Zangwill's Spitalfields vs MemoryLanes
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Zangwill's Spitalfields
Explore historic Spitalfields with an immersive audio-visual walking tour narrated by Victorian novelist Israel Zangwill. Discover the sights and sounds of 19th-century London, from its vibrant immigrant communities to its darker, more notorious past. Uncover forgotten stories through evocative images and archive audio at various historical sites.
- Audio-visual walking tour
- Victorian London historical context
- Narration by Israel Zangwill
- GPS navigation to historical sites
- Evocative images and archive audio
- Explore historical locations like soup kitchens and synagogues
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Zangwill’s Spitalfields is an audio-visual walking tour of the historic Spitalfields area of London’s East End. Immerse yourself in the sights and sounds of nineteenth-century London as you uncover Spitalfields’ forgotten past with Victorian novelist Israel Zangwill. In the 1890s, Spitalfields was dilapidated and overcrowded, scrutinized by journalists and stalked by Jack the Ripper. It was also a vibrant working-class neighbourhood, home to a large population of Jewish immigrants. Zangwill’s Spitalfields will take you on a journey into the heart of the London ghetto through the eyes of an insider -- local novelist Israel Zangwill, the Jewish Dickens. Listening to his lively, witty prose, discover the dramas, debates and dilemmas that shaped the lives of Spitalfields’ residents over a century ago. As you explore the neighbourhood you’ll find traces of Victorian lives that still linger in the streets. Visit a soup kitchen, a school, a residential house, a garment workshop, a synagogue, a market and a tenement block. At each site you’ll hear from Zangwill and other novelists and journalists, as well as rabbis, tailors, political protesters, market traders and schoolchildren. You’ll also hear archive audio from Spitalfields’ past. The locations are brought to life with an array of evocative images including archive photographs, rare documents, advertisements and museum artefacts. Each numbered pip on the map corresponds to a site on the walk. Turn on your GPS to find your location on the map and navigate to the sites on the walk. Tap a pip on the map and your device will play an audio-visual guide to that site. Pinch to expand the map and images. You can also scroll through the images by swiping the slider at the bottom of the screen. You can visit the sites in any order but following the numbered order is recommended. You can also listen to the soundtrack and view the images from any location. Zangwill’s Spitalfields was created from original research by literary historian Dr Nadia Valman, who wrote, produced and narrates the app. Nadia lectures in the Department of English at Queen Mary, University of London and researches the cultural history of London’s East End. Zangwill’s Spitalfields is a collaboration between Dr Nadia Valman, the Jewish Museum London and Soda Ltd. The app was funded by the Innovation Fund, Queen Mary University of London. Text © Nadia Valman 2016 Image © Jewish Museum London, Museum of London, London Metropolitan Archives, Tower Hamlets Local History Library and Archives, Survey of London, LSE Archives
MemoryLanes
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Uncover previously invisible sites of Jewish life in Germany, Poland and Serbia. Teenagers from across Europe investigated the Centropa archive, as well as other historical sources, to research Jewish biographies from their towns and cities. With the guidance of local artists, they created graphic novels, interviews, audio recordings, animations, films and many other projects to retell the stories of those who might once have been their neighbors. Together we aim to anchor formerly invisible places of Jewish life as new places of remembrance. The project was developed by Centropa – Zentrum für jüdische Geschichte des 20. Jahrhunderts e.V, Galicia Jewish Museum in Krakow, berlinHistory App, an open digital platform for history and CEP (Centre for Education Policy), an independent multidisciplinary research center. MemoryLanes is a project by the Education Agenda NS-Injustice funded by EVZ Foundation and the Federal Ministry of Finance (BMF) based on a decision by the Bundestag.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: MemoryLanes at every 4 days against Zangwill's Spitalfields's monthly. Zangwill's Spitalfields's advantage is iOS requirement (8.0 vs 14.0). On price, review sentiment, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Zangwill's Spitalfields ships an update monthly, MemoryLanes every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 26, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Zangwill's Spitalfields | MemoryLanes |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews |
| Update frequency | Monthly | Every 4 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 8.0 — better | 14.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 94 MB | 124 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | QApps | berlinHistory e.V. |
Customer experience
Zangwill's Spitalfields
MemoryLanes
In-app purchases
Zangwill's Spitalfields
No in-app purchases
MemoryLanes
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Zangwill's Spitalfields free?
Is MemoryLanes free?
Do Zangwill's Spitalfields or MemoryLanes have ads?
Which is updated more often, Zangwill's Spitalfields or MemoryLanes?
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