Magic Lane Ltd. (formerly Route 66 Geographic Information Systems B.V.) is a privately held company headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Route 66 was founded in 1992 and specialized in navigation software for PC and mobile devices (PocketPC). and released for iOS and Android devices in 2015. The company has been rebranded as General Magic in 2018 and then again rebranded in 2022 to the current name, Magic Lane Limited, in part as a continuation of the Magic Earth brand as well as a reference to the founder and CTO Johan Lanen.

Magic Lane is the developer of Magic Earth, a common proprietary navigation application, first developed by Route 66 in 1999 for PC and mobile devices (PocketPC) and released for iOS and Android devices in 2015.

Route 66

Route 66 was founded in 1992. In 2008, the company announced 2.4 million euros in revenue. In 2010, the company had 92 employees, of which 65 were software developers.

The Nokia 6110 Navigator delivered with Route 66 was the first mobile phone with on-board navigation installed as standard, apart from smartphones with their significantly larger dimensions and heavier weight.

The continuation of Route 66 Navigate was carried out after the company rebranded as General Magic, with the introduction of the navigation app Magic Earth as a testing ground for Android and iOS, made first available in 2015 on Android. It provides a platform to other companies enabling navigation for their apps and platforms. Magic Lane's Software Development Kit (SDK) allows companies to add mapping, location, and navigation functionality into vehicles, apps, and online platforms in several programming languages. The SDK is for iOS, Android, JavaScript, QT, Linux, Flutter and C++. It also provides turn-by-turn navigation for driving, biking, walking, and public transportation. The application also works offline, with offline OSM data for 233 countries and regions. It can display 2D, 3D and satellite maps as well as location data for parking and details like route surface, difficulty and elevation. Magic Earth works on Android and iOS devices and supports Android Auto, Apple CarPlay and Apple Watch The /e/ Operating System, which aims to be a privacy-focused alternative to Android, uses Magic Earth as the default navigation application, with the explanation that Magic Lane provided the /e/OS developers sufficient documentation about privacy behavior to include the application in the OS.

See also

  • Comparison of satellite navigation software
  • OpenStreetMap
  • OsmAnd
  • Organic Maps
  • CoMaps
  • DeGoogle

References

Other sources

  • https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Magic_Earth#Resources
  • http://www.magicearth.com
  • Route 66 Mobile 7 for Nokia Series 60 Mobile Phones Launched in North Americafrom Geekzone