Apple Acquires Transit App HopStop

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By Christina Warren2013-07-19 18:15:28 -0400

Good news iOS transit users, Apple has acquired transit and navigation service HopStop as part of its continuing bid to improve its mapping software.

The deal was first reported by Bloomberg and confirmed to Mashable by Apple. The company declined to share details of the acquisition or its purchase price.

Also on Friday, Apple confirmed it acquired location data startup Locationary for an undisclosed sum.

The HopStop purchase could significantly improve the navigational offerings inside Apple Maps. Since launching last year, Apple Maps has relied on third-party transit apps — including HopStop — to provide users with schedules and routes to subways and buses. This is in contrast to Google Maps, which builds transit offerings into its core program.

HopStop supports over 700 transit agencies across seven countries. In April, the company launched HopStop Live! for iPhone — providing users with crowdsourced real-time updates on delays or service changes.

The functionality is similar to the newly-acquired Waze, except it is for transit rather than automobile traffic.

HopStop is one of the best transit apps for iOS and this acquisition is perfectly timed for a new and improved Apple Maps to launch alongside iOS 7 this fall.

We've reached out to HopStop for details about the future of its Android app and HopStop.com website. We'll update with any new information we receive.

What do you think of HopStop and Apple? Let us know in the comments.

Image: Flickr, deerkoski

Topics: apple maps, Apps and Software, hopstop, maps, Mobile, Tech