Sharing group, and parents need to...
Apple today highlighted a new study by economists at Analysis Group that outlines four key App Store stats for 2025.
Ahead of WWDC 2026 next week, Apple's core message with this press release is that the App Store is reaching new heights and that "developers continue to thrive globally."
App Store ecosystem facilitated a record $1.4 trillion in total billings and sales
Apple received no...
Play was ahead of its time. I really admired the product.
I think they were never able to make the leap that Framer did from prototyping tool to full native app builder because code wasn't the source of truth for their data model. That's no surprise, because this is much harder to do on the native Apple stack than the web.
With generative AI, I'm hoping we can finally get there. I'm excited to see what the team accomplishes at Apple.
confusing that they would take such an ostensibly useful app off the App Store post-acqui-hire but I guess that’s how it goes, hopefully Apple just repositions it as a first-party app and doesn’t let it go to waste
Likely it will be integrated into Xcode and/or Swift Playground.
Apple's first foldable iPhone, with a book-style design featuring a ~5.5-inch outer display and a ~7.8-inch inner display with a minimal crease down the middle.
