Pieceable

Pieceable Software, Inc. operated as a software-as-a-service (SaaS) provider focused on iOS application development and demonstration tools. The company was co-founded by programmer Fred Potter, whose prior experience included creating BerryStore, an application marketplace for BlackBerry devices.

Initially, Pieceable aimed to provide a platform for non-technical users to build native mobile applications. A notable feature of this early iteration was the ability to edit an application on the web and see the changes update in real-time on a physical device. However, this product was never commercially launched due to challenges with Apple's App Store review process for its previewer tool.

The company subsequently pivoted to a product named Pieceable Viewer. This service enabled developers, sales teams, and customer support staff to run and demonstrate native iOS applications directly within a standard web browser. This functionality was achieved through significant reverse engineering, allowing an app to run on a remote Mac Mini and be streamed interactively to the user's browser, bypassing the need for App Store installation for demonstration purposes.

In June 2012, the three-person engineering team at Pieceable was acqui-hired by Facebook to join its mobile development division. The acquisition was for the talent of the team, and did not include Pieceable's technology or customer data. Following the acquisition, the Pieceable Viewer service was officially shut down on December 31, 2012.

Keywords: Pieceable, Fred Potter, iOS app demo, mobile app testing, web browser iOS simulator, app streaming, developer tools, Pieceable Viewer, Facebook acqui-hire, mobile application development, app preview, SaaS, remote app testing, native app demo