 "Citymaps plans to take on Google Maps with a social twist")
You have your same-old, regular maps and then you have social experiences like Foursquare and Instagram. There’s one app that is trying to be a social mapping experience for your iOS device – Citymaps.
The vector-based mapping app attempts to bake in the social angle by letting users create mapped directions to interesting destinations. It also lets other users add to these directions. Just like Foursquare, you would probably be able to make lists of your favourite places to visit and have maps accompanying them. Your followers will also be able to add to these lists with places of their own.
Of course, the app is only limited to the United States for now, but it opens up a world of opportunity as far as app ingenuity goes. Citymaps currently serves every city in the US, ramping up its offering significantly from the handful it was serving earlier. The app aims to have detailed information about businesses across the cities in order to bring out the social angle well.
Maps with a social touch
Citymaps also takes navigation into consideration. You will be able to get directions from the app for driving, walking and public transport just like you can from Google Maps. As you navigate using Citymaps, you will see businesses and places of interests in neat little bubbles all around the map. The best bit about this feature is that you will notice some bubbles will look larger than the others. This is because the place is being talked about more widely on social networking websites. Tap on any of these bubbles to have details of the business, including its Twitter profile, Instagram and other information pop up.
The app was founded in New York by Elliot Cohen who has revealed that the app was built on OpenStreetMap. “We’re probably one of the only maps startups in the world at this point that’s built their own experience and not just a mashup that’s built on top of Google Maps,” he told Venture Beat.
He confirms that an Android version of the app is on its way too and can be expected in about eight week. The developers also have plans for the desktop as well. While the company will continue to concentrate on US businesses for now, it has plans for international expansion too. A social mapping app that would help us plan a road-trip around the country would be a pretty neat idea for travel, we think.
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