Apple Just Deleted a Windows Phone App

More than two years ago,

deleted Siri from the App Store after it acquired the application.

The company made this decision after deciding to retool the voice-recognition app for use with the iPhone 4S. While Apple can feasibly delete any app from the App Store, investors might be surprised to learn that the company has now deleted one from the Windows Phone marketplace.

According to

, Apple deleted HopStop -- a mapping and directions app -- from the Windows Phone store. Windows Phone users promptly responded to the news by

to the app's former download page. Interestingly, HopStop did not merely delete the app from the Windows page -- it also removed the Windows icon from the app's

. As of this writing, Android users can

. HopStop is similar to Waze (a mapping application that Apple reportedly

) in that it offers crowd-sourced transit information. As of April 8, 2013, HopStop had been downloaded

. Those downloads were converted to two million monthly active users. Unlike the many companies that

has acquired this year, Apple does not like to speak publicly about its acquisitions. The company has made no mention of its purchases on Apple.com. If it weren't for the removal of the Windows Phone app, HopStop's website would look exactly the same as it did before the sale was complete. The same is true for Locationary, the last company that Apple purchased. Locationary has not issued a press release since

. With so much secrecy surrounding HopStop and Locationary, investors are left to wonder about the future of these two properties -- and what Apple may or may not do with them. It is not hard to imagine that Apple will use HopStop to improve its ill-fated Maps app. Many expect Locationary to provide Apple with additional assets that are needed to turn Maps into a functional application.