According to a new rumor, Apple may be seeking to improve its beleaguered iOS Maps app by acquiring popular crowd-sourced traffic and navigation service Waze.
Apple is said to be “sniffing around Waze” for a potential acquisition, according to a report fromTechCrunch published on Wednesday. Both companies declined to comment, but a similar rumor also cropped up from an Israeli website.
Waze, available free in the App Store, (DIRECT LINK), was one of Apple’s recommended apps after users complained that the new Maps app in iOS 6 was not ready for primetime. Apple had replaced Google Maps with its own home-grown solution with the release of the new iOS version.
Waze’s developers say the popular app is a “fun, community-based traffic & navigation app,” and claims over 30 million users.
In Waze, users can share information in real-time, on such things as traffic congestion, gas prices, accidents, and speed-traps.
If Apple is seeking to purchase Waze, it won’t be the first time it has purchased an outside app and its developers to improve its mobile platform. Siri, the voice operated personal assistant was purchased in 2010 for around $200 million.
