Apple is said to be close to acquiring social network Path in an attempt to boost the company's social media efforts, reports PandoDaily. Citing a "well-placed" source inside Apple's engineering team, the site notes that the deal is "essentially a done deal" and would see Apple integrating Path's current services into its Messages app.

path_ios7
Additionally, Path founder Dave Morin was seen sitting in the front row for today's special media event, which is usually reserved for high ranking executives at the company. Throughout the past few years, Apple has also featured Path in a number of its earlier advertising campaigns and keynotes for the iPhone.

However, the social networking service caused a fair amount of controversy in 2012 when it was discovered to be uploading users' entire address books to its servers without alerting users or asking for authorization. The issue prompted an investigation by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission as Morin was even summoned to Apple's Cupertino headquarters to be grilled by CEO Tim Cook and other executives.

Path's last major development came in June when the company announced that it would be launching its own separate messaging app, complete with quick reply capabilities and Apple Maps integration.

Top Rated Comments

Reason077 Avatar
135 months ago
Careful, MacRumors. I forgot which one, but one of the major tech news blogs wrote a post about how someone was trying to manipulate the news surrounding path by sending in tons of tips which almost seemed true.

http://techcrunch.com/2014/08/26/someone-keeps-sending-us-fake-tips-about-path/ (http://techcrunch.com/2014/08/26/someone-keeps-sending-us-fake-tips-about-path/)
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mac Fly (film) Avatar
135 months ago
Rename it. Path is such a mediocre name for a service.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Reason077 Avatar
135 months ago
I played around with Path a couple of years back.

Nice app, with a beautiful UI, but essentially it's another Facebook / Instagram but with a lot less users - which tends to work against you in the social networking genre.

It will be interesting to see if Apple can do anything with it. Ping 2.0? Or maybe they just want to acquire the company for its developer/design talent.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
driven01 Avatar
135 months ago
I do a lot of Social Messaging.

FB: Yep.
WhatsApp: Yes, 2 or 3 people I contact with
Line: Friends in Asia
Path: Never heard of them.

Maybe I will soon.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

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