All About Google’s Arts and Culture App for Android

Whether you live thousands of miles away from some of the world’s best art museums, or the weather has prevented you from traveling outdoors, Google’s Arts and Culture app is the answer to your museum woes. Further, the app features more than artwork and artifacts from a select few museums: it boasts collections from 850+ museums, organizations, and archives worldwide. This app is the global arts and culture app you’ve been waiting for.

Find What You’re Looking For
Search for works according to time period or color, and read about their histories as you view them. Or search for works according to a phrase, such as “animals in modern art” or “Mexican art,” or according to a specific movement, historical event, or place.

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Learn About New Exhibits
The app also includes a “daily digest,” which discusses certain artwork, artists, artifacts, cultures, and more. This section includes “featured projects,” and “stories of the day,” which might be on topics such as natural history or specific exhibitions. These sections might include photos, videos, and virtual tours, in addition to information on the topic.

Create Your Own Collections
You can save your favorite works to view later, and organize them into collections. This is a plus if you want fast access to the works that inspire you, or if you need to review works for a class, or even if you want to categorize your favorites according to a color or topic.

Experience Incredible Detail
Now you can get very close to a piece of artwork without setting off the alarms: Simply zoom in and admire the detail. Notice the movement of the brush stroke, or the thickness of paint — it’s all there.

Take a Virtual Tour
You can take 360-degree panoramic tours of the museums. Virtual tours are also available for landmarks and other historical sites. This is another plus if you’re into the architecture of the museum, or just want to see what a particular place looks like.

The App Works with Museums
While this app still doesn’t compare to physically visiting a museum, it allows you to visit a multitude of museums without spending money on transportation, hotels, or even access to the museum. But the app understands that you’ll occasionally want to visit the actual museum, which is why it also provides information on museum hours and events. Google is even testing out an “art recognizer” feature in select museums, which allows you to look up the physical painting through the app to get more information on it. This app truly has it all.