Facebook's Parse now powering 100,000 apps
The social network plays landlord to the data behind a ballooning number of applications, its Parse service says.
Parse is simultaneously shooting down naysayers and tooting its own horn with the announcement that it's now powering more than 100,000 applications, a 25 percent increase since being picked up by Facebook.
At the end of April, Facebook purchased 2-year-old Parse, a backend services provider for mobile-app makers, for a reported $85 million as part of an ongoing strategy to entice developers to incorporate Facebook hooks into their apps. The deal also had the potential to scare away future or existing customers worried that Facebook would abuse its power as the new landlord of their data.
But that clearly hasn't been the case, Parse co-founder and CEO Ilya Sukhar told CNET. The numbers -- 20,000 new Parse-powered apps in a month -- speak for themselves. And, anecdotally, Sukhar has heard from developers that they're actually more comfortable building on Parse because they believe the app-hosting product will now stick around.
"We grew more in the last month than we did in our entire first year of existence," Sukhar wrote in a blog post announcing the milestone.
The 100,000 app reveal comes ahead of the service's sold-out party for developers attending Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference. Last year, Parse hosted its WWDC meet-up at a free space. With Facebook footing the bill this year, Parse will be stationed at the W San Francisco hotel on Wednesday evening, a circumstance Sukhar joked was a pleasant upgrade.