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When Tim Cook calls something an “economic miracle,” you listen.

In 2024, Apple’s App Store catalyzed over Rs 44,447 crores (roughly $5.31 billion) in developer billings and sales in India — and what’s more compelling is that nearly 94% of that revenue went directly to developers and businesses. No middlemen. No commission cuts. Just a straight path from product to profit.

As Apple’s CEO put it, “This study underlines the power of India’s incredibly vibrant app economy.”

That economy, built quietly on code and creativity, is no longer a niche — it’s a cornerstone. And the beating heart of this transformation? Apple’s ecosystem.

Take Swiggy, for instance. For a company handling millions of food orders a day, speed and reliability aren’t just nice-to-haves — they’re survival. “Our crash rate is below 0.1%, and page load times are under 500 milliseconds — that’s half a second,” Mitansh, part of the engineering team at Swiggy, told International Business Times. Their team was among the first in India to roll out Live Activities, a feature Apple introduced with the iPhone 14 Pro. “It allows users to track their order in real time — directly on their lock screen. No need to open the app,” he added.

Agam Mahajan, iOS App Engineering Manager at Swiggy, shared that the implementation was so seamless, it caught Apple’s attention. “Our implementation was even featured on Apple’s website. Today, we see over 400,000 Live Activity sessions daily.”

But it’s not just about speed — it’s about who gets to experience that speed. Swiggy has woven accessibility into its very DNA. “We’ve seen a measurable increase in orders placed by users with disabilities after each accessibility improvement,” Agam revealed. “Now, accessibility is a part of our development lifecycle — every new feature we build is checked for accessibility compliance by default.”

Even when Apple launches subtle updates, Swiggy listens closely. From early adoption of SwiftUI to the built-in translation tools that now let users see food menus in Hindi, the company’s Apple-first strategy has paid off. A particularly clever use of Apple’s OCR capabilities allows users to upload handwritten grocery lists — which the app auto-converts into a digital shopping cart. “This was built entirely by an individual developer within the team,” Agam beamed.

Why does Swiggy lean so hard into Apple’s frameworks? In Mitansh’s words: “Simplicity. Apple’s frameworks are built with clarity and elegance. The more we focus on creating simple, intuitive experiences, the more powerful our products become.”

It’s a philosophy echoed by developers at LightX, a graphic design and AI imaging app that has grown from a $2 paid app in India to a subscription platform with over 7.5 million global users and a sparkling 4.7-star rating. LightX now lets users turn selfies into cartoons, change hairstyles and outfits using AI, or create business-ready Instagram ads in seconds.

“We’ve been building generative AI portrait tools… and Apple has been very helpful in opening APIs and frameworks for developers,” Sharad Shankar, Founder & CEO at AndOr Communications (LightX developer), told IBT. “They notify us when a major update is coming so we can integrate those new technologies. This support is crucial.”

But in the age of AI, power comes with responsibility. As Sharad from LightX pointed out, privacy remains paramount: “We have a very strict privacy policy. No personal photos are used for training purposes, and our moderation system filters inappropriate content. Our goal is to keep the platform safe for all ages.”

While LightX pushes the boundaries of creativity, OTT platform Chaupal is redefining content consumption — especially in regional India and the global Punjabi diaspora. From humble beginnings to now being profitable as of April 2025, Chaupal’s journey mirrors that of a tech startup backed by a fanatical user base and sharp strategic execution.

Despite India’s Android dominance, 51% of Chaupal’s mobile users are on Apple devices. “That’s an anomaly we’re proud of,” said Gurjit Singh, CTO at Chaupal. And it’s not just user numbers — it’s the quality of engagement. With over 10 million subscriptions sold, a razor-sharp CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost) of Rs 45, and control of 96% of the Punjabi theatrical catalog, Chaupal is now live in over 170 countries via Apple, Amazon Prime, MX Player, and more.

Localization has been a secret weapon. “When we localized our product pages — especially in French for Canada and parts of Europe — our downloads and ratings saw a 2.5–3x lift,” said Ujjwal Mahajan, co-founder of Chaupal, during an interaction with IBT.

Another game-changer? Frictionless checkout. “Users in Canada can pay in CAD, those in Australia in AUD… it’s helped conversion rates immensely,” Mahajan added.

Their upcoming features include voice-enabled recommendations (“Play something like Jatt & Juliet”) and AI-powered mood-based playlists to take the guesswork out of streaming — a bold bet on Apple’s upcoming integration with on-device intelligence.

Yet, for all their differences — food delivery, graphic design, regional content — Swiggy, LightX, and Chaupal share one thing: the invisible but undeniable scaffolding of Apple’s ecosystem.

From seamless app development and privacy-first frameworks to advanced AI capabilities and international scaling, Apple’s approach to empowering developers has created a fertile ground for Indian innovation.

As Tim Cook put it, it’s not just an ecosystem — it’s an economic miracle. And India, it seems, is just getting started.