Apple buys German color grading tool Color.io

Acquisitions by Apple always fuel speculation about what the iPhone manufacturer plans to do next. As a result of the Digital Markets Act, the US company must be transparent about which companies it acquires. It has now become known in this way that Apple acquired the German company Patchflyer in January, which is behind the web-based color correction tool Color.io. The group also secured employees and technology from the AI startup PromptAI. Both acquisitions became known through Apple's mandatory notifications under the Digital Markets Act by the EU.

Color.io was a popular tool for photographers and filmmakers for color correction, RAW editing, color grading, and creating 3D LUTs (Look-up Tables). The web application offered cinematic effects such as halation and grain, among others, and had over 200,000 users. At the end of 2025, the website went offline – Pro users received a desktop version of the application beforehand.

According to its website, Patchflyer was founded by Jonathan Ochmann, who operated the company as the sole developer for over ten years. Ochmann brings expertise in Color Science, Color Management, and Digital Imaging – before Color.io, he developed VisionColor LUTs. In November 2025, he announced his move to a larger company: “After more than ten years of doing everything myself, I've reached a point where I need to grow in a way that isn't possible as a solo developer.”

The acquisition fits into Apple's recent strategy of selectively expanding its own creative tools. Color.io's own Color Engine and color models could benefit Apple's professional applications such as the video editing program Final Cut Pro. Integration into Pixelmator Pro, which Apple acquired in early 2025 and is part of the Creator Studio subscription, is also likely. However, it is unclear whether the offline version of Color.io will be further developed at Apple. Furthermore, It is conceivable that it will become part of the Creator Bundle.

PromptAI is intended to make HomeKit smarter

In parallel, Apple acquired employees and technology from the computer vision startup PromptAI from San Francisco. As CNBC reported in October 2025, the company, founded in 2023, had developed the app Seemour, which used AI to analyze security camera footage – for example, to detect people, pets, and objects. PromptAI was led by Tete Xiao (PhD in Computer Science, UC Berkeley) and Trevor Darrell, co-founder of the Berkeley AI Research Lab.

The computer vision technology is likely to benefit Apple's smart home division. More intelligent notifications in HomeKit, which can distinguish between family members and a package delivery person – processed on the device, in line with Apple's privacy philosophy – are conceivable. For some time now, there have been speculations that Apple is preparing a major smart home offensive. The acquisition of PromptAI would fit very well with this. The Seemour app has been discontinued, and user data will be deleted.

Apple's series of small acquisitions

The two acquisitions are part of a series of targeted acquisitions. Apple recently acquired the video effects specialist MotionVFX with around 70 employees, as well as the photonics startup invrs.io. With the billion-dollar acquisition of Q.AI, the group also entered deep into AI-based language technology.

Apple is clearly pursuing the goal of strengthening both its own creative tools and the AI capabilities of its products. Future CEO John Ternus sees “almost unlimited potential” in AI, while the company is sending Siri developers to AI bootcamp.

(mki)