Apple acquires Chomp, set to revamp search and discovery for App Store apps

Apple has acquired Chomp, a search and discovery app for the iPhone that helps users find the best-of-the-best apps in the App Store. Apple plans to utilize Chomp's proprietary algorithms and technology to improve discoverability and user experience, presumably both on the mobile and desktop versions of the App Store.

According to M.G Siegler at TechCrunch:

This is not a cheap “acqui-hire”, Apple has bought the Chomp team and technology and plans to use both to completely revamp App Store search and recommendations, I hear.

This follows a recent 9to5Mac report that Apple had plans in the pipeline for a complete revamp of the iTunes and App Store environment, with emphasis on app and music discovery. The Chomp acquisition would no doubt play a roll, potentially a large one, in the rumored redesign, especially server-side where right now there are far too many scam apps and poor quality search results to effectively find quality apps.

Whether or not it would replace, or merely reinvigorate the Genius recommendation system is unknown.

There are currently over 500,000 iOS apps available for download and purchase, and Apple is already preparing for 25 billion app downloads. There's also a growing number of OS X apps in the Mac App Store. This is something Apple simply has to address.

Source: TechCrunch