Maps.me

Maps.me (styled as MAPS.ME ) is a mobile app for Android, iOS and BlackBerry that provides offline maps using OpenStreetMap data. It was formerly known as MapsWithMe. In November 2014, it was acquired by Mail.Ru Group and became part of its My.com brand. In September 2015, the app was open sourced.[5] First, the whole team has developed an application in Belarus and Switzerland. Maps.me was founded by Yury Melnichek, Alexander Borsuk, Viktor Govako and Siarhei Rachytski. Under the leadership of Alexander, MapsWithMe got its first 2.5M users worldwide. Yury Melnichek was leading the project from November 2013 until April 2016 when Evgeny Lisovskiy took over.[6] In early 2017 the philosophy of the app changed, leading it to be supported by unobtrusive adverts.[7]

Maps.me
Original author(s)Yury Melnichek, Alexander Borsuk, Viktor Govako, Siarhei Rachytski
Developer(s)MapsWithMe GmbH, My.com
Initial release2011
Stable release
10.0.3[1] / April 29 2020
Repository
Written inC++, Objective-C, Java
Operating systemAndroid, iOS, BlackBerry
Size137 MB Android[2] / 174 MB iOS[3]
LicenseApache License 2.0[4]
Websitemaps.me

Features
  • Offline map data (custom compressed format)[8] that's updated approximately 1-2 times per month
  • GPS support
  • Offline search (by name, address, category and coordinates)
  • Offline routes for cars, foot, bicycle and subway
  • Map Editor (OpenStreetMap.org)
  • Bookmarks (with cloud back up option)
  • Auto-follow mode
  • Location and bookmarks sharing
  • Travel guides (itineris)
  • Car traffic
  • KML import

Acquisition by Mail.ru Group

The application was initially developed by Zurich-based MapsWithMe GmbH with a development office in Minsk.

In 2012, MapsWithMe came in first in the Startup Monthly competition in Vilnius. The team won a nine-week traineeship in Silicon Valley as a prize.[9]

In November 2014, Maps.me was acquired by Mail.Ru Group to be integrated with My.com, and the app was made free of charge.[10] The engineering team was relocated to the Mail.Ru Group office in Moscow to continue working on the project.

Data source and technologies

All map data for Maps.me is taken from OpenStreetMap, a collaborative project to create a free editable map of the world. In addition, hotels are offered in partnership with Booking.com.[7]

Technologies used in the app:

API

Maps.me provides a free API to developers for both commercial and personal use.

YotaPhone

In 2013, developers of YotaPhone, a Russian smartphone with 2 displays (LCD front, e-ink back), asked MapsWithMe to develop a version of the app specially for the e-ink display of the device. MapsWithMe released a special version of the app optimized for both color and e-ink screens of the smartphone.[11]

The main screen allows users to see maps of all countries, drop pins on the map, and find their location. Then it is possible to move the maps to the e-ink display to use the map in the energy saving mode.

Currently, support of YotaPhone is excluded from last releases (as at 4 May 2016).

See also
  • Comparison of commercial GPS software

References
  1. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mapswithme.maps.pro. Retrieved 2 May 2020. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. "Index of /apk/". maps.me.
  3. "iTunes AppStore Maps.Me". itunes.apple.com.
  4. "mapsme/omim". GitHub.
  5. "MAPS.ME on Twitter".
  6. Frolov, Andrey (11 April 2016). "Новым руководителем Maps.me стал директор по маркетингу «Литреса» Евгений Лисовский".
  7. "MAPS.ME Now Shows 800,000 Hotels from Booking.com". 28 June 2016.
  8. "Maps.me map creation guide". Retrieved 2015-12-03.
  9. "Belarusian startup Mapswithme wins Startup Monthly in Lithuania". 16 April 2012. Archived from the original on 31 March 2019. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
  10. "Mail.Ru Group, One of the Largest Internet Companies in Europe, Acquires MAPS.ME". 13 Nov 2014. Archived from the original on 11 May 2015. Retrieved 9 Dec 2014.
  11. "YotaPhone review: LCD on the front, E Ink on the back, unique all over".
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