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Apple acquires Buddybuild
- swozey 9y agoGoodbye Android builds. edit: yup; On March 1, 2018 buddybuild will stop servicing apps on the Free Starter Plan. Also on March 1st, the buddybuild service will stop supporting Android apps for all plans. Any historical data related to those apps will be deleted from the service at that time.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- noarchy 9y agoThis gives my current team two months to find a new solution. Buddybuild, aside from the odd issue from time to time, had been a great solution for us. Now we're suddenly wondering where to go next. Not to mention, we now face the question of whether to move our iOS apps off buddybuild as well.
- kristiansagi 9y agoWe at nevercode.io wrote an overview of our platform for BuddyBuild users for easy migration. Have a look :) https://nevercode.io/welcome-home-android-developer/ https://nevercode.io/welcome-home-android-developer/
- swozey 9y agoI'm sure your team had an incredibly productive December and are ready to get migrating on the double! Oh, wait, you're probably catching up from a month full of time-off and holidays and were planning on hitting it hard on new features in Jan.. Same boat here, we'd JUST started using BuddyBuild a month or two ago.
- noarchy 9y ago>I'm sure your team had an incredibly productive December and are ready to get migrating on the double! Oh, wait, you're probably catching up from a month full of time-off and holidays and were planning on hitting it hard on new features in Jan.. You nailed it. The last thing we want to be doing right now is have to tinker with finding a new CI system. There's too much real work that we have to do. It always takes time to set these things up properly, and reliably. We've used buddybuild for more than a year, and we've long had it to the point where it just worked, and worked reliably.
- j4ship 9y agowhy not just deploy .... the only thing a CI system does is run a bunch of scripts ... build a bash script and deploy by hand. Theres an 80/20 rule here, you can get 80% of CI features in 20% of the script you create Also if you turn down your deployment cycle (once a day, twice a week , etc) you will lessen the problem of lack of a tool , until you find one CI for me has always been about deployment organization and automation. Its ok to have a bug be fixed by end of day, it doesnt have to be deployed in 15 mins.
- kevin_b_er 9y agoIf you wish, you can keep paying them as a reward for the amount of work it'll cost you to fix your non-iOS development.
- thatnerdyguy 9y agoI don't do mobile dev, but would something like vsts + hockeyapp be similar?
- siminuk 9y agoHave a look at App Center as well! https://appcenter.ms/ https://appcenter.ms/ It is easy to setup and supports Android and iOS apps, as well as cross-platform ones. (Disclaimer: I am on that team)
- amelius 9y ago> Goodbye Android builds. Think of it as an opportunity. Clearly this product has proved its usefulness, so there's a whole market to be served.
- mullingitover 9y agoAnd just like that, by dropping Android support, Buddybuild goes from viable solution to total non-starter. Does any serious mobile app development these days really go all-in on one platform?
- gowld 9y agoApple does, obviously.
- TruthSHIFT 9y agoYes, iOS first is still extremely common.
- 27182818284 9y agoFirst, but not exclusively. As a long time complainer about the iOS-first mindset I used to keep a spreadsheet actually of how long the Android versions of apps were delayed. I don't recall many iOS and iOS only apps. There was just generally and Android time-tax that Android users had to wait through.
- ringaroundthetx 9y agoI made a good career out of selling late-to-the-party native android ports for companies. Its pretty low key lucrative too: - iOS development is crowded, Android devs are more scarce and there are too many unrelated skillset paths to build a native android app. - The APIs are already developed by the time you get there. - The designs have already happened, for the most part. Its no longer a fact finding mission and instead a pure implementation mission. - You make more money and have to deal with less company-wide fires in the process. - Nobody bothers you. You get to be on autopilot. - And its also pretty pointless. Most company's android apps are just a checkbox, store presence to show they haven't neglected it. Nobody is going to actually download it. It was fun for a while, I got my funds up.
- CameronBanga 9y agoIf anyone has a good Android (or even iOS) replacement, share here? I know myself and likely many others will be looking to migrate this month.
- kristiansagi 9y agoWe at nevercode.io wrote an overview of our platform for BuddyBuild users for easy migration. Have a look :) https://nevercode.io/welcome-home-android-developer/ https://nevercode.io/welcome-home-android-developer/
- pbiggar 9y agoCircleCI supports android, iOS, and web. https://circleci.com/docs/2.0/testing-ios/ https://circleci.com/docs/2.0/testing-ios/ https://circleci.com/docs/2.0/language-android/ https://circleci.com/docs/2.0/language-android/ [disclaimer: founder of circleci, though I don't work there anymore.]
- JoshuaWeberMSFT 9y agoAppCenter.ms has many similar features and supports iOS, Android, Windows, ReactNative, Xamarin, and others. [Disclaimer: As I'm a PM on the AppCenter team I'll leave evaluation of goodness to others :)]
- nsarafa 9y agoOur team uses Buddy Build currently. Interested in integrating Microsoft App Center. Would love to see a comparison of Buddy Build against the ms App Center service
- CameronBanga 9y agoAny plans to add Gitlab support to roadmap? Dealbreaker on our end. Email in profile if you'd rather not answer publicly. :)
- siminuk 9y agoYes! GitLab support is on our roadmap.
- jakobegger 9y agoI recently posted an „Ask HN“ asking for a flexible CI system. Most of the suggestions were proprietary hosted SaaS solutions. I was sceptical, and things like that keep me sceptical. Sure, setting up a CI system yourself is maybe a bit harder than using a hosted solution. But if the provider decides to change their offering, you are in big trouble. You‘ll need to spend a lot of time switching to a new sevice, migrating all your data and processes. And once that is done, you can start to retrain all your employees. And you always have to be ready for that scenario, at two months notice....
- sargun 9y agoThere is Buildkite, which a hybrid server side / client side solution. This has worked extraordinarily because one of the most frustrating parts of setting up a CI service is setting up a long-lived, reliable server.
- avtar 9y agoBuildkite also offers free accounts to open source projects along with awesome email support. After years of Jenkins, followed by a couple of months trying to cherry pick CI parts of GitLab and make them play nicely with GitHub, Buildkite has been a breath of fresh air. Their service has allowed us to version control pipeline configs, test GitHub pull requests, and provide all core features without having to curate a list of random plugins. Note: I'm not affiliated with Buildkite.
- sytse 9y agoWe’re working on making GitLab CI work better with GitHub. I'm sorry to hear it will be too late for you.
- sytse 9y agoBTW for anyone interested: this will be done with a CI only workflow https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ee/issues/3839 https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ee/issues/3839
- Y7ZCQtNo39 9y ago2 months is not enough time for people to find alternative solutions.
- gk1 9y agoI was doing marketing/growth consulting for FoundationDB when they were acquired by Apple. The product was shut down overnight. Compared to that, a two-month notice seems generous.
- on_and_off 9y agoWow, from these 2 examples, Apple looks like an awful acquirer :o
- scarface74 9y agoYou have three types of mega corps. 1. Vertically integrated 2. Horizontally integrated 3. Conglomeration (not integrated) And there is a "strategy tax" in whatever method you choose. Except for FileMaker and Beats, Apple is mostly a vertically integrated company. They have no real desire to be everything to everyone like Google. If they didn't play to their strengths and tried to service Android users, it still wouldn't be a great experience.
- on_and_off 9y agoThat's really not the point. I have no problem with Apple deciding to abandon BB on Android. It would indeed make very little sense for them to continue to support this platform. What I am complaining about is the shut off date, it is very close.
- Y7ZCQtNo39 9y agoIt's another reason to not do business with smaller companies. Especially if their idea is good, you can only wonder, when will they be bought out and my workflow will be (temporarily) disrupted? I think Buddybuild was the only service with a free tier. For folks that aggressive bootstrappers (like myself), it's just another nuisance. And even for people who were paying -- they are still as equally as disrupted.
- st3fan 9y agoI'm happy for the founders, this is probably a good and profitable exit for them. But as a customer I am really sad and disappointed. Apple has a very bad reputation when it comes to taking over products like this. TestFlight is the prime example. TestFlight basically disappeared for a year until coming back as a more limited and slower Apple branded service. And by slow I mostly mean, it takes 6 months for bugs to be fixed or for exciting things to happen. Agility and innovation of a startup basically ends when Apple assimilates a service. From the blog posting it is also not very clear what will happen to existing iOS customers. Can I upgrade my plan? Can I expect service? Will the existing infrastructure be maintained? I'm excited about what this could mean in terms of Xcode and Xcode Server improvements. Or maybe even a hosted CI service at Apple. But that it all long term 'maybe'.
- pm90 9y agoApple is notoriously bureaucratic. So its not surprising that innovation is stifled. I really hate this duality b/w innovation and stability... perhaps if more startups were focused on longer term survivability, it would be better for society overall?
- jagger27 9y agoI wonder if Apple's satellite operations (like the Siri team in Ottawa, Canada, for example) might have some autonomy and self direction simply due to distance from the mothership. As for a shift in startup culture, what is more tempting than 5 to 10 years of hard work into billion dollar exits? Local governments could start offering tax incentives that build over time—or more aggressively, have steep disincentives on corporate takeovers.
- api_or_ipa 9y agoWhat a shame for some, but I'm happy to see a Gastown company succeed. The tech hub around Victory Square is such a great little community.
- yeukhon 9y agoHoly shit. Was looking at the pricing. > $1,037/mo > Billed monthly > 10 Concurrent builds That’s A LOT for 10 concurrent builds... I am sure the product is great, but that pricing is just a jaw drop. Probably a sign of “we are confident this price is worth it.” Anyway, congrat.
- st3fan 9y agoTotally worth it.
- toddgower 9y agoI will second that. My iOS team was 1 person strong so we could get by on the startup plan at $80 a month (1 build at a time). The gain in productivity was huge.
- lloeki 9y agoAs soon as macOS comes into the mix, hosting (hence CI) prices go through the roof. Since they're not keen on bringing back Xserve or Mac Mini Server, I sure wish the macOS license would allow for it to be run on hypervisors on non-Apple server-grade hardware for CI uses.
- robmaceachern 9y agoCongratulations to the buddybuild team. I've used buddybuild since 2015 and it has streamlined a lot of problems with building, signing, and distributing dozens of iOS apps I've worked on over that time. It will be interesting to see how (and when) Apple integrates this into Xcode, iTunes Connect, TestFlight, and the rest of their development portal. I don't really see Apple running a hosted continuous integration system, but maybe they plan on investing more effort in Xcode Server[1] to sell some new Mac Pros, whenever they're ready. [1] - https://developer.apple.com/library/content/documentation/IDEs/Conceptual/xcode_guide-continuous_integration/index.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40013292-CH1-SW1 https://developer.apple.com/library/content/documentation/ID...
- 4ndrewl 9y agoI thought it was something to do with Buddy, the hosted Continuous Deployment platform - https://buddy.works https://buddy.works But it's Buddy Build, the hosted Continuous Deployment platform - https://www.buddybuild.com https://www.buddybuild.com They have similar background gradients.
- BugsJustFindMe 9y agoWell, if names are any indicator, one of them builds, but the other one actually works. ;)
- devscreen 9y agoThat is an aggressive timeline to drop android support!
- justonepost 9y agoWow, looks like a great opportunity to create a competing service that supports iOS / Android.
- tauntz 9y agoThere are quite many competing services that focus exclusively on iOS and Android (nevercode.io, bitrise.io and others). Buddybuild wouldn't have sold to Apple if they saw that there's still more untapped opportunity in this space. It's a crowded market.. (disclaimer: I'm the former CEO of Greenhouse CI)
- toddgower 9y agoI've been a Buddybuild user for the past couple months after watching the founder, Dennis, give a talk at a meetup. Great product with a super easy setup. Really bummed that I'll likely have to find a new solution after only two months (though I understand the founder's decision). Can anyone recommend a product with a similar ease of setup? Buddybuild was my first foray into mobile CI. Have not seen the need since our iOS dev team is one-person strong (me!) but once I've realized the benefits, there's no going back.
- kristiansagi 9y agoWe at nevercode.io wrote an overview of our platform for BuddyBuild users for easy migration. Have a look :) https://nevercode.io/welcome-home-android-developer/ https://nevercode.io/welcome-home-android-developer/
- trevor-e 9y agoApple needs to drastically simplify how Xcode builds work instead of acquiring more companies. For example, provisioning profiles solve a problem that doesn't exist while creating a dozen more. Xcode is still limited to macOS. On the deployment side iTunes Connect is possibly the worst website that I've used. It's incredibly slow (both the front and backend) and has limited options for phased releases.
- s73ver_ 9y ago"Xcode is still limited to macOS." Yes, their IDE was made for their platform. I'm not seeing why this is a problem.
- trevor-e 9y agoYes, it's totally within their rights to do so, but the walled garden approach is getting old. Microsoft is at least starting to learn to this. If they don't want to port over all of Xcode, at least port xcodebuild and allow us to connect to physical devices. macOS does not make a good build server. If they did things right then companies like Buddybuild and fastlane wouldn't need to exist.
- ajeet_dhaliwal 9y agoCurious how those of you who knew about buddybuild heard about it? Seems I hear about companies for the first time when they are either acquired or shutdown.
- Pharaoh2 9y agoIt was one of the few CI providers that supported MacOS. Since iOS apps can only be legally built on apple hardware, if you were an iOS developer and didn't want to maintain your own mac minis, you knew about them and the few other providers.
- ajeet_dhaliwal 9y agoThanks that makes sense.
- birmacher 9y agoYou can use Bitrise.io ( CEO here ) as well to build your macOS app. Give it a try and let us know how you like it! We’re glad to help with setup too.
- vivekmgeorge 9y agoPersonally, I think this is the fairly useless move by Apple. Being able to build apps easier will not change this dead ecosystem. Easier ways to market apps, get them into the hands of users, and remind ppl to use the apps they downloaded is what's needed. Facebook, Google and Apple consume all free of users.
- v1c 9y agoThere's always Jenkins with Fastlane as an alternative, then again Apple offered the guy that created Fastlane an internship. Maybe Google will put something together for the Android crowd?
- Sujan 9y agoFastlane has pretty good Android support (equivalent to iOS). And the guy that created it, @krausefx, now actually runs it as a Open Source community project - from within Google where the Fabric team landed after some time at Twitter.
- emdowling 9y agoSeems pretty clear to me that Apple is doing this to make Xcode for iPad viable. For vaguely complex apps, the iPad still wouldn’t be fast enough to do compilation in a reasonable time frame. By moving compilation (or at least some of it) and release processes (archiving, signing, etc) to the cloud, Xcode for iPad becomes much more streamlined and capable of building larger, more complicated apps.
- skocznymroczny 9y agoWhen can we expect a "it's been an incredible journey" blog post?
- sireat 9y agoIt's already up: https://ourincrediblejourney.tumblr.com/post/169262039243/buddybuild https://ourincrediblejourney.tumblr.com/post/169262039243/bu...