# Urban Archive Explore History — The City is Your Museum

> Mobile archive of NYC historical images for then-and-now photo comparisons. (iPhone/iPad app by Urban Archive, Inc..)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/urban-archive-explore-history/id1154228951 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Urban Archive, Inc.](https://appshunter.io/developer/1154224600)
- Category: Education, Travel
- Price: Free
- Rating: 4.70/5 from 227 App Store ratings · 76 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 13.0 · 37 MB
- Languages: American English
- Released: 2017-03-08
- Data updated: 2026-08-24
- Monetization: free
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/urban-archive-explore-history/id1154228951/reviews.md

## What is Urban Archive Explore History?

UNCOVER HISTORY WHERE IT HAPPENED
Urban Archive is the largest mobile archive of NYC historical images, ever. We’ve mapped tens of thousands of historical images across the five boroughs, and we’re adding more every day.

RECREATE HISTORY
Shoot instant then-and-now photos of buildings and city streetscapes.

OUR PARTNERS
Urban Archive works with over 30 cultural institutions in NYC, including the Museum of the City of New York, the Brooklyn Historical Society, the Museum of Chinese in America, the New-York Historical Society, among others. For a full list, visit our website at www.urbanarchive.nyc

## Key features

- Tens of thousands of mapped historical images
- Daily image additions
- Instant then-and-now photo creation
- Explore history where it happened
- Partnership with 30+ NYC cultural institutions

## What do users think of Urban Archive Explore History?

Overall sentiment: positive

**Pros**

- 📸 Exceptional historical photo collection and archival content
- 🗺️ Innovative location-based history discovery
- 👍 User-friendly and intuitive interface design
- 📚 Educational value with rich historical context
- 🎯 Engaging overlay feature comparing past and present photos
- 🌟 Highly engaging and addictive user experience
- 🔄 Regular updates and continuous improvements
- 💬 Responsive developer team addressing user feedback
- 🎨 Beautiful and elegant visual design
- 🚶 Enhances walking experience through the city

**Cons**

- 🐛 Frequent crashes and app instability
- ⏱️ Sluggish performance and loading delays
- 🔗 Broken notification links not opening content
- 📍 Limited geographic coverage (primarily NYC-focused)
- ⚠️ Content moderation issues with irrelevant uploads
- 🔍 Search timeout errors
- 🗺️ Map display showing only purple dots without information
- ❌ Error messages without helpful context
- 🔄 Recent layout changes caused loss of visited location tracking

**Commonly reported bugs**

- History notifications fail to load content approximately 50% of the time
- App opens to map with purple dots but no information overlay
- Audio tour files crash at Museum of the City of New York
- Clicking on map items yields 'search timed out' errors
- New layout caused disappearance of previously visible locations
- Clicking locations produces no response or action
- Oops error messages when opening daily history
- 'Content coming' placeholder text persists indefinitely

**Most requested features**

- Expand app to more cities worldwide
- Time period filtering for historical photos
- Improved error correction mechanism for user-submitted data
- Walking path and navigation integration
- Visited location tracking and management
- Content availability outside NYC boroughs
- More extensive NYPL and NYC Municipal Archives integration

## Recent user reviews (10 of 76)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/urban-archive-explore-history/id1154228951/reviews.md

### 1/5 — Nose

*2025-06-06, version 2023.2*

No está para el de Nuevo León (México) cienega de flores😩

### 5/5 — Urban Archive is a wonderful resource for old photos

*2024-10-30, version 2023.2*

One of the best apps ever

### 3/5 — Amazing concept, but big frustrations

*2024-08-28, version 2023.2*

This kind of app is exactly up my alley. In fact, I looked it up after having had a similar app idea. “I wonder if anyone else has made this,” I thought. Wonderfully for my curiosity (and disappointingly for my lost app opportunity), I found Urban Archive.

It does exactly what I wanted from an app like this. The location-based history tidbits are awesome. There’s tons of interesting information here, not just stuff I don’t know, but stuff I wouldn’t have even thought to inquire about.

But there are also big frustrations in terms of usability. My biggest one is that history notifications only take me to page maybe half the time. The other half, the app opens to only a map with lots of purple dots, but no information or overlay. Occasionally the information comes up after a short delay, which brings me to another issue: the app is sluggish and buggy at times. Many times I’ve tried to open the day’s history only to be greeted with an “oops” and no additional info. I simply dealt with these issues for a while because I love all the stuff I’m learning, but I’m so irritated at this point that I’m just deleting the app. I really hope the developers of this app can go on a proper bug hunt and make this app a pleasure to use because it has so much potential.

### 5/5 — Great Stuff

*2024-06-03, version 2023.2*

Makes walking down the street a completely new experience. Love history and this just makes you appreciate the past by seeing how things have changed (or haven’t).  Love this app!

### 2/5 — Very nice but…

*2024-04-25, version 2023.2*

The app itself is amazing and I love to use it when I am strolling around Manhattan. I am a history buff and this app is almost always active on my phone. However! Lately I have seen super recent pictures that don’t deserve to be on the app, like random scaffolding instead of an actual building, a family portrait recently taken after a 2023 bike ride! Are we joking here? A bike ride ?
I seriously hope that the developers start moderating the picture uploads because the app is losing value becoming a free for all.

### 5/5 — Coolest App on my phone

*2024-03-19, version 2023.2*

There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t open this app to see the history of the buildings I’m walking by. Everyone I show it to instantly down loads it. 5 Stars.

### 5/5 — A spectacular app for NYC that should be emulated worldwide

*2023-09-17, version 2023.2*

This app is one of my all time favorites (and I have downloaded far too many). It really embodies the transformational promise of the smartphone — location aware access to an encyclopedic trove of images and information. Thank you to all who made it possible!!

### 5/5 — Great resource of NYC architecture history

*2023-09-11, version 2023.2*

Excellent

### 5/5 — The greatest collection of historical New York City photographs ever collected

*2023-09-02, version 2023.2*

It is nothing short of incredible that an app that fits into my pocket can have both a  library full of different collections of historical photographs of New York City and also have them plotted on an easy to navigate map!

### 5/5 — Fascinating and fun.

*2023-07-24, version 2023.2*

Can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone down the rabbit hole of history as I’ve walked around Brooklyn and Manhattan. When I’m out with my teenaged son and he sees me take my phone out, he just rolls his eyes and accepts that I might be a while. So many great photos and captions. I love being able to take a current photo and combine them with the vintage shots in the app. And, I’ve sent in a few small historical corrections over the years, and the team is very responsive and has updated the info surprisingly quickly. Just a terrific resource about NYC’s past, to get your imagination spinning.

## Frequently asked questions about Urban Archive Explore History

### What does the Urban Archive Explore History app do?

This app provides the largest mobile archive of historical images for New York City. It allows users to uncover history by mapping tens of thousands of historical images across the five boroughs and comparing them with current streetscapes.

### What are the key features of this app?

Key features include access to a vast collection of mapped historical images, the ability to add new images daily, and the functionality to create instant then-and-now photos of buildings and city streetscapes for a direct historical comparison.

### Is this app free to use?

Yes, the application is available for free. There are no in-app purchases or advertisements mentioned, suggesting a completely free experience for users.

### Who is this app for?

This app is designed for anyone interested in New York City's rich history, including history enthusiasts, urban explorers, photographers, and tourists looking to discover the city's past in a unique and interactive way.

### How does the app help me recreate history?

The app allows you to take current photos of buildings and streetscapes and instantly compare them with historical images from its archive. This feature enables you to see how locations have changed over time and visually recreate historical moments.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 2023.2 — 2023-04-20

Improved analytics and bug fixes for a smoother experience

### 2023.1 — 2023-02-25

Audio content is now available at certain locations. Please update your app to get access to the newest features!

### 2022.2 — 2022-03-07

Want to get push notifications when you're near a historical spot that we have a great image for?

First, in the Settings App turn on Location Services to "Always Allow" for the app. Don't worry we only track significant location changes and it's extremely optimized so it will use hardly any battery.  

Second, make sure you also allow Push Notifications in Settings App.

Third, in Urban Archive app under My Archive, set Location Push Notifications to on. The app will help you configure the above settings from here if you're having trouble.

### 2022.1 — 2022-02-27

A quick dusting off and sweeping out of some bugs to make sure the app is running smooth! 
We are about to bring some new features to Urban Archive iOS — stay tuned and send any requests to feedback@urbanarchive.nyc.

### 2021.3 — 2021-06-21

Fixed map bug

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*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 2026-08-24.*