Apple is not giving up on its quest to make iOS Maps more useable. 9to5Mac reports that Apple has bought up two more companies that could help improve iOS Maps: Mapping firm BroadMap, whose technology has been used by applications such as Nokia HERE and MapQuest; and Catch, a popular note-taking app that competes with Evernote.
The connection between BroadMap and iOS Maps is obvious since BroadMap’s geographic information system can help sort and analyze mapping data and give Apple’s mapping app more accurate information.
The link between iOS Maps and Catch is a little more obscure, but 9to5Mac notes that Catch “used to operate a known Android application called Compass” that “was location-based and infused locations with notes” that let you “annotate your world.”
When we’ll start to see technologies from both companies show up in iOS Maps is anyone’s guess although 9to5Mac speculates that we’ll at least get to see some of the indoor mapping technology that Apple acquired earlier this year once iOS 8 rolls out in 2014.
UPDATE: AllThingsD confirms 9to5Mac’s report about both companies being acquired by Apple.
