# Explorest - Photo Locations — user reviews > 110 indexed App Store user reviews of Explorest by Explorest Inc, rated 4.40/5 from 1,042 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/explorest-photo-locations/id1227446332/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/explorest-photo-locations/id1227446332.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 835 · 4★ 48 · 3★ 31 · 2★ 21 · 1★ 107 ## What do users think of Explorest? Overall sentiment: neutral **Pros** - 💻 Helpful for finding photography locations - 📍 Provides GPS coordinates and directions - 📷 Includes photography tips and settings - 🤩 Amazing and inspiring photography - 🗺️ Covers a wide range of locations **Cons** - 💰 Too much content locked behind paywall - 🗺️ Limited number of locations available - 🌍 Lacks coverage in many regions - 🤖 App crashes and loading issues - 🤔 Unclear business model and pricing **Commonly reported bugs** - App crashes on launch - GPS location not working correctly - Unable to log in or access paid features **Most requested features** - Allow users to add and share new locations - Provide more free content and trial options - Expand coverage to more cities and countries - Improve app stability and performance - Offer more affordable pricing options ## Newest reviews (12 of 110) ### 3/5 — Disappointing- lack of trial *2026-04-16, version 2.1.25* $100 is a lot to ask before we know if the paid features are worth it. A trial would be great. ### 2/5 — Pay (too much) to Play *2026-01-25, version 2.1.25* I’ve used this app for several years. At the beginning it was fun and easy to use to find places to photograph near where I was traveling. I travel a lot and am a humble amateur photographer. After all these years of using this, it is no longer fun. Very few locations are shown for just the annual membership fee. About 80% of the locations are only accessible if you pay the pricy Explorest Pro fee. After careful consideration I’m canceling my subscription. ### 3/5 — New update stinks *2024-03-06, version 2.1.20* New update is not good for finding photos near you. Every time I click a photo near me, the screen updates to a city completely away from me. It’s hard to find your list of saved places. Was better the old way, whatever that was ### 3/5 — It’s a good start *2023-05-26, version 2.1.17* I honestly believe that this app is a good start. I’ve had this app for about five months now and I travel within the US. Unfortunately it doesn’t show me many places to shoot from example I’m making a trip to Florida next month. I know there are tons of people who go to Florida every year. However, they have no locations it pulls up something from China. I feel like when they add more locations in the country. This will be a great app. ### 4/5 — Helpful app, no doubt in that *2023-04-01, version 2.1.17* If not all but many of the information people shared is very helpful. It doesn’t show when was an article was shared, so I have no clue if the app is getting updated with new information or not, whether those “how to get there” are still relevant or not. Weather related information is dynamically updated anyway. Overall, to me it’s a decent purchase. ### 3/5 — Cool concept but... *2021-05-05, version 2.0.5* Cool concept and pretty easy to use but- no places in Minneapolis or St Paul?! Really?? I’m hunting for a near-perfect spot to for a future photo shoot in one of those cities ### 3/5 — Not really sure about this one *2020-09-15* I feel as if this is one more app for people to find the places I’m searching high and low for where people can trash, take over and show no respect just to get that Instagram shot that 500 other people are getting (think Walker Canyon during the superbloom.) It has great locations but the photos are professional leading the average Joe to make the trek there thinking they will get the same photos on their iPhone. And that creates more competition for space that what we need...especially with people who don’t respect our creative spaces just to lose something up on their Gram. If this was more geo based with information about the location and what it actually looks like on an average day...it would be super helpful. And to have a way to plan, curate, etc. it has a lot of potential but needs a major overall to turn it into a practical tool worth paying for. Perhaps you should do some google polls or surveys. **Developer response:** Thanks your review, Wilkyway1979! My name is Michael Lax, co-founder of Explorest and a professional photographer. We truly appreciate receiving your feedback; it helps us continually improve the experience we offer our growing community. First and foremost, I’d like to highlight that we work very closely with our contributors to not list spots that are fragile to human impact, which includes the Waker Canyon during the superbloom. We're also proud partners of the Leave No Trace organization and the Nature Conservancy and regularly participate in clean-ups and promote responsible exploration to our community. We’re glad to hear that you value general information about the locations we feature (e.g., what it may look like on an average day) and want the ability to plan and curate your own personal trips — this is the direction we’re heading! We’d love to invite you to have a chat with us so we can learn more about what matters most to you. If you’re willling, hit us up at info@explorest.com and we can go from there. Thanks again for taking the time to share your thoughts! ### 2/5 — Great app, but irresponsible posting exact locations *2020-08-09* As if Instagram and Facebook haven’t already caused enough damage (indirectly) to the outdoors with geotagging. This app takes it a step further, showing exact locations of little known spots that you would otherwise have to do lots of research to find, and telling you how to get there. This will just invite more irresponsible people who do not adhere to leave no trace principles to destroy what is left of the outdoors. The app itself is honestly great, in theory, but I really hate seeing these hidden gems openly posted with exact locations. It’s very sad, and I hope this app does not become well known for that reason. **Developer response:** Thanks for your review, hahhahahahahhah! My name is Michael Lax, co-founder of Explorest and a professional photographer, and I'd love to unpack this with you. We work very closely with our contributors to not list spots that are fragile to human impact. We're proud partners of the Leave No Trace organization and the Nature Conservancy and regularly participate in clean-ups and promote responsible exploration to our community. Myself and our contributing photographers have the benefit of being in an industry that enables us to travel and explore for a living; however, we all have many friends and family who aren’t photographers and might be lucky to take a couple trips per year. We feel compelled to share the world’s beauty with everyone, especially those who don’t have the luxury of time to discover these places on their own. We hope you'll find the app useful over time. Please feel free to reach out to us directly if you'd like to discuss further at info@explorest.com! Thanks again for taking the time to share your thoughts! ### 2/5 — Disappointing *2020-07-16, version 1.8.1* Disappointing that only the West Coast and North Eastern part of the USA are featured. Much of Europe is missing too. Is this app brand new? Great concept... and UI, but seems like their team needs to seek out more contributors. ### 3/5 — need more states *2020-06-09, version 1.8.0* i just got this app a few days ago and i’m really upset that there’s not anything for ALL the states. i’m in Ohio and there’s nothing showing on there. the closest thing is Michigan. ### 1/5 — Pretty useless *2020-02-27* Unless you’re willing to pay for everything, not one thing was free. May as well just put a price on the actual app instead of pricing everything on it. Deleted. **Developer response:** We listened to you GreenGrey09 — you no longer need to pay to explore all 1,300+ locations! Today’s new app release puts every location in the palm of your hand for *FREE*, plus the exact GPS coordinates and detailed directions on how to get to each. Thanks again for raising your concern and we hope you enjoy this new experience. ### 1/5 — Poor monetisation strategy *2020-01-26* Charging people to “unlock” locations? It’s not exactly out of the box thinking when it comes to a monetisation strategy; it smells a bit desperate and suggests you’re running out of capital. Here’s the thing: Firstly I can screen grab the photo I like, upload it to Google image search and find the location for free but secondly and far more importantly... this app is off the mark; there’s nothing remotely rewarding in “discovering” a location that has been discovered, photographed and shared many time’s before. I’m certain there will be plenty of people that think otherwise, but they’re the same people that will likely be preoccupied with likes and “living their best life” while crying into their pillow every night. Life is too short for an app like this. ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — App doesn’t load despite active internet connection *2025-12-23, version 2.1.25* This app used to be extremely helpful and I really relied on it while it was working. That’s exactly why this situation is so disappointing. I’ve been experiencing an ongoing issue where the app gets stuck on the loading screen and shows the message “Oops. You have no internet connection”, even though my internet is working perfectly (Wi-Fi and cellular). I have an active paid membership, so this is especially frustrating. At the moment, the app is completely unusable, and there’s no indication whether this is a temporary outage, a bug, or if the app is still being actively supported. As a paying user, I’d really like to understand: Is this app still functional and maintained? Is there a fix coming? Otherwise, it’s unclear why I’m paying for a membership I can’t actually use. Please address this issue or provide clear communication to your users. ### 1/5 — Still Working? *2025-06-15, version 2.1.25* Is this app still in use? Couldnt even open the app anymore so I uninstalled and re downloaded, now I can’t log in ### 1/5 — Just use google maps *2025-02-15, version 2.1.25* I could justify the price tag if it actually provided useful info. If you can afford the price tag you should be able to determine what equipment to use and when to use it. There is a significant lack of locations and they are either instagram hotspots or drone shots. And if you don’t want to be that annoying person buzzing a drone above people this app is extremely useless. ### 1/5 — RIP off *2024-10-13* £79 for an app that has less than 80 reviews! Now remember people. If they choose to stop updating the app. You get no refund! These app developers are taking us all for a ride! Use google to find locations not these rip off apps. It’s the users that are fooled into believing it’s good but it’s the users that are the one that are uploading content not the developers! Keep your money in your pocket! ### 1/5 — Sold out *2024-03-23, version 2.1.22* Used to be a pretty cool app. Photographers uploaded their work with locations, gear recommendations and information about how they got the shot. I went to check the app recently and saw that they now want you to buy a 50$ membership per year to see the locations. I think it’s appalling that they used other people’s work and now want us to pay for the information they acquired for free. Deleting this app. ### 1/5 — I’m in Washington DC NOT NYC! *2023-12-29, version 2.1.18* Try tho I might, this app gps locates me in DC but shows only locations of interest in NY. The only locations returned in DC are hotels. I’m out! ### 1/5 — Waste of Time *2021-06-10, version 2.0.10* I live in one of the top ten largest cities in the United States and there is absolutely nothing listed for my location and some of the other largest cities. ### 1/5 — Poor content explained *2020-09-07* In the contributor agreement, Explorest becomes « the sole owner of all intellectual property rights in your Submitted Content ». This explains why this app will never be successful. Very few locations on the maps, very few photographers. They claim the best photographers share their best photos and locations. How could this be true? How could a professional photographer abandon all his rights to this app? **Developer response:** Hi GillesJS, thanks for your review! My name is Michael Lax, co-founder of Explorest and professional photographer. Allow me to clarify any misinterpretation. Our Contributors have always retained the right to any Photograph they contribute on Explorest. As the Agreement specifies, we will also remove their Photographs upon their request. We deeply value each partnership we have established with our network of 135+ contributors — especially when it comes to their IP rights and how we feature their work on Explorest. “Submitted Content” is defined as content related to the Photo Location Insights, EXCLUDING Photographs. A guiding principle of our company has always been to put our creative contributors first, and our Contributor Agreement is meant to reflect that. Follow along on @explorest Instagram and you can see how much we value our user and contributor community — we wouldn’t be where we are today without them! Feel free to get in touch at info@explorest.com if you have any other questions. We’re always open to ways to tighten our legal contracts. Cheers! ### 1/5 — Limited options *2020-08-13, version 1.8.1* I assume the app needs more users with more added locations to be more useful. I can see it’s amazing potential, but it needs serious work to get there. ### 1/5 — Limited locations *2020-08-12, version 1.8.1* Pretty pictures but limited locales ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — One of a kind app *2023-01-03, version 2.1.14* I recently discovered Explorest and I’ve been blown away by how useful it is for travel. The app is super easy to use and has a sleek, modern design that makes it a pleasure to use. One of the things I love most about Explorest is the wide range of locations it covers. From iconic landmarks to hidden gems off the beaten path, the app has something for everyone. ### 5/5 — Makes the world a better place. *2022-04-25* Not one for writing reviews, but this times an exception. Honestly, apps like Explorest do what they set out to do; make the world a better place. This app solves a big problem of mine in trying to find locations for photoshoots. This app genuinely helps people and makes out lives easier. If there was ever an app/service I would invest in (if I had the means) it would definitely be this one. **Developer response:** Thanks for this very thoughtful review Hishbo! We're so glad to hear that we've helped you on your photoshoots and have made the planning process easier for you. We're honored to have you as part of our community! ### 5/5 — Pay for Premium! *2022-04-16, version 2.1.6* This app is a must have for all photographers, videographers and content creators. Not only does it help you when choosing a location to shoot at but it tells you when the best time is to go and what gear to use for best results! ### 5/5 — So wonderful! *2022-02-05, version 2.1.6* For the still learning photographer. This is amazing! ### 5/5 — Finding that hidden gem *2021-09-10* I have travelled many places and I'm always looking for that hidden gem. Something that's not in the travel books. When I found Explorest, I was over the moon for the amazing places. During the last year, I haven't travelled much, but I used the app to make a list of places that I want to visit in the coming month. So excited for this. ### 5/5 — Discover places through someone else’s lenses *2021-01-15, version 1.8.1* Great app to use to discover the placws to go visit once in a lifwtimw ### 5/5 — Amazing App *2020-08-12, version 1.8.1* Such an amazing App. Use it frequently. Give it a try, you will not be disappointed ! ### 5/5 — Amazing app *2020-07-24, version 1.8.1* Amazing app to find the best places to photograph when you travel- or even in your hometown! Can’t wait for more cities to be released on the app ### 5/5 — Essential for travelers *2020-01-02, version 1.7.2* My wife and I travel to all the national parks and take photos with our iPhone 11. This app is perfect to find the best spots on the trails. Looking forward to what else this app can do! ### 5/5 — Really digging the spots *2019-11-29, version 1.7.0* I’m based in Michigan and never realized how beautiful my own state is. Looking forward to getting out there. --- *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 2026-08-21.*