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Further bolstering the presence of third-party social networks in iOS, Apple is testing deep LinkedIn integration for the upcoming release of iOS 7, according to code-based references found inside of the first beta of iOS 7. The code points to a single-sign-on system, similar to how iOS integrates Facebook and Twitter, for LinkedIn accounts. The references also indicate that users will be able to easily post content, such as Web links, to LinkedIn via a share-sheet or through iOS applications…
According to Hamza Sood, who discovered and sent us the LinkedIn code and text strings, certain pieces of code are missing for the LinkedIn functionality to become active. Perhaps this is why LinkedIn integration is not present in the user-facing version of the first iOS 7 beta.
It is currently uncertain if Apple plans to continue to develop LinkedIn integration for iOS 7, or if it will be a feature that simply vanishes after internal testing. Apple has cut social networks from iOS in the past. For example, back in 2010, Apple tested versions of iOS 4 that included Facebook integration, but the two companies did not agree to a deal until 2012 with iOS 6.
Apple added Vimeo, Flickr, and Tencent Weibo integration with iOS 7.
iOS 7 integration with LinkedIn would not be unprecedented. At the WWDC 2013 keynote, Apple and LinkedIn announced ties for the upcoming release of OS X Mavericks. Linkedin integration in Mavericks allows for single-sign-on app access, sharing from Safari, Notification Center-based alerts, and a presence inside of Safari for Mac’s Shared Links view. Twitter is noticeably alone in iOS 7′s Shared Links panel, so adding LinkedIn integration to iOS 7 would seem logical.
Screenshots of the aforementioned code and text strings: