Map2Me

The Problem

Rural addresses are a mess. Where I live, “County Road” and “CR” mean different things to different map apps, so visitors get lost and we get the “I think we’re lost!” phone call.

The same street address can land on the wrong building, the back of the property or the wrong town, depending on which app the guest uses. And sending an Apple Maps link to someone on Android doesn’t help them at all.

What I Built

• A website where you drop a pin on the exact spot, give it a name and get one permanent link.
• Four ways to place the pin: use your phone’s location, type GPS coordinates, search for an address, or tap the map.
• The link opens in Apple Maps, Google Maps, Waze or any map app, on iPhone or Android, using the exact coordinates instead of the address.
• It works for places with no address at all: a trailhead, a picnic spot, a bench in the park.
• No account and no sign-up. A preview and a confirm step come first, because a link can’t be changed once it’s made.
• Pin names, addresses, notes and coordinates are encrypted in the database, and the site’s statistics use no cookies and store no IP addresses.

Where It Is Now

Map2Me is live at map2me.link in 11 languages. Links never expire, so one can go on a wedding invitation or a business card.

What It Means for Your Project

Map2Me started with one annoying, everyday problem I had myself, and solved it with a small tool that does one job well. If your customers, volunteers or event guests keep getting lost, or your organization has a small problem no off-the-shelf app fixes, I can build a simple, private tool that fixes exactly that.