Apple Acquires Map App HopStop
Map woes may be a thing of the past for iPhone users. Apple has agreed to purchase navigation app start-up HopStop.
Gone may be the days of faulty iPhone mapware. On Friday, Apple agreed to buy transit-mapping app HopStop, Bloomberg reports.
Apple’s iPhone 5 mapping software has caught some flak for misdirecting users and not supporting public transportation directions. Acquiring HopStop would give the hardware company a robust travel app that offers users the fastest way to travel by foot, bike, subway, or car.
HopStop was founded in 2005 by Nigerian-born entrepreneur Chinedu Echeruo. In 2009, Echeruo relinquished his position as CEO of the company to Joe Meyer.
“It was a very tough decision for me personally because this was a company that I had started, but I felt that where the company was and where the company needed to go required a different skill set and a different leader,” Echeruo told Inc. in June about his decision to step down.
If the Apple deal is any indication, this decision appears to have paid off.
HopStop has more than 8 billion users in over 300 cities worldwide.
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