At Dreamforce 2019, there was no shortage of major announcements and feature launches. From Customer 360 Truth to Einstein Voice to integration with Tableau, these unveilings generated excitement amongst customers, partners and Salesforce enthusiasts alike.
At the event, Salesforce also announced a series of strategic partnerships with major technology players. Chief among them was a deepened alliance between Salesforce and Apple, a relationship that played a considerable role in three accompanying product launches. Let’s take a closer look.
Trailhead on the GO
First up was the launch of Trailhead GO, the first-ever free mobile app for the Trailhead partner community, exclusively available on iOS and iPadOS. Most Salesforce buffs are familiar with Trailhead, the gamified learning experience platform that allows you to test and demonstrate your skills, utilizing badges and points to illustrate your progress.
Now, with Trailhead GO, this experience is quite literally available at the fingertips of iPhone and iPad users. Trailblazers can now “skill up” on the go, taking advantage of more than 700 modules covering business, technical and soft skills, all of which can be completed right from a mobile device—anytime, anywhere.
Salesforce mobile app enhancements
In addition to Trailhead GO, Salesforce introduced a newly redesigned mobile app—with features exclusive to iOS—that brings the full power of the Customer 360 platform to mobile users and enables fast, convenient collaboration on-the-go between sales, service and marketing employees. Salesforce reports that over 1000 customers participated in the mobile app pilot over the span of a year, meticulously testing every feature and providing feedback to Salesforce developers to ensure a quality, feature-rich experience.
At launch, the Salesforce mobile app will run natively on iOS and support Siri shortcuts for navigating Salesforce records, as well as Face ID to enable easier, more secure access to the app. While Android users will still be able to download and utilize the Salesforce mobile app, only Apple users will be able to unlock the complete set of convenient, intuitive and powerful features and functionality it has to offer.
Nextgen mobile software development kit (SDK)
The announcement that brought the least fanfare, but arguably the most impact, was the release of the next generation of Salesforce’s mobile SDK, empowering developers to build and deploy native apps for iPhone and iPad on the Salesforce platform with ease. Optimized for iOS13, the enhanced SDK features SwiftUI and package manager to facilitate faster, simpler code compilation and distribution. Salesforce estimates that this new, Swift-optimized SDK will enable six million developers to build powerful native apps for iPhone and iPad, using just one set of tools and APIs.
The choice is clear
As these announcements indicate, in the long-running and sometimes bitter war between operating systems, Salesforce has clearly picked a side. In fact, during a fireside chat between the CEOs of both companies, Apple CEO Tim Cook joked that all Apple stores accept Android phones for recycling. Even as a long-time and loyal Samsung owner, I’m finding that the impressive Salesforce functionality available exclusively to Apple users makes the iPhone 11 look pretty enticing. At least now I know where to drop off my phone if I decide to make the switch.
As you navigate the ever-growing and changing landscape of the Salesforce ecosystem, the right partner can make all the difference. Contact Zennify today, and find out how our team of trusted advisors can guide you along the path to business success.
