MobiSystems

Mobile Systems Ltd., also known as MobiSystems,^[1][2][3] is a Bulgarian multinational software development company specializing in productivity software for Android, iOS, Microsoft Windows and Mac operating systems.^[4][5] The company’s products have been installed over 300 million times by users in 195 countries.^[4][6][7]

Mobile Systems Ltd.

Mobi Art Building, MobiSystems headquarters in Sofia
Industry	Computer software
Founded	2001; 23 years ago (2001)
Founders	Stanislav Minchev Dimitar Mitev Stoyan Gogov Nikolay Kussovski
Headquarters	Sofia , Bulgaria
Area served	Worldwide
Products	OfficeSuite, PDF Extra, Oxford Dictionary apps
Services	Productivity software, online dictionaries
Website	www.mobisystems.com

Founded in 2001 in Sofia, Bulgaria,^[8][9] the company is privately held^[7] and its flagship products include OfficeSuite, PDF Extra,^[6] as well as multiple dictionary apps using licensed content from Oxford University Press.^[4][10] In 2014, the company was listed as one of the ‘5000 Fastest-Growing Companies in America’ by Inc. magazine.^[11]

MobiSystems is a member of the Bulgarian-Romanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry^[6] and the Bulgarian Australian Business Council.^[7]

History

MobiSystems was founded in 2001 in Sofia, Bulgaria by Stanislav Minchev and Dimitar Mitev.^[12]

In 2003, Nikolay Kussovski and Stoyan Gogov joined the company as founding members.^[13] As a result, MobiSystems opened an office in San Diego, USA. The same year, MobiSystems reached a licensing agreement with Oxford University Press for the development of dictionary apps using language content from Oxford University Press.^[4][10]

In 2004, MobiSystems released the first version of its OfficeSuite office pack, initially for Palm OS, followed by a version for the Symbian mobile operating system in 2005.^[12]

In 2009, the company reached an agreement with Sony for the development of Android versions of MobiSystems’ OfficeSuite and File Commander apps, and their preload to Sony’s Xperia series of smartphones and tablets.^[14][15][16]

In 2013, MobiSystems released the first version of OfficeSuite for iOS devices.^[17]

In 2016, the company launched a desktop version of OfficeSuite for Microsoft Windows, making it their debut product for computers.^[18]

Products

• OfficeSuite - Cross-platform software suite available for Android, iOS, Microsoft Windows and Mac operating systems. OfficeSuite has been installed over 300 million times and includes a word processor (Documents), spreadsheet editor (Sheets), presentation program (Slides), email client (Mail), and a PDF editor (PDF).^[19]

• PDF Extra - PDF editor, reader, and converter available for Android, iOS, and Microsoft Windows operating systems.^[6][20]

• Oxford Dictionary - Dictionary app containing 13 bilingual Oxford University Press dictionaries and 2 thesauruses. MobiSystems develops the app under a licensing agreement with Oxford University Press.^[4][10]

• MobiDrive - Cross-platform cloud storage service available for Android, iOS, and Microsoft Windows.^[6]

• File Commander - File manager app available for Android. File Commander has been preloaded onto Sony’s Xperia series devices. ^[20][14]  

Awards

In 2018, MobiSystems’ OfficeSuite was selected as an Android Excellence app by Google Play.^[21][22]

In 2019, MobiSystems’ OfficeSuite was awarded the Best Mobile App of 2019 award by Best Mobile App Awards.^[23]

MobiSystems has won multiple awards from the Bulgarian Association of Information Technologies’ yearly BAIT Awards. In 2016, the company won the ‘Mobile Application’ award for their Oxford Dictionary application.^[24] In 2018, Eva Maydell MEP awarded MobiSystems the ‘Company with the largest contribution to promoting the image of the Bulgarian ICT industry worldwide’ award, as well as the ‘Successful Bulgarian ICT Product’ award for OfficeSuite.^{[25][26][27][28]}

Philanthropy

In 2015, MobiSystems began offering free courses for competitive programming, applied programming, and programming for mobile applications to 5-12th grade high school students at ‘First Private Mathematic High School’ in Sofia, Bulgaria.^[29]

In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, MobiSystems participated in the Italian Ministry for Technological Innovation & Digitization’s Digital Solidarity (Solidarietà Digitale) initiative by donating licenses for OfficeSuite, PDF Extra, as well as providing cloud storage via their MobiDrive cloud service. The Digital Solidarity initiative was created with the aim to digitize Italian businesses in an effort to mitigate difficulties imposed by the health emergency.^[30][31][32]

During the same period, MobiSystems donated BGN 100,000 to Aleksandrovska University Hospital in Sofia, Bulgaria for the purchase of ventilators and medical supplies.^[33][34][35]

In 2023, MobiSystems became a member of the charity organization unconnected.org. The organization’s goal is to provide students, refugees, women, and underserved communities internet access.^[36]

Controversy

In 2016 the app version of the American Heritage Dictionary developed by MobiSystems, under license from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, was criticized by visually impaired users for the dictionary’s lack of VoiceOver accessibility options.^[37][38]

References

1. "Mobile Systems OOD » Rousse Chamber of Commerce and Industry". rcci.bg. 2023-03-13. Retrieved 2023-10-17.
2. "МОБАЙЛ СИСТЕМС ООД – БАИТ" (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 2023-10-17.
3. Maydell, Eva (2019-02-27). "Ева Майдел: България е световна марка за качество в IT сферата". Ева Майдел (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 2023-10-17.
4. "Partnerships | Oxford Languages". languages.oup.com. Retrieved 2023-10-17.
5. "Mobisystem's OfficeSuite goes live on macOS". Yahoo Finance. 2023-11-13. Retrieved 2023-12-18.
6. "Добре дошли на MobiSystems". Българо-румънска търговско-промишлена палата (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 2023-10-17.
7. "Membership in Bulgarian Australian Business Council". www.babc.biz. Retrieved 2023-10-17.
8. "MobiSystems представя България на срещата на иноваторите от бъдещето CES 2015". kaldata.com (in Bulgarian). 2015-01-09. Retrieved 2023-11-29.
9. "Българска следа на CES 2015 - Economy.bg". www.economy.bg. Retrieved 2023-11-29.
10. Karen, Plaza T.; Warner, Guyano Jr. R.; Lorraine, Maturan Mae; Van, Sabio Charlz (June 2022). "Android-Based Surigaonon Dictionary and English-Sinurigaonon Translator Application" (PDF). International Journal of Science and Management Studies. 5 (3): 5.
11. "The American Registry". www.americanregistry.com. Retrieved 2023-10-17.
12. BG, OneWeb. "МobiSystems: българският конкурент на Microsoft". hicomm.bg (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 2023-10-17.
13. "What is it like to be a Microsoft competitor?". Bulgarian Industrial Association. Retrieved 2023-11-29.
14. updated, Alex Dobie last (2013-03-12). "Sony Xperia Z review". Android Central. Retrieved 2023-10-17.
15. "Sony Xperia Z1s (T-Mobile) Review". PCMAG. Retrieved 2023-10-17.
16. "Sony Xperia Tablet Z Review - Android Tablet Reviews by MobileTechReview". www.mobiletechreview.com. Retrieved 2023-10-17.
17. "OfficeSuite: A Look at The Top Mobile Office Suite Application". CellularNews. 2019-12-12. Retrieved 2023-10-17.
18. Dan Thorp-Lancaster (2016-11-07). "MobiSystems' OfficeSuite makes the jump to Windows PC". Windows Central. Retrieved 2023-10-17.
19. Team, DealPost. "This top-rated Microsoft Office alternative is on sale now". PCWorld. Retrieved 2023-10-17.
20. "MobiSystems, Inc. – PDF Association". Retrieved 2023-10-17.
21. "Discover the best apps and games with Google's Android Excellence April 2018 update". BetaNews. 2018-04-06. Retrieved 2023-10-17.
22. Gangwar, Akshay (2018-04-06). "Here are Google's Picks for Android Excellence Apps for Q2 2018". Beebom. Retrieved 2023-10-17.
23. "OfficeSuite Mobile App | The Best Mobile App Awards". bestmobileappawards.com. Retrieved 2023-10-17.
24. "Най-добрите в IT сектора (СНИМКИ)". Fakti.bg - Да извадим фактите наяве (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 2023-10-17.
25. "Новини". bait-awards.bg. Retrieved 2023-10-17.
26. "На официална церемония бяха отличени победителите в конкурса "Наградите на БАИТ" за 2018 г." БЪЛГАРСКА ТЪРГОВСКО-ПРОМИШЛЕНА ПАЛАТА (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 2023-10-17.
27. "БАИТ връчи годишните си награди за 8-а поредна година - Economy.bg". www.economy.bg. Retrieved 2023-10-17.
28. Арнаудов, Юлиян (2019-02-28). "Ucha.se и "Мобайл системс" са големите победители в ежегодните награди на БАИТ". TechTrends България (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 2023-10-17.
29. Бонева-Благоева, Йорданка (2015-11-05). "Къде в София учениците могат да се научат да програмират? - Danybon.com" (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 2023-10-17.
30. "Solidarietà Digitale: MobiSystems offre OfficeSuite, PDF Extra e cloud". www.punto-informatico.it. Retrieved 2023-10-17.
31. Bonofiglio, Ludovica (2020-03-27). "Solidarietà digitale: quando Internet unisce e non divide". Julia in Rete (in Italian). Retrieved 2023-10-17.
32. "Solidarietà Digitale". Dipartimento per la trasformazione digitale (in Italian). Retrieved 2023-10-17.
33. "Хроника на доброто. Дарителите по време на пандемия". Свободна Европа (in Bulgarian). 2020-06-03. Retrieved 2023-10-17.
34. "Софтуерната компания MobiSystems дарява 100 000 лв. за животоспасяваща техника и консумативи". Offnews. Retrieved 2023-10-17.
35. ""Бизнес герои": Дарителите по време на пандемия". bTV Новините (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 2023-10-17.
36. "A community connecting 1 billion people to the internet". Unconnected.
37. "Good things might not last: American Heritage Dictionary is no longer accessible at all | AppleVis". www.applevis.com. Retrieved 2023-10-17.
38. "American Heritage Dictionary just became more accessible, but usability concerns remain | AppleVis". www.applevis.com. Retrieved 2023-10-17.

External links

• Official website
• Official OfficeSuite website