Apple quietly shelves Chomp app search tool

Any traces of Chomp, the app search and discovery companyApple acquired earlier this year, have been scrubbed from the world.AllThingsD notes that Chomp's app for iOS no longer works, and kicks users to the App Store instead of serving up results. Going to Chomp.com, the former Web based version of the search, also now redirects to Apple's site.Apple did the same thing with Siri, the company it acquiredand turned into the voice assistant feature in iOS devices, however that was after the feature went live inside the iPhone 4S. Related storiesApple picks up Chomp to bolster App StoreAndroid results now gone from Apple-owned ChompVerizon improves search in its app storeChomp launched in early 2010 as an alternate search tool for sifting through Apple's App Store, branching out to Google's Android platform the following year. Its technology provides results based on an app's function, instead of its name. Apple stopped serving results for Google's Android platform near the end of April, but the site and iOS app lived on.Apple confirmed its acquisition of the company shortly after its purchase, but hasn't stated what it intends to do with the technology. The search tools are expected to be built into Apple's App Store, which recently got revamped as part of iOS 6. The closure joins Ping, Apple's ill-fated social networking tool for music. Appletook the feature offline today, a scheduled move.