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Apple’s HopStop App Discontinued Starting October

By Niki Cruz
Published on: 03:51 PST, Sep 16, 2015

Get ready, because Apple’s HopStop app is shutting down in October. The app, which acted as a life saver for the directionally challenged for years, will stop operations in October 2015.

HopStop was launched in 2005 prior to Apple acquiring it. The app helped people get around on public transit and find alternative routes in 113 U.S. cities. Apple bought the company in 2013 with the update of its smartphone.

Now, Apple has decided to shut down the app in favor of a new app that’s set to release with the iOS 9 update. According to Mac World, Apple’s new operating system will have its own directions app. That said, it doesn’t look like it’s up to par with HopStop. The new app, simply called Apple Maps, will only feature six U.S. cities: New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Chicago, Washington D.C., and San Francisco. If you live anywhere else, it’s best to find an alternative to HopStop so you won’t have to deal with getting lost or worse — asking for directions.

This isn’t just a nuisance for users that heavily relied on HopStop, but it seems like a careless move by Apple. Maps is still a very new app, and as Mac World notes, iOS 9 isn’t even out of its beta testing stage. We all know that new software, especially new apps, always have a few kinks to iron out in the first year or two. Forcing users to rely solely on this app will no doubt lead to some troubles for the company.

As it is Apple users don’t seem too thrilled about the shutdown of HopStop. That’s putting it lightly since people seem to be in a state of panic.

One user at least suggested a helpful alternative.

[Photo by Flickr / Deerkoski]

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