Swell Purchased by Apple

Last week, Apple confirmed the purchase of Swell, an iPhone application that enabled you to listen to a stream of audio podcasts according to the theme of your choice. What I found most unique about Swell was the easy and simple user interface that allowed you to swipe from one podcast to the next in a seamless fashion. Apple's response to the purchase was pretty generic, according to Alex Heath who grabbed the quote from the Wall Street Journal:

Apple confirms Swell deal w: we buy "smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans.

As a result of the purchase, the app is no longer available in the App Store and no longer available to current users who downloaded the application. For example, after opening the application, I could no longer listen to podcasts, but instead received the following audio message:

Apple is smart to buy companies that offer features that succeed in areas where they fall short. I actually found myself listening to Swell more often than Apple's Podcasts app, which I also enjoy. This was a smart purchase by Apple, but I will miss Swell a lot.