MAPS.ME New Feature: Crowd-sourced mobile map app launches walking directions

MAPS.ME already has OpenStreetMap data to get access to offline maps of every country in the world. But just recently,the app just launched its Walking Directions feature, which allows hikers as well as urban users to find the best way to reach their destination.

This app is one of the newest from the .ME Premium Domain Program. Formerly known as MapsWithME, MAPS.ME is available for iOS, Android and BlackBerry, and it boasts over 4 million users from all parts of the globe.

The app also offers a lot of great features that make the travel light and worry- free, including the ability to bookmark the places of interest and share the current location through a text message. And with the rebranding to MAPS.ME, the service also underwent some major improvements to the core functionalities such as more defined and simplified search process by adding "search by address".

"When making a decision to rebrand to a new name, we were guided by the principle 'Simplicity is perfection'", stated Yury Melnichek, the CEO and founder of MAPS.ME. He added, "And MAPS.ME is shorter, more searchable and much more appealing, especially to our non-English users base. After finding the perfect name, revamping the user interface and improving the search, I can proudly say that we are on the right way to make the best offline maps experience in the world".

And just recently, the founder of the travel app, Yury Melnichek,  claimed that MAPS.ME is the best visualization application for mobile for open location data provided by OpenStreetMap, a crowd-sourced map service. The company also mentioned that in some areas MAPS.ME is more accurate than Google maps, especially for trails in remote locations and for countries that are not on the internet giant's priority list for mapping.

Since MAPS.ME relies on the OpenStreetMap community of 2.2 million users, it is most likely that a lot of unique data such as footpaths or staircases for example are made visible, unlike in other map services. "MAPS.ME's walking routes also reaches places where Google Maps can't, including footpaths, walking trails and even up staircases, because MAPS.ME data is gathered by its enthusiastic community of contributors," said Yury Melnichek, Head of Maps Business Unit, Mail.Ru Group.

According to Boston.com, it is a free app, however, it has ads in the margins, which encourages users to buy regional guidebooks. The Startup can be downloaded from the Apple Store for iOs, Google Play for Android, or the Amazon App Store for Kindle. 

In the meantime, MAPS.ME is the second most popular mobile map application in the Apple store after the Google services. It is also included in the top 10 category in the Google Play store.