Dutch digital magazine startup Prss has been acquired by Apple

Want to make a digital magazine but Apple’s iBook Author app just doesn’t offer what you want? Then perhaps Cupertino’s latest buy could signal a coming change that’ll help you out. The iPhone company has purchased Prss, the digital publishing outfit behind Trvl, which TechCrunch notes was the first iPad-only newsstand publication way back in 2010. Prss’ niche is that it allows you to make snazzy-looking iPad mags without needing to know any coding.

Apple has acquired Dutch digital magazine startup Prss, a platform that makes it easy to create iPad-compatible magazines using tools that don’t require any knowledge of code. The company is essentially a magazine-focused version of iBooks Author, and the deal could mean better native publishing tools for digital periodicals. The acquisition was first reported by iCulture, a Dutch iOS-focused blog, which reports the deal from a “source with knowledge of the deal.” We’ve received the following statement from Apple, which is as close as the company ever comes to making a positive confirmation of an acquisition: “Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans.”