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] and a free and open-source software version was additionally made available on F-droid[6] until the application was sold to the payment processor Daegu Limited, part of Parity.com, which changed the application user interface and content,[7][8] which led the free software community to develop an ad- and tracker-free fork in response.[9]

Maps.me
Original author(s)Yury Melnichek, Alexander Borsuk, Viktor Govako, Siarhei Rachytski
Developer(s)MapsWithMe GmbH, My.com
Initial release2011
Stable release
12.0.1[1] / January 15, 2021 (2021-01-15)
Repository
Written inC++, Objective-C, Java
Operating systemAndroid, iOS, BlackBerry
Size137 MB Android[2] / 407 MB iOS[3]
LicenseApache License 2.0[4]
Websitemaps.me

History

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.[10] In early 2017 the philosophy of the app changed, leading it to be supported by adverts.[11] On Nov 2020 Mail.ru Group sold Maps.me to the payment processor Daegu Limited,[12] part of Parity.com, which changed the application user interface and content,[13][14] which led the free software community to develop OrganicMaps in response.[15]

MapsWithMe GmbH

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.[16]

Mail.ru Group

In November 2014, Maps.me was acquired by Mail.Ru Group for 542 million rubles (around US$14 million at that time) to be integrated with My.com, and the app was made free of charge.[17] The engineering team was relocated to the Mail.Ru Group office in Moscow to continue working on the project.

In 2019, its revenue amounted to 159 million rubles (US$2.5 million) with an EBITDA loss of 25 million rubles (US$0.39 million).[12]

Daegu Ltd and partners

On November 2 2020, Daegu Limited bought Maps.me for 1.56 Billion Russian rubles (some US$20 million at 2020’s exchange rate). Daegu Limited is announced to be part of Parity.com Group.

Regarding the question, who is really responsible, there are two main groups involved. The first is Parity.com AG, which is part of Convexity Holdings AG from Switzerland. [18] The second is the global TMF Group, a partner of Parity.com Group,[19] which has a dependence office in Cyprus.

Regarding the App Stores from Android and Apple, there is Maps.Me (Cyprus) Limited and Stolmo Limited. Regarding the policy of maps.me [20] both fit to the responsibility to TMF Group in the same office in Nicosia.[21]

According to the search engines there is still no visible proof of what Daegu Limited is and if Parity.com AG is the same as Parity.com Group.

In summary there are currently five companies involved: Daegu Ltd, Parity.com AG/Group, TMF Group, Stolmo Ltd, Maps.me (Cyprus) Ltd.

See also

References
  1. "Google Play Store". Retrieved 15 Jan 2021. and "App Store". Retrieved 29 Jan 2021.
  2. "Index of /apk/". maps.me.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  3. "App Store Maps.Me". itunes.apple.com.
  4. "mapsme/omim". GitHub. 9 December 2021.
  5. "MAPS.ME source code". GitHub. 9 December 2021.
  6. "Maps". F-Droid.
  7. "Maps.me sale to a payment processor removed OpenStreetMap". GitHub.
  8. "Github Issues comment". GitHub.
  9. "Faites connaissance avec Organic Maps, un Google Maps open source". FrAndroid (in French). Retrieved 2021-08-10.
  10. Frolov, Andrey (11 April 2016). "Новым руководителем Maps.me стал директор по маркетингу "Литреса" Евгений Лисовский".
  11. "MAPS.ME Now Shows 800,000 Hotels from Booking.com". 28 June 2016.
  12. "Mail.ru Group sells MAPS.ME". Retrieved 2020-12-20.
  13. "Maps.me sale to a payment processor removed OpenStreetMap". GitHub.
  14. "Github Issues comment". GitHub.
  15. "Github - Organic Maps". GitHub. 9 December 2021.
  16. "Belarusian startup Mapswithme wins Startup Monthly in Lithuania". 16 April 2012. Archived from the original on 31 March 2019. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
  17. "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.
  18. "Parity.com AG, Convexity Holdings AG". Retrieved 2021-01-29.
  19. "Parity.com, TMF Group". Retrieved 2021-01-29.
  20. "Maps.Me Policy". Retrieved 2021-01-29.
  21. "Maps.Me (Cyprus) Ltd, Stolmo Ltd". Retrieved 2021-01-29.
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