Apple has acquired Play, the prototyping app that won the 2025 Apple Design Award in the Innovation category. The acquisition, disclosed through EU regulatory filings under the Digital Markets Act, confirms Apple purchased assets and gained hiring rights from Rabbit 3 Times, the company behind Play. The app has since disappeared from the App Store.

Play specialized in helping developers build interactive prototypes using Swift UI frameworks. The tool earned recognition for its sophisticated yet accessible interface that enabled designers to create and collaborate across Mac and iPhone with real-time syncing. Its thoughtful design made complex prototyping workflows feel intuitive rather than cumbersome.

The timing suggests Apple wanted Play's technology integrated into its developer ecosystem. With Xcode lacking robust visual prototyping tools, Play's feature set could fill a gap in Apple's free developer resources. The removal from App Store indicates Apple is repositioning the technology rather than maintaining it as a standalone product.

This acquisition reflects Apple's ongoing effort to strengthen its development tools suite. By bringing award-winning prototyping capabilities in-house, the company can potentially streamline how developers create and test iOS applications, making the overall development process more efficient for the entire ecosystem.