IBM today announced that it has released its 100th MobileFirst for iOS app, fulfilling its goal set in partnership with Apple. The made-for-business apps are used by enterprise customers across 14 industries and 65 individual professions, including wealth advisors, flight attendants, first responders, nurses, retail buyers and more.

MobileFirst for iOS apps include Advisor Alerts, Asset Care, Hospital RN, Passenger+, Sales Assist, Sales Consult, Train Tickets, Traveler Care and dozens others, used by clients such as Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, Air Canada, AXA, Bosch, Coca-Cola Amatil, Japan Post, Rimac, SAS and Vodafone Netherlands.

MobileFirst-iOS
IBM also said it is developing MobileFirst for iOS apps for iPad Pro, which will take advantage of the 12.9-inch tablet's expanded power, performance, larger screen size and iOS 9 multitasking features. Apple Pencil's precision and functionality will enable enterprise users to design and layout a room, log transactions or annotate maintenance logs.

Apple and IBM announced an enterprise partnership in 2014, released the first ten MobileFirst for iOS apps at yearend and have launched new apps periodically since. MobileFirst for iOS apps are designed in a secure environment, and can easily be deployed, managed and upgraded through IBM cloud services.

Apple and IBM list all of the MobileFirst for iOS apps on their websites.

Top Rated Comments

nagromme Avatar
120 months ago
Based on the short list those do not look like any apps that would appear as enterprise apps. More like niche type apps that could be used by business users (or consumer alike).
You missed some of the short list—but also the full list. (And "enterprise" does not mean "non-niche"—often the reverse, in fact.)

As limited as this portfolio of 100 apps may seem, remember, it has been 16 months! I say, not half bad for starters. Some of the 100 will become big successes, some will not. Inevitable.

More and longer case studies will come, but it takes time. For now, these will have to do:

http://www.ibm.com/mobilefirst/us/en/mobile-case-studies/
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Fzang Avatar
120 months ago
These enterprise apps look damn sexy at that.

Too many professional apps run with the philosophy "if it works, and the GUI sucks in every possible way... It works and the GUI isn't relevant". Especially in natural science there's an overweight of "while I code this steaming turd of Java and Python on my Linux machine".
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jayducharme Avatar
120 months ago
The made-for-business apps are used by enterprise customers across 14 industries and 65 individual professions
While that's admirable considering Apple's past difficulties in getting enterprise adoption, the statistic has no context. How does this stack up to the usage of MS or Unix in those industries and professions? It's hard to tell from this if Apple is making significant inroads with the adoption of their ecosystem, or whether they're still just an outlier.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
2457282 Avatar
120 months ago
While that's admirable considering Apple's past difficulties in getting enterprise adoption, the statistic has no context. How does this stack up to the usage of MS or Unix in those industries and professions? It's hard to tell from this if Apple is making significant inroads with the adoption of their ecosystem, or whether they're still just an outlier.
Agreed. I would like to know how many of those 100 apps are actually deployed. In how many businesses. With how many total users. I would like to see an actual use case or case study of these apps helping an organization optimize their productivity. Until then this has no context. For all we know they wrote all these apps and they just sit there with zero usage.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Only Mortal Avatar
120 months ago

I worked for IBM for many years and can say they have a VERY jaded past with application software. They are not Oracle, Salesforce, Infor, Microsoft, etc.. Their success in software has largely been systems software, not applications. They get into and out of applications spaces so frequently that most businesses would be very hesitant to invest heavily, because they've bailed out of markets many times.
As one of the former devs on ViaVoice for OSX you're right but the Mac team was very conscious about UI. I spent lots of time making the preferences look like the Apple System Prefs and the ViaVoice floating window work well with its drawer.

To be honest, we were all Mac heads who just happened to be in Florida :-)
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Zirel Avatar
120 months ago
But, but there's no pro apps for the iPad.
"It can't run PhotoShop, business have no use for it, buy the Microsoft one"

The Verge
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iOS 18

iOS 18.4 Coming Next Week With These New Features for Your iPhone

Friday February 14, 2025 6:18 am PST by
The first iOS 18.4 beta for iPhones should be just around the corner, and the update is expected to include many new features and changes. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman expects the iOS 18.4 beta to be released by next week. Below, we outline what to expect from iOS 18.4 so far. Apple Intelligence for Siri Siri is expected to get several enhancements powered by Apple Intelligence on iOS...
iPhone 17 Roundup Feature 2

iPhone Design to Change 'Significantly' This Year

Monday February 17, 2025 7:09 am PST by
Apple is set to "significantly change" the iPhone's design language later this year, according to a Weibo leaker. In a new post, the user known "Digital Chat Station" said that the iPhone's design is "starting to change significantly" this year. The "iPhone 17 Air" reportedly features a "horizontal, bar-shaped" design on the rear, likely referring to an elongated camera bump. On the other...
apple launch feb 2025 alt

What to Expect From the 'Apple Launch' Next Week

Thursday February 13, 2025 11:48 am PST by
Apple has yet to announce any new devices this year, but that could change starting next week. Apple CEO Tim Cook today said to "get ready" for a "launch" on Wednesday, February 19. "Get ready to meet the newest member of the family," said Cook, in a social media post. The post includes an #AppleLaunch hashtag, along with a short video featuring an animated Apple logo inside of a circle....
Apple Maps 2024

Apple Maps Might Start Showing Ads

Sunday February 16, 2025 7:22 am PST by
Apple is "exploring" the idea of showing search ads in the Apple Maps app, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Back in 2022, Gurman said software engineering was "already underway" to display ads in the Apple Maps app, but Apple did not move forward with the idea at the time. Today, he said Apple is "giving this notion more thought" again. This time around, he said Apple has yet to...
Tim Cook Apple Park

10+ Announcements Apple Could Have Rolled Into a February Event

Saturday February 15, 2025 8:00 am PST by
Apple appears to have enough upcoming product announcements to justify a full event this month, yet all signs indicate these reveals will be handled through a series of press releases instead. There are a multitude of rumors from reliable sources about specific announcements in the coming weeks, so here's everything that Apple could have feasibly included in a hypothetical February event: ...
iPhone 17 Pro Render Front Page Tech

iPhone 17 Pro With All-New Camera Bar Design Allegedly Revealed

Thursday February 13, 2025 5:49 pm PST by
Apple's next-generation iPhone 17 Pro will feature three rear cameras arranged in a familiar triangular layout, but the cameras will be housed in an all-new rectangular camera bar with rounded corners, according to YouTube channel Front Page Tech. iPhone 17 Pro camera design render created by Asher for Front Page Tech In a video uploaded today, Front Page Tech host Jon Prosser said the camera ...
m2 pro mac mini

Apple is Now Selling a Refurbished Mac Mini for Just $319 (!)

Saturday February 15, 2025 9:58 am PST by
A few days ago, we reported that Apple's refurbished Mac mini pricing had a problem, and it appears that Apple has taken note. Apple was offering a refurbished Mac mini with the M2 chip, 16GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage for $559, which was $50 more than a refurbished Mac mini with the M4 chip, 16GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage. All other key specifications were equal. That's no longer...
iPhone SE 4 Thumb 1

Apple's Next iPhone SE Launching on Wednesday - Here's What We Know

Friday February 14, 2025 4:04 pm PST by
Apple CEO Tim Cook teased an Apple announcement that's coming on Wednesday, February 19, and it's looking like that mystery announcement will be the next-generation iPhone SE. We've been hearing about the iPhone SE 4 for quite some time now, and we essentially know everything to expect. If you want a sneak peek at what's coming, read on. Naming Apple first introduced the iPhone SE in...