Did Apple buy Pixelmator? Pixelmator is known for being one of the most beloved photo-retouching software on the Mac. The Pixelmator Team launched also a new app for iPad after the launch of iPad Air 2. Nor Pixelmator nor Apple announced any acquisition, but many elements indicate that something might be brewing. Here’s why we think that Apple has bought Pixelmator.
Back in October, the two Pixelmator developers and founders (the Dailide brothers) appeared on stage during the iPad Air 2 event. They introduced the brand new Pixelmator app for iPad. And, they were one of the two third-party companies to share the stage with Tim Cook and Phil Schiller.
Sure. That doesn’t prove anything. But It’s just the first of a series of peculiar coincidences that made us think that Apple secretly acqui-hired the team behind Pixelmator.
There is the icon of the app, for example, that is incredibly similar to the one used by Apple for the iPhoto iOS app.
There’s the Pixelmator app for iPad, that greets the user with a message that is very similar to the one that opens the first time you launch any iOS app from the iWork or iLife suite.
There’s the Pixelmator for iPad website, temporarily available at pixelmator.com, that looks a lot like apple.com. It uses the same design language. The same buttons. Even the same font as Apple’s website.
And there’s the motive. Apple already announced the upcoming retirement of iPhoto and Aperture with the launch of the new iCloud Photo service. Apple might have bought Pixelmator to give its user a professional software for photo editing without the need of having an internal team working on such an application.
It is known that Apple buys at least a dozen small companies per year. And they usually won’t announce each and every acquisition. These are usually discovered by the press through LindkedIn account changes, or Apple’s PR comments given to some friendly journalists.
We contacted the Pixelmator team to ask for some confirmation. No answer so far.
