With AI in Indian iPhones, can Apple rival Google’s appeal for coders?

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Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. New Delhi: On Saturday, Apple rolled out its latest beta software for its iPhones, opening up access to its generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools for developers. The company, known for its tightly controlled approach to technology, has taken an open approach with AI—giving developers free access to integrate its features into their own apps and services for iPhones, iPads and Macs.

The move may pose a challenge to Google’s significantly larger technology ecosystem, which saw the Android operating system platform power over 92% of the new phones that were sold in India last year. Between them, Apple and Google cumulatively control more than two out of every three consumer gadgets in the world. And, for the Big Tech duo, India’s developer base is crucial to offer its users the latest suite of applications.

Data from Microsoft-owned GitHub, the world’s largest platform for developers, showed that as of October, India was the world’s second-largest base for developers worldwide, behind only the US, with 17 million active developers building apps for various platforms. Having control over the developer ecosystem is crucial for both companies, which earn significant revenue by selling applications on their digital marketplaces—Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store. Getting more developers to build for their ecosystems would mean more apps for users to use and purchase—thus leading to more revenue for each company.