Adobe snaps up cloud image editor Aviary to fast-track SDK development

Seven years after its inception, online image editing service Aviary has been acquired by Adobe. The Photoshop stalwart is no stranger to the cloud, but this latest purchase seems to indicate that the company is looking to expand further in this arena. Pay a visit to the Aviary website and the Adobe branding is already in place -- there's also a new entry on the Aviary company timeline that has been updated to reflect the acquisition. The Adobe-branded Aviary website makes clear the thinking behind the move: "accelerating delivery of mobile apps that integrate with Adobe Creative Cloud".

It seems that the main reason for Adobe's interest in Aviary is the fact that the ornithologically-named firm has developed a number of mobile SDKs. Aviary is already a popular tool, and Adobe is understandably keep to monetize the popularity of cloud apps and mobile service: Aviary is a ready-made package that encompasses both of these ideas perfectly. An announcement by Adobe explains that "the acquisition accelerates Adobe's strategy to make Creative Cloud a vibrant platform for third-party apps, through a new Creative SDK".

The Adobe Creative SDK is yet to see the light of day, and the work that Aviary has already done could well help to speed things along a little. Scott Belsky, vice president of Creative Cloud Ecosystem & Behance at Adobe, said: "Aviary has an exceptional team and technology platform, as well as expertise serving a robust developer ecosystem. We're thrilled to leverage Aviary's technology to make our Creative SDK even more powerful for app developers".

Aviary is understandably upbeat about the latest developments. CEO Tobias Peggs explains that the team can "barely contain [its] excitement" and says that there's a lot to look forward to. "our teams are brainstorming on things that we can accomplish together. We will continue to support and enhance Aviary's SDK as part of Adobe's broader Creative SDK offering. While ensuring no interruption to Aviary's developer community, or their apps’ users, we plan to add additional components and services for developers to incorporate -- such as the ability to save creations to Creative Cloud in Adobe file formats, access Photoshop technology, and connect creativity across devices using the Creative SDK".