Apple has acquired certain assets belonging to Rabbit 3 Times, the developer of the app design tool Play, and has obtained the right to hire some employees from the company. The company’s notification to the European Commission in February was published on the Commission’s website this week after a four-month review process. Thus, Apple’s acquisition process, which had been carried out silently for a long time, became official. The financial terms of the agreement were not shared with the public.
Play was known as a prominent prototyping tool, especially among designers developing iPhone applications. The application, which runs on Mac and iPhone, allowed the preparation of interactive interface drafts using Apple’s SwiftUI framework. These prepared prototypes could then be transferred directly to the Xcode environment. This approach accelerated the transition between design and development processes and helped teams work more efficiently on the same project.
Play application was awarded the Apple Design Award
Play was awarded in the Innovation category at the Apple Design Awards in 2025. In its award statement, Apple stated that the application facilitates the preparation of SwiftUI-based interactive prototypes and combines its powerful features with a simple user experience. The company also particularly emphasized that Play’s real-time synchronization between Mac and iPhone facilitates team collaboration. This evaluation revealed that the technical approach of the application within the Apple ecosystem was also seen as valuable by the company.
It is also noteworthy that Play was removed from the App Store after the agreement. The fact that the application can no longer be downloaded indicates that Apple prefers the so-called “acqui-hire” method, which it uses from time to time in the technology industry. In this model, companies incorporate not only the technology but also the engineering and design team that develops the product. Apple has made similar acquisitions in the past in the fields of artificial intelligence, music, camera technologies and software development tools.
For now, it is unknown how Apple will evaluate the technology and intellectual property rights acquired from Play. However, one of the strongest possibilities is that Play’s prototyping capabilities will be integrated into Xcode or Apple’s developer tools in the future. While SwiftUI has been at the center of the application development process for Apple platforms in recent years, the company continues to improve Xcode with regular updates. If Play’s experience is reflected in these tools, it may be possible to further strengthen the integration between design and software development processes. Apple has not made any official statement regarding these plans after the acquisition.