Apple's Burstly Kills SkyRocket Service

Burstly, the company that's known for its TestFlight iOS app testing platform and is now owned by Apple, has been notifying users of its SkyRocket product that they have until June 9 before that service shuts down. SkyRocket is an app monetization service designed to make it easier for developers to work with in-app ad placement services.

Burstly's SkyRocket service shutting down in JuneBurstly's SkyRocket service shutting down in June

Letters announcing contracts would terminate on June 9 have been making their way to developers, according to TechCrunch. There isn't anything in the letters that indicates SkyRocket is completely shutting down, but considering there isn't any talk of transitioning customers to a new service, it's a pretty easy assumption to make.

Burstly's FlightPath app analytics service shut down in February after the purchase, which made the SkyRocket death warrant seem pretty inevitable.

News of Apple's Burstly purchase surfaced in February, and was generally seen as a good thing since it was a sign that the company may finally be seriously listening to developer's complaints about the current state of the company's app testing options.

What's likely is that Apple will be merging Burstly's services into its own iOS app development offerings and is cleaning the slate, so to speak, before relaunching them as part of the iOS SDK.

FlightPath's June 9 end date fits with the general time frame Apple usually follows for its annual Worldwide Developer Conference. If Apple is planning on introducing Burstly's services as part of the iOS SDK, that would be the perfect time to make the announcement and transition the company's current customers into whatever is announced at WWDC.