For a long time I dreamed to create a map. A map that will be easy to use, one that will need no network connection, with fresh data, fast and working everywhere. My experience as an engineer in Google Maps only strengthened this dream. And finally, after leaving Google and a great travel around the world, I took the plunge. Maybe one day I will tell how I left Google Zurich, about astonished reactions of people around me, and how I continued working on this project with my friends out of sheer enthusiasm.
The effort culminated on April 12 when we released the first version for iPhone and iPad! (Support for Android, Mac and Windows followed soon).
Here’s how it works. You’re planning to visit a foreign country, and of course you’re going to take along your trusty android or iPhone, a laptop, a tablet, or maybe all of those together. Before you go, you install the application and quickly get the map of the destination country (brownie points if the app is already installed and you just refresh the data). And when we say quickly, we mean it: the whole map of Switzerland weighs 58 MB, of Belarus - 45 MB. Large countries like the US will, of course be bigger, but in the next version, we will let you get the data for individual states, and we’ll compress the data by further 25%.
Besides the map, the first version of application included a travel guide to read about the place you’re visiting, the attractions, events and so on.
And the best thing is, from the moment you updated, no Internet connection will be necessary. So if you need to find the nearest restaurant in Paris or an open WiFi point in London, the data will be right there for you, all without those pesky roaming charges.
The map data comes from OpenStreetMap, the travel guide from WikiTravel, and we plan to integrate other data sources to let you find restaurants, museums, hotels and other services.
One more thing. The program is free.
We’re planning to earn money through complementary services. For example, if you search for a restaurants, we’ll show you ads for restaurants in your vicinity, will offer coupons and even help you make a reservation (if you happen to be online). This way, geo-targeted advertisement will be an additional useful service rather than an annoying distraction.
Our plans are huge. In the next version, we’ll add search. We’re working to improve the rendering quality and to make it faster. We’re looking for investors, and we’ll accelerate the development when we get funded. We are also looking for a graphical designer.
To summarize, we want to make maps free and available to everybody and everywhere.
Comments welcome,
Yury Melnichek
The effort culminated on April 12 when we released the first version for iPhone and iPad! (Support for Android, Mac and Windows followed soon).
Here’s how it works. You’re planning to visit a foreign country, and of course you’re going to take along your trusty android or iPhone, a laptop, a tablet, or maybe all of those together. Before you go, you install the application and quickly get the map of the destination country (brownie points if the app is already installed and you just refresh the data). And when we say quickly, we mean it: the whole map of Switzerland weighs 58 MB, of Belarus - 45 MB. Large countries like the US will, of course be bigger, but in the next version, we will let you get the data for individual states, and we’ll compress the data by further 25%.
Besides the map, the first version of application included a travel guide to read about the place you’re visiting, the attractions, events and so on.
And the best thing is, from the moment you updated, no Internet connection will be necessary. So if you need to find the nearest restaurant in Paris or an open WiFi point in London, the data will be right there for you, all without those pesky roaming charges.
The map data comes from OpenStreetMap, the travel guide from WikiTravel, and we plan to integrate other data sources to let you find restaurants, museums, hotels and other services.
One more thing. The program is free.
We’re planning to earn money through complementary services. For example, if you search for a restaurants, we’ll show you ads for restaurants in your vicinity, will offer coupons and even help you make a reservation (if you happen to be online). This way, geo-targeted advertisement will be an additional useful service rather than an annoying distraction.
Our plans are huge. In the next version, we’ll add search. We’re working to improve the rendering quality and to make it faster. We’re looking for investors, and we’ll accelerate the development when we get funded. We are also looking for a graphical designer.
To summarize, we want to make maps free and available to everybody and everywhere.
Comments welcome,
Yury Melnichek
One of the greatest apps I have seen for a long time, thanks a lot, it will help me on my Vietnam road trip!
ReplyDeleteDo you already have an estimation when the new version with implemented search will be available?
I completely agree with Paul.
ReplyDeleteWould like to ask if it would be possible to download large map files to my computer then later on upload them to my iPad 2. Thanks
Paul, update with offline search included should be available really very soon - now we're actively working on it.
ReplyDeleteRuben, we have temporary work-around for large countries described here:http://www.mapswithme.com/maps-download
Next update will have big countries splitted for smaller regions.
Thanks for your feedbacks!
Alex, thanks for the info! Just wondering if the update with search will be available until mid september or not. I'm going to be on a backpack trip in Vietnam from end of september to end of october and just wondering if I have to buy some printed maps or my iPad will do.
ReplyDeleteWould be nice to get some estimation on the release date!
If you need some beta testing, I would also like to help you and report my experience or bugs I find.
Are there upgrades on the cities of Jinotega, Nicaragua and Matagalpa, Nicaragua? These are principle cities of Nicaragua that have very sketchy maps in comparison to smaller cities like Somoto and Ocotal.
ReplyDeleteThe maps of Esteli and Somoto have been very useful. Thanks
Paul, we are planning the update on mid September, but it may be delayed.
ReplyDeleteHowever, a beta version should be ready by that time. It will also contain preferences for which languages to use to display the names, which might be also useful for your trip.
I will be happy to set up a tester account for you. I'll need the UUID of your iPad. Could you please send us an email at info@mapswithme.com and we'll figure out how to set up the testing. Having that said, if I were you, I would still take a paper map for a backup plan...
Earl, we plan to upgrade the map in September. However, I don't think that much changed for Matagalpa and Jinotega. You can check the current status of the OSM map at www.OpenStreetMap.org
ReplyDeleteOutstanding app! I am a research meteorologist who storm chases and performs post-event damage surveys. Much of the time, this means that I'm in areas with limited cell coverage, and this app is a godsend.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I would be *very* interested in would be a way to store an image and geolocate it on the map. We create products/images that can tell us where damage may have occurred. This works well with dedicated networked maps. I would like to be able to take that image overlay (layer) and show my relative position on it while offline.
Congratulations for your great application. I hope that in a future update the map of Spain is more detailed. For example, Holland is a country smaller in size and population than Spain, but its map is twice
ReplyDeleteMany thanks in any case
thanks
ReplyDelete