The Wall Street Journal reported late Thursday that Apple has acquired app-search engine Chomp. According to the venerable financial publication, the acquisition gives the iPhone maker a “small team of app specialists and technology designed to ease the pain of finding apps.”
Although financial details weren’t immediately released, it’s unlikely the purchase depleted much of Apple’s $100 billion in cash reserves.
A rep for Apple would only confirm the acquisition but, per Apple’s policy regarding acquired companies, the tech giant “generally doesn’t discuss its purpose or plans.”
Chomp, which currently powers Verizon’s Android app search, will all but certainly be deployed in improving the App Store’s search and discovery features. Apple fans have been clamoring for some time in hopes of gaining improvements in this realm. And it it now looks like Apple is giving users what they want.
And with more than a half million apps now populating the digital content storefront, there’s never been a better time to make the tweaks that a Chimp acquisition seems to foreshadow.
