Re/code is reporting that Apple is close to acquiring Swell. Swell is a talk radio curation service, allowing users to stream talk radio from NPR, ABC, ESBN, iTunes and others. It’ll also generate a playlist, based on the topic you choose.
In the acquisition, the app will be shut down as its development team and CEO join Apple. The technology will likely be used to improve Apple’s own podcast application, which is very poorly rated on the App Store (1.5 stars) due to performance issues and crashes.
Apple has acquired 29 companies since the start of 2013, five of which were since the start of March’s quarter.
