Celebrating CoMaps' first birthday

hello@comaps.app — Tue, 12 May 2026 09:00:00 +0000

On May 12, we are celebrating our first birthday, as this is the date at which CoMaps was officially announced! Since then, a lot has happened and we want to take this opportunity to celebrate all the progress together. In this post, we'll walk you through how our community has evolved, how the CoMaps apps have changed, how we've integrated with the wider OpenStreetMap ecosystem, and a bit about what might be next for us!

Introducing the CoMaps Logo!

hello@comaps.app — Mon, 14 Jul 2025 07:00:00 +0000

We're proud to reveal the logo for CoMaps — designed and chosen by the community.

From maps to code to design, CoMaps is 100% community-powered — and this logo is no different. It’s a symbol of what we’re building together: free, open, and offline map navigation for everyone.

Winner of the Project Name Vote!

hello@comaps.app — Wed, 21 May 2025 08:22:00 -0800

Announcing the Winner of the CoMaps Project Name Vote!

We're excited to share that the community has spoken, and the name chosen for the community navigation app is... CoMaps! 🎉

The name is very popular, it recieved twice as many votes (92 votes) as the second choice option (44 votes), and third choice (37 votes). Thank you to everyone who participated, your enthusiasm and community collaboration are incredible!

Recap

· Goal: The aim for a name was easy pronounciation that resonated with the project's essence, and was not already trademarked.

Update: Shareholders' reaction

hello@comaps.app — Fri, 25 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This is a copy of the update to the Open Letter to Organic Maps Shareholders from openletter.earth</a>:

We welcome and appreciate the conflict mediation effort by the NLnet foundation (who have also provided grants to Organic Maps before).

There is no answer to the Letter by Alexander Borsuk @biodranik.
Roman Tsisyk @rtsisyk has published his answer in team Zulip chat, please read a copy in git.omaps.dev/organicmaps/organicmaps/issues/10555...</a>. He proposes to bring Organic Maps under an established non-profit umbrella organization like the Software Freedom Conservancy or Software in the Public Interest. We welcome this move as we made the same suggestion in the Letter, and we've been considering non-profit umbrellas as a "home" for a potential community fork. So we will gladly join a working group Roman has suggested to form as a first step.

Viktor Govako @vng has posted his answer in the Organic Maps Telegram chat (t.me/organicmaps/52328</a>):

Roman took away my access to all key resources of Organic Maps without my consent and refused to return it back. Github blocking in March was also a result of his actions.</li>
I decided that I will no longer work with Roman in any format.</li>
Roman offered to buy out his share in Organic Maps OÜ so that he could leave the OM project.</li>
The offer to buy out the shares was sent to Roman's lawyer three weeks ago. I have not received any clear response or counter-offer yet.</li>
I had a conversation with NLNet where they offered to help in this situation. I will not refuse the idea of non-profit or some hybrid if it helps to conclude a “divorce” deal with Roman.</li> </ul> </blockquote>
In addition Viktor has made some statements in the Russian-speaking OM Telegram chat, some of which we find significant (from t.me/OrganicMapsRu/78976</a> and onwards): "Organic Maps now is a commercial company with an open source project" and its been like that since the company's inception and from Viktor's point of view the single mention of the Organic Maps OÜ name in the organicmaps.app website footer is enough information to convey the commercial nature of the project to the contributors.
Also Viktor has disclosed some more details about donations spending over past years (t.me/OrganicMapsRu/78745</a>) and now there is an agreement both from Viktor and Roman to disclose full historic financial details to a few select community contributors. We welcome this first step towards financial transparency!
Unfortunately, Viktor's answer concerns itself with the state of his conflict with Roman but it doesn't really acknowledge or address concerns and questions raised in the Letter.

We hope that Viktor accepts a proposition to change Organic Maps to a non-profit organization and that words will turn into real actions without undue delay.
In the meantime we will continue community fork preparations, as our community deserves an actively-developed app not stalled by disagreements and uncertain negotiations. Even if/when the fork is launched it won't close the door for negotiations and cooperation, e.g. we may decide to rejoin Organic Maps if it implements compatible principles and policies eventually. Alternatively, we would be happy to accept transfers of Organic Maps assets/branding rights to the community fork.
We'll post an update on the state and details of the fork shortly as well as any new developments in negotiations.
P.S. there is a fake signatures attack on the Letter. More than 14,000 fake signatures were added in a very short time by an unknown party, all of them unverified and hence not listed. We also unfortunately have no way to edit or remove spammy/abusive signatures. As of this update there were 179 verified signatures (thank you!).

Open Letter to Organic Maps Shareholders

hello@comaps.app — Wed, 16 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This is a copy of the Open Letter to Organic Maps Shareholders from openletter.earth</a>. As of May 10th 2025 there were 199 verified signatures.

Summary</h2>
Community contributors to Organic Maps have expressed serious concerns about the project's governance, transparency, and the potential for shareholder profit at the expense of the community. They are calling for a shift to a nonprofit structure, greater inclusivity in decision-making, and financial transparency, and are considering starting a new project if these issues are not addressed.
Preface</h2>
This open letter is an almost verbatim copy of the letter composed by some Organic Maps community contributors and sent to the Organic Maps Shareholders via the team's internal channels on March 21, 2025. Each individual shareholder was asked to reply within 7 days.

Dear Organic Maps OÜ Shareholders:

Viktar Havaka (aka Viktor Govako, @vng)</li>
Alexander Borsuk (aka Alexander Zolotarev, @biodranik)</li>
Roman Tsisyk (@rtsisyk)</li> </ul>
This letter's intent is to express our concerns regarding the current Organic Maps project crisis, and to find a path forward that aligns with the project's stated values and the interests of the community. We've collected these common concerns about the project governance that have been building up over the past few years due to a lack of transparency and defined project goals. Many of these concerns have previously been mentioned to you, with little or no dialogue or response.
The Organic Maps project has been built and promoted under the premise of being an open community project, so it's troubling to discover that the majority of shareholders consider it to be their sole property. More concerns include lack of transparency and accountability in project governance and violation of stated Free and Open Source Software values. (see Addendum for the details)
Concerns About the Future of the Project:</h3>
As volunteer contributors working for what we see as a public good, we are frustrated to see that we've seemingly been duped into working for free to increase the company valuation and therefore shareholders' capital – with the possible intention of selling the company or otherwise monetizing the project. While this remains a possibility, many current contributors no longer feel motivated to continue to contribute. For similar reasons, monetary donors may feel the same. Although most of us weren't a part of the original Maps.ME project (which was proprietized and hence Organic Maps was forked from it), its fate sets a precedent for current concerns, as many users, donors and contributors that migrated to OM have explicitly expressed their fears that this project could face a similar demise, with no reassurance.
We consider the possibility of having contributed to a de-facto venture, where the project is sold or otherwise monetized to generate profit for shareholders, after funding from donors and significant work by volunteer contributors, to be deceptive and misleading the intent of the project. Sadly, this possibility has never been explicitly denied, and there are no guarantees or legal measures in the project structure to avoid this. We want a guarantee it won't happen.
Legal Entity: LLC vs Nonprofit</h3>
We were told that, in the beginning, an LLC was chosen over a nonprofit because it's less bureaucratic and more flexible, making it more convenient for the founders to launch the project. While this was a pragmatic and reasonable choice initially, it has proven fragile and unsustainable in the long term as the project has grown. The LLC structure has failed to ensure financial transparency, accountability, fairness, or efficient use of donations. Even worse, its existence makes ruling out a future sell-off impossible.

Will you consider changing the holding institution from an LLC to another nature, e.g. a public interest Nonprofit? Or transferring of project's assets to a reputable third-party foundation which is aligned with the project's stated values? </li>

Or do you intend to retain control of the company and status quo, leaving the answers to these issues ambiguous? What would you expect of trust from contributors and donors? How do you intend to motivate contributors to work now? What motivation do you see to incentive users to donate? </li> </ul>
Governance, Transparency and Accountability:</h3>
We're frustrated that even veteran contributors who have been collaborating for years haven't been taken into account for fundamental project decisions. Another important concern is the lack of transparency of the finances, since this project has been financed by users and contributors willing to donate to – as stated on the project website - "keep Organic Maps open and free for everyone". There are similar claims across the many other project channels. Donors and contributors have no idea what's actually happening in the background.
We believe that all significant contributors should have a voice in the project's governance. There should be a healthy rotation of an independent project board, board members' powers should be balanced with accountability and transparency, and shareholders should not override board decisions.

Are you willing to democratize the project's governance and make it accountable? </li>

Are you willing to make the project's finances transparent? </li>

Are you willing to publish all past incomes and expenses since project's inception in December 2020? </li> </ul>
Shareholders' Conflict Resolution</h3>
We are aware there is a long-term ongoing conflict between Roman @rtsysik and Alexander @biodranik. Viktor @vng has clearly sided with Alexander as of recently and the conflict has reached a terminal state when parties no longer see possibilities to continue to work together and are negotiating a "divorce". We really wish to find a harmonious way to advance, with a resolution to the conflict that doesn't risk the project's existence under the 'Organic Maps' branding. We've been thinking about possible resolutions, and also want to know of your proposals to the community. An ongoing conflict between shareholders doesn't justify ignoring the community's concerns.
When exploring conflict resolution options, we'd like Shareholders to acknowledge and consider the community's interests. Please share your post-conflict vision of the project's future and the community's role in it.
We deserve to know the truth and that you're frank with us. If our concerns are not satisfactorily resolved soon, we will be left with no choice but to continue development under a fork rather than continue donating our money and time for shareholders' personal profit.

We'd like to thank Roman @rtsisyk, who replied promptly, supported the community's concerns, and shared his vision of the project's future (dissolving the for-profit company, establish a community interest foundation with electable management, transparent and accountable governance, etc) which is very well aligned with the community's vision.
Unfortunately, Viktor @vng and Alexander @biodranik have ignored our letter and their previous short statements during recent discussions suggest that they're not interested in democratisation of the project's governance, financial transparency, etc.
This attitude undermines the Organic Maps project image that so many users and contributors love and have trusted with their efforts and donations. Most of us do not want to support an unaccountable, opaque, for-profit venture in the interest of a few beneficiaries. Also due to their internal conflict, the existing shareholders are in a process of negotiating a "divorce" and the project's assets may be somehow split, sold, or otherwise exchanged, so the project's future is uncertain. In the meantime, we suggest all donors to weigh the concerns raised and reconsider contributing to this project.
Meanwhile, some of us community contributors have started preparations for a community fork. There is still some hope for a better outcome, so this open letter is a last resort before launching the fork. We urge Viktor @vng and Alexander @biodranik to reconsider their position and restore trust in the Organic Maps name by working together to make it a truly community-driven non-profit project with fair, transparent and accountable governance.
We expect to receive a reply from the Shareholders in the next 7 days and we expect the words to be backed by real actions without undue delay.
Please show your support by signing this letter and spreading the word! We'll post an update here by the 25th of April or earlier.
Updates will be also published on https://fosstodon.org/@CoMaps</a> and in the Matrix room https://matrix.to/#/#comaps:matrix.org</a> and Telegram channel https://t.me/CoMapsApp</a>.
Addendum</h2>
Details to support concerns raised.
The role of Organic Maps OÜ</h3>
It's a for-profit company (an LLC basically) registered in Estonia: https://ariregister.rik.ee/eng/company/16225385/Organic-Maps-OÜ</a>
The company holds key project assets, e.g. the trademark and the app store accounts. https://git.omaps.dev/organicmaps/organicmaps/src/branch/master/LEGAL</a> states that "The primary purpose of the entity is to shield the project's members from personal liability and to ensure the legal protection of the project's assets."
Until recently there was never a mention that the shareholders treat their shares as their personal investment. Even that explanation document was only added to project's repository 4 months ago - before that the only brief mention of Organic Maps OÜ's existence was in the footer of the https://organicmaps.app/</a> website, so the most of users and contributors had no idea about its role and ownership structure.
Roman @rtsisyk holds 1/3 (33%) of shares, Viktor @vng holds 2/3 (66%). Alexander @biodranik is not a registered shareholder, but allegedly Viktor holds his 1/3 (33%) nominally.
Stated project's values and direction</h3>
Refer to project's descriptions published on https://organicmaps.app/</a>, https://git.omaps.dev/organicmaps/organicmaps/src/branch/master/README.md</a>, in the app stores, etc.
Project's governance</h3>
The project is supposed to be governed by the Board https://git.omaps.dev/organicmaps/organicmaps/src/branch/master/docs/GOVERNANCE.md</a> which has always consisted of the Shareholders only and failed to fulfill some of its responsibilities especially in regards to accoutability and transparency, e.g.:

appointment and re-appointment of Board members has never happened </li>

"transparency and practicing the open source way in leadership and decision making" remained just words </li> </ul>
Key project discussions and decisions were being made behind closed doors with even veteran contributors not just having no say, but not even being notified about them, e.g.

an agreement with Kayak.com was made and the controversial feature to add Kayak affiliate links was developed behind the closed doors and a ready-to-go PR was published just a few days before being merged https://github.com/organicmaps/organicmaps/pull/6523</a> </li>

a first full-time developer was hired in Jan 2024 and we could've celebrated this milestone together, but this was kept secret from everyone - even the contributors only found out by chance ~9 months later </li> </ul>
The bylaws of Organic Maps OÜ state that 3/4 of shareholders must agree on major decisions despite only "3" (technically 2) shareholders being registered, thus requiring unanimous consent for major decisions. Also, each shareholder may legally represent the company. So, Organic Maps OÜ is currently in a state of deadlock where major decisions can't be made but regular decisions can be made without agreement.
Violation of stated Free and Open Source Software values</h3>
While the project was always promoted as FOSS, it turned out that some parts of it were closed and it was intentionally kept secret. See the closed-source metaserver drama: https://github.com/orgs/organicmaps/discussions/9837</a> While it ended well and Alexander @biodranik agreed to respect the open-source values https://github.com/orgs/organicmaps/discussions/9837#discussioncomment-11569196</a>, a couple of months later in the team's internal chat he again argued against opening the de-facto closed parts of the maps generator code. It's still not completely open source.
Project's finances and use of donations</h3>
As it was revealed by Roman @rtsisyk it wasn't unusual for the Shareholders to use project's donations as their own money e.g. Alexander @biodranik paid for his personal holiday trip expenses this way. At the same time all other contributors were consistently denied any access to any financial information (even to the totals of money donated/spent).
(It's fine for developers to be reimbursed for their hard work, but it should be done in a fair, transparent and accountable way.)
How is it related to the OM Github block and self-hosted Forgejo migration?</h3>
Roman @rtsisyk revoked Github owner permissions from Alexander @biodranik and Viktor @vng and granted such permissions to the community contributor @pastk. This triggered Github's automatic "sanctions" check and the whole Github OM organization was automatically archived and admin access was blocked until OM's appeal was reviewed. It was unknown whether and when Github would review Organic Maps' appeal and unblock the repositories, so 2 weeks later the project migrated to the self-hosted git.omaps.dev/organicmaps instance, using the free and open source software forge Forgejo.

Install CoMaps Today</h3> Google Play Store</a> • Apple App Store</a> • F-Droid</a></p>
Discover more of your journey - Powered by the community</em></p>

Stated project's values and direction</h3>
Refer to project's descriptions published on https://organicmaps.app/</a>, https://git.omaps.dev/organicmaps/organicmaps/src/branch/master/README.md</a>, in the app stores, etc.</p>

CoMaps - Announcement

Celebrating CoMaps' first birthday

CoMaps gets a 9.6 out of 10 trust score from 'European & Open Source Alternatives'

Community-Chosen: CoMaps is the Pre-Installed Maps App on iodéOS

Introducing the CoMaps Logo!

Announcing CoMaps! Navigate with Privacy - Discover more of your journey!

CoMaps is now on F-Droid!

Winner of the Project Name Vote!

A community-led fork of Organic Maps

Update: Shareholders' reaction

Open Letter to Organic Maps Shareholders

CoMaps - Announcement

Celebrating CoMaps' first birthday

CoMaps gets a 9.6 out of 10 trust score from 'European & Open Source Alternatives'

Community-Chosen: CoMaps is the Pre-Installed Maps App on iodéOS

Introducing the CoMaps Logo!

Announcing CoMaps! Navigate with Privacy - Discover more of your journey!

CoMaps Highlights</h3> Offline Search and Route</strong>: Plan and navigate your trips without internet</p> </li> Saves battery</strong>: Efficient design that does not drain your battery</p> </li> Privacy-respecting</strong>: no identify people, no tracking, no data collection</p> </li>

CoMaps is now on F-Droid!

Why F-Droid?</h3> Free and Open Source</em></strong>: F-Droid ensures that the apps listed contain no closed / proprietary components. All apps are built by F-Droid itself and are guaranteed to correspond to source code made available by apps' developers.</li>

Winner of the Project Name Vote!

A community-led fork of Organic Maps

Update: Shareholders' reaction

Open Letter to Organic Maps Shareholders