# Cahokia AR Tour — user reviews > 32 indexed App Store user reviews of Cahokia AR Tour by Cahokia Mounds Museum Society, rated 4.20/5 from 351 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/cahokia-ar-tour/id1569837431/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/cahokia-ar-tour/id1569837431.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 246 · 4★ 28 · 3★ 18 · 2★ 16 · 1★ 43 ## Newest reviews (10 of 32) ### 4/5 — Worth the $ *2025-02-15, version 1.12* Creative and flexible option to engage in learning! ### 2/5 — A start *2024-08-21, version 1.11* Clunky app, froze within minutes. ### 3/5 — Old tech, mediocre experience on the ground *2024-07-07, version 1.11* Forced into paying for and using this because interpretive center is closed indefinitely for renovations. So no paper tour guides available. I used an iPhone. Huge mistake. You need the bigger tablet screen. Don’t forget your earbuds. Not sure what you get without them but the threats are clear. Before you start, be sure to visit settings and turn brightness all the way up. There is a brightness icon on-screen during the tour. As far as I can tell, all it does is make a ding sound. No change in brightness. The actual AR effects are good for such old technology. Hopefully, the tiny text for the “information points” will be more legible on a tablet. I guess there is no help for the awkward ground scanning at each stop. Between the AR and the teensy text, the app is informative. I did learn a lot. There are two included tours. There is a fair amount of repetition between the two. I learned to back out. ### 2/5 — 500 mb is too big. *2024-03-17, version 1.11* Obnoxious enormous download to do on site. ### 2/5 — Why no sound? *2023-11-18, version 1.11* I was coming through on a road trip- sorry I don’t carry headphones on my person as I’m driving across the country. Thought this would be cute and informative since the visitor center is totally shut down, but can’t listen to the videos (duplicates) that show up at 3 or 4 locations because I’m not connected with my headphones. When you walk away from the sign, the video shuts off warning you you’re out of range. Ancients would have been at the site listening to birds and the sounds of city life, why can’t we when immersed in your app without headphones? ### 1/5 — AR tour not for those hot sunny days *2023-07-25, version 1.11* The sun prohibits very much viewing of the app, so I wouldn’t use this on those hot hot days ### 1/5 — Impossible to use in bright sunlight *2023-04-13, version 1.11* I downloaded the app at home and you can’t practice using till you’re at the site. On our arrival,It was 80 degrees outside in bright sunshine with my screen brightness on max. I activated the camera,focused on the ground in front of the QR& then aimed at the QR sign. Nothing! Tried multiple times without success. The screen was hard to see and if there were a compass or arrow, I couldn’t see anything. I use QR codes frequently so felt irritated and grumpy instead of amazed. Put a sunshade over every access point or make the app more intuitive. At least you got a $4.99 donation from me. ### 1/5 — Complete Joke *2022-11-26, version 1.11* After arriving we learned that the museum was closed, however a virtual reality tour was offered via this app. Mind you, the museum is free, but because it’s closed, you’ll need to shell out $5. Not that big of a deal, but a little irritating to go from free to $5. Only after you download it do you find out that headphones are required. Seriously?!?! I’m literally sitting in you’re parking lot and NOW you tell me that headphones are required? How many people just carry headphones with them? Wasted $5 because there’s no option if you don’t have headphones with you. On top of that, the app is only compatible with certain devices. We wanted to use an iPad for a bigger viewing screen, but my iPad was not compatible, so we had to use the phone. Needless to say, I’ll never be going back to Cahokia, nor will I ever donate money to them ever again. You’re welcome for the $5 donation, and thanks for screwing people over with your useless app. Oh, and if people still want to visit this horribly managed historic site, use the restroom before you go as they failed to put in portable restrooms. Saw a man forced to use the restroom in the wooded area by the back parking lot. Supposed to be a sacred site, but with no portable restrooms, they don’t give people any option but to urinate on this sacred site. Way to go, Illinois! ### 2/5 — Never got to use it *2022-10-04, version 1.11* BUY AND INSTALL BEFORE YOU LEAVE HOME or you might need an entire months worth of cellular data for the download. I Wasted Five bucks while on site, because the visitor center is closed and I was intrigued by the sign -about the app at the entrance. I Paid my fee and clicked download THEN got the warning about how huge the file size is. (something like 475 MB) Cancelled download thinking I could get some value later.... Only now discovered the disclaimer it will only work DURING your site visit. Worthless to me now. Will probably never use it - so not gonna bother with the download anymore. ### 5/5 — Really fantastic! *2021-12-06, version 1.0* Never expected to see what Cahokia looked like 1000 years ago superimposed right on the grounds! Can’t wait for my grandkids to see this! Its truly amazing! ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — Complete garbage app *2026-05-14, version 1.13* Doesn’t work. Every time I would start a segment it would say I was out of range even when crouched right next to the sign. Waste of money. ### 1/5 — Disappointing and Unhelpful *2025-06-30, version 1.12* I was excited to use this app during my visit to Cahokia Mounds, but it ended up being more frustrating than helpful. For starters, the app is almost useless once you’re on the trails — there’s very little signage in the park, and the app doesn’t do enough to fill in the gaps. It lacks a clear, detailed map, which is a huge oversight given how many trails crisscross throughout the area. Staying on the right path is nearly impossible. To make matters worse, the cell service is extremely poor, which made downloading and using the app painfully slow. There was no warning about this at the visitor center or entrance, and no promotion of the app in visible areas like the driveway or main signage. How are visitors supposed to even know it exists before they head out? This could be a valuable tool, but right now it feels like a missed opportunity. I expected better for such a significant historic site. ### 1/5 — The AR function does not appear to work *2024-11-17, version 1.12* Evidently other people have got it working but the instructions are extremely obscure and I was not able to get the AR function to work at all. It keeps telling you to follow an arrow and the arrow just keeps vanishing and no matter which way you point it nothing happens. I've waited two decades to come here and I'm very disappointed that there's absolutely no good information to be had. ### 1/5 — Don’t buy this app *2024-10-10, version 1.12* I was very dissatisfied by the app. The view is better without it, and even on its own, the app should not cost money. This is a scam. DONT BUY ### 1/5 — Poorly designed *2024-09-17, version 1.11* This app was poorly designed. There are a few simple directions that would have made it more user friendly. I didn’t it figure out what they really wanted you to do until the final marker. Also, it’s ridiculous to offer only headphone listening. What if you are with someone. I paid for the app and it was a lot waste. ### 1/5 — Didn’t work *2024-08-11, version 1.11* Just go to YouTube this didn’t give me any real info ### 1/5 — Cahokia app *2024-04-13, version 1.11* Doesn’t work ### 1/5 — Very balky app - use caution! *2024-04-11, version 1.11* I purchased this app at Cahokia and wished I hadn’t. It froze my phone and never worked correctly. Conferred with other folks who had made the same mistake of purchasing and were dealing with the same issues. It never worked while we were at Cahokia, and later when I was experiencing odd phone issues I deleted it, which solved the problem. Better beware! ### 1/5 — One star *2024-02-26, version 1.11* The app will not work without headphones. The app wants you to walk off the path using the arrows. There isnt any way to shut the app off. Basically a piece of junk. ### 1/5 — Maybe not for an iPhone? *2023-08-28, version 1.11* Happily paid for the app, downloaded it, and it froze at the first sign. Rebooted the phone and it froze again. I think a warning to consider not using a small phone screen would be nice. Even if the app had worked, reading the text and seeing the graphics in the sun on a tiny screen would’ve been unpleasant or impossible. ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — Super tour! *2023-10-09, version 1.11* Brings the past to life! Easy to learn use and informative! ### 5/5 — Amazing! *2023-06-09, version 1.11* Such an amazing way to enhance a tour into the past! Easy to use even for someone who is not great with technology. Made history come alive. My 9 year old & my parents in their later 60s all enjoyed it. ### 5/5 — Great Experience *2023-03-28, version 1.11* A successful use of augmented reality, this app unobtrusively helped me visualize Cahokia as it once was! ### 5/5 — Never Change Cahokia App *2022-12-10, version 1.11* To the developers of this application: please keep this as true to itself as possible. The aesthetics, features and functionality add so much to the experience and to life as a whole. Very few apps come this close to perfection. Never change, Cahokia AR app. ### 5/5 — .. *2022-09-05, version 1.11* A must have since museum is closed ### 5/5 — A small purchase that made the visit 100x better! *2022-08-23, version 1.11* The Cahokia AR app is incredible. As an archaeologist familiar with the history yet who has struggled to paint a picture of what the city would have looked like in the past during visits with friends, this was invaluable. The extent of the AR experience and it’s visual impact made this most recent visit a lot more fun and easier to comprehend for my guests! ### 5/5 — Outstanding app! *2022-07-16, version 1.11* I also visited while the interpretive center was closed for roof renovation. The app provided a great self guided tour! As mentioned in other reviews, it overlays varying degrees of VR showing how the Cahokia people lived 1000 years ago. Also as mentioned you have to use earbuds or headphones, so you don’t disturb other visitors. The iPhone version of the app was a little finicky when switching back-and-forth between the camera to take pics.Sometimes it would return to where you left off, and sometimes you would have to go to the menu at the beginning and then back into the video you were watching. Overall a priceless app if you want to do a self-guided tour! I can’t wait to go back and visit again, and see some of the artifacts in the interpretive center that were described and pictured in the app. I hope they plan on creating a third tour of Woodhenge with a slider bar that lets you pick the day of the year. Ie showing solstices and equinox sunrises and sunsets. ### 5/5 — Fantastic way to enhance a visit! *2022-07-09, version 1.11* Visited Cahokia while the welcome center is closed, so this app was a fantastic way to get more information and enhance our visit—otherwise we would’ve only had the physical signs to rely on, which would be OK but they do not have as much information as the app. The AR was delightful, and I liked the slider ability to change how much AR I was seeing: from wholly CG to just some AR buildings on the real landscape. The audio tour part was also excellent, and since I was visiting with one other person, we both wore one Bluetooth earbud so we could listen while walking. Overall, I highly recommend this to enhance a visit, but ESPECIALLY if the welcome center is closed or you’re skipping it. ### 5/5 — Adds a lot to a Cahokia visit *2022-05-04, version 1.1* This app is well done, it adds video animations, narrations, photos and text to tell the story of the mounds area as it was during Native American days. There are two tours, one for Monks Mound and another for the village area. Both involve walking along paved paths. Monks Mound has a staircase to access the top. ### 5/5 — Very cool and informational *2021-12-24, version 1.0* If you’re visiting Cahokia Mounds, you might wonder if this app is worth the $5. I certainly think it is. It’s cool how it overlays what the city looked like hundreds of years ago over what it looks like now. It does so in a way that was easy to use. You have to have headphones if you want to do the audio tour part, so bring those! Ideas for things to add to the app would be to include guides for elsewhere around the Cahokia site - even if it’s just a simple trail guide with no fancy AR. --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-09-17.*