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BENGALURU: It's official. Apple will set up an app design and development accelerator in Bengaluru to support engineering talent and grow the country's iOS developer community. The accelerator is expected to open in early 2017.The new initiative coincides with Tim Cook 's maiden visit to India as Apple CEO where tens of thousands of Indian developers will make apps for its operating system to provide seamless experiences across all Apple devices. The facility will also provide support and guidance on Swift, Apple’s powerful and intuitive programming language created to build apps for iOS, Mac, Apple TV and Apple Watch.Cook said India is home to one of the most vibrant and entrepreneurial iOS development communities in the world. “With the opening of this new facility in Bengaluru, we’re giving developers access to tools which will help them create innovative apps for customers around the world," he said.Bengaluru has emerged as an innovation hub for technology startups as well as larger enterprises. Over 1 million people in the city work in the tech sector, and over 40% of graduates from local universities specialize in engineering or information technology. Bengaluru has the largest developer community outside Silicon Valley. As of January last year, Apple had 1.4 million apps on its App Store Apple’s team will work to inspire and instruct developers on best practices, help them hone their skills and transform the design, quality and performance of their apps on the iOS platform." Tim Cook clearly sees India as an important market for Apple in the future. It makes a lot of sense for the company to invest in India and the tech businesses in the country. Apple doesn't just want to sell iPhones, they want to be part of the tech community and discussion in India, said Jim Dalrymple, editor in chief of LoopInsights. Nasscom president R Chandrashekhar said Apple’s investment in Bengaluru through its accelerator will have far-reaching effects for the area’s rapidly growing and highly talented developer community. "The skills and training they gain through this effort will significantly improve their app design and help them reach a broader market. Initiatives like these move the country forward in our efforts to advance a growth-led and sustainable technology sector," he said.“This is a huge vote of confidence in India’s developer community and a tremendous opportunity to gain world-class design and development expertise,” said Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal. “Apple’s support will help drive growth and accelerate progress among the country’s vast talent pool.”“We have worked closely with Apple to transform the Snapdeal app and offer our users the best possible experience,” said Snapdeal co-founder and CEO Kunal Bahl . “Apple’s expert guidance on the interface and user experience has helped us build an app that our consumers love. We are thrilled Apple will have a local presence which will amplify our efforts to develop more high-quality apps for our digital commerce ecosystem.”Apple introduced a new programming language Swift a few years back that enables developers to write safer, more reliable code, save time and create richer app experiences. A recent report by developer placement firm Toptal shows jobs requesting Swift rose 600% in 2015.Apple revolutionized personal technology with the introduction of the Macintosh in 1984. Today, Apple’s four software platforms — iOS, OS X, watchOS and tvOS — provide seamless experiences across all Apple devices and empower people with services including the App Store , Apple Music, Apple Pay and iCloud. Apple’s 100,000 employees are dedicated to making the best products.