Optimizely’s new developer tool takes the guesswork out of building iOS apps

After providing its A/B testing to thousands of websites since 2010, Optimizely is finally holding its own testing and optimization conference today, OptiCon.

But that’s not all: The company just made its A/B testing service available for iOS apps.

“Optimizely for iOS introduces the same capability for mobile apps, with the goal of increasing engagement or generating revenue from mobile marketing, media, and games,” the company said in an official statement.

As everything shifts toward mobile, testing has become more important. In February, Apple reportedly acquired Testflight’s parent company, Burstly. Testflight, which Burstly acquired in 2012, offered services such as beta testing, crash reporting, and analytics. 

This would make Optimizely’s new iOS testing service one of the few prominent tools left standing independently, though a handful of smaller ones are available, too.

Interestingly, a discussion thread in Stack Exchange’s User Experience section suggests that Optimizely (and Google) might have been working on their own mobile testing tools since 2012. Google now has a developer console that enables developers to track and test their Android apps.

Optimizely last raised funding a year ago, to the tune of $28 million. At the time, it boasted of revenue growth of 400 percent from March 2012 to March 2013. The company was part of Y Combinator’s Winter 2010 batch, and it has raised a total of $31.2 million to date.