Google has reached an agreement with Fabric to buy out its core platform along with the Answers and Crashlytics development tools. Fabric was Twitter’s division in charge of empowering developers to create mobile and web apps.
The terms of the deal have yet to be disclosed, but it is known that clients won’t have to do anything other than agreeing with the new terms of use and service once the purchase goes into effect.
Fabric’s team will join Google’s developer platform, Firebase, and their tools will become a core part of the combined group’s services.
Twitter lets Fabric go desperately looking for profits
Twitter’s move responds to an ever-growing crisis within the popular microblogging site: it needs to make money if it plans to stay in business.
The social giant was once the second mightiest of them all, topped only by Facebook during its prime. However, since last year, the company led by Jack Dorsey has been looking for buyers to relieve them of their struggle meeting financial expectations.
Early rumors at the time posed Google and Microsoft as potential buyers, but in the end, no one ended up bidding for the short-messaging app and site. As a result, Twitter has been cutting off pieces of its platform that are not strictly necessary.
The most recent service to get the ax was Vine, the quick video app within Twitter that, against all the odds, brought with it a massive following to the app. Now the sale of Fabric closes another chapter for the site, which already has a lengthy and bumpy history with developers.
The Fabric-Firebase merger means great news for developers
Twitter might be the losing party with the recent Fabric transaction, but apart from Google’s Firebase, there is someone else who is also winning with the deal: developer teams.
Big news! Today Fabric is joining Google’s Developer Product Group to help developers build better apps. https://t.co/hAk3Y4B6XX
— Firebase (@Firebase) January 18, 2017
Firebase and Fabric are two companies dedicated to the same thing at different scales and under different leaderships. Both divisions provide the web and mobile developers with the tools they need to develop apps compatible with their ecosystems or clients, in this case, Google and Twitter.
Twitter’s Fabric has worldwide recognition for having the top software developer kits (SDK) in their Crashlytics and Answers services. Firebase will adopt Crashlytics as the main crash reporting tool for Google once the two teams merge.
Rich Paret, the head of Fabric’s Crashlytics, will also be the leader of the team that joins Google after the announcement. 60 people are estimated to join Google’s Developer Product Group.
“When we met the team at Google we quickly realized that our missions are the same – helping mobile teams build better apps. We’re excited to combine these platforms together to make the best platform in the world for app teams,” The Fabric Team wrote in a blog post.
Source: Fabric
