The small firm is renowned for its iOS design prowess, which probably aroused Facebook’s interest more than the app itself. Hence, the company acquires talent behind Acrylic, and is paying for the company’s two employees, not its technology.
In a post today, Dustin MacDonald of Acrylic has announced that they have been acqui-hired by Facebook, and soon the entire team would be moving to San Francisco “in the coming weeks” to join Facebook’s design team.
The Vancouver, Canada-based firm is noted for developing popular iOS and Mac software like the news reader Pulp and the secure database app Wallet (for securely storing passwords, credit-card numbers, etc.).
Acrylic says that Pulp and Wallet were not acquired as part of the deal, but now the company has no plans for further development. Both apps will remain available for purchase in the future in their current form, but it looks like they would not be getting any major updates.
The two apps are available on both Mac OS X and iOS. These two popular apps, which according to founder Dustin MacDonald’s have been downloaded “hundreds of thousands” of times, will remain up and running “in their current form.” Besides, the company has decided to discontinue development of the two apps, which Facebook itself has not acquired.
As a matter of fact, the two member Acrylic team would be moving to San Francisco in the next few weeks and will be absorbed into Facebook’s design team. The terms of this deal have not yet been released.
Interestingly, the deal seemingly originated from a trip to Facebook’s headquarters MacDonald took last year. He explained in a blog post that he found a lot of his design ideas and principles aligning with Facebook’s. He sees the acquisition as “an opportunity at Facebook to have a big impact in many people’s lives.”
Here is the full announcement from Acrylic:
I’m happy to announce today that we’ve packed up our small Vancouver studio and will be making the move to San Francisco in the coming weeks to join the design team at Facebook.
For the past four years, we’ve worked tirelessly on creating truly awesome products with a focus on innovation and great design, and I’m incredibly proud of the work we’ve been able to accomplish during that time. Our flagship apps, Wallet and Pulp, have been used and loved by hundreds of thousands of people around the world. Building these products has been a fun and exciting ride, but the time has come to move on to newer and bigger challenges.
Facebook is an invaluable service that we all use daily, and a company I believe is one of the most innovative and important around today. After visiting late last year, I discovered that we shared many of the same core product design goals and principles, and it soon became obvious that it was a natural fit. Simply put, there’s an opportunity at Facebook to have a big impact in many people’s lives. More importantly, Facebook is full of extremely talented people who will be able to help realize its full potential in the years to come.
Our products and services have not been acquired by Facebook, and while there are no plans for further development on them, Wallet and Pulp will continue to remain available for download and purchase in their current form. We’ll certainly be the first to let you know of any updates or changes here in the future.
A special thanks to all of our customers and supporters who have helped us grow and build the best products possible throughout the last four years. We wouldn’t have been able to do it without you.
Dustin MacDonald
Acrylic Software
Since its acquisition of Instagram back in April, Facebook has made a spate of hires and acquisitions, including facial recognition company Face.com and a former Apple designer. Hopefully, now the social media giant Facebook will use the team’s iOS expertise to improve its existing iOS applications, though it is unknown what part of the design team Acrylic will actually join.
Nevertheless, rumors are long swirling about a possible Facebook-based phone OS, but all that is evident is that Facebook is putting together a team of established software builders before making its next move.