Explorer vs GettyGuide
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Explorer
Navigate a world-renowned museum with ease. This app provides interactive maps, turn-by-turn directions to exhibits and amenities, and personalized recommendations based on your interests. Enhance your visit with behind-the-scenes content and engaging quizzes.
- Interactive museum map
- Turn-by-turn directions
- Customized exhibit recommendations
- Exhibit information and quizzes
- Amenity finder (restrooms, shops)
- Multi-language support
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Download Explorer, the Museum’s free mobile app! Get a map, turn-by-turn directions to exhibits and amenities, customized recommendations for what to see, and more! “A great aid to anyone seeing the museum for the first or 40th time.” - The New York Times Available in English, Spanish, French, and Portuguese. Explorer is automatically set to the language of your device. Map and Turn-by-Turn Directions Get directions to exhibits and amenities, including shortest and accessible routes. Get Recommendations for What to See Explorer recommends exhibits based on interests you select—and sorts them by how close they are to your location. Learn More About the Museum’s Exhibits Go behind the scenes and dive deeper with videos, fun quizzes, and more. Find the Nearest Restroom Explorer provides you the shortest route to restrooms, shops, exits, and more. How does Explorer know where you are? The Museum has placed more than 700 Bluetooth beacons throughout its 45 permanent halls. These tiny beacons give off signals that your phone can detect (when Bluetooth is enabled). Your phone calculates your position based on detecting three of these beacons simultaneously. This triangulation is not always perfect, especially in certain areas like large, multi-level halls, meandering walkways, or stairwells. Your phone should be able to detect the hall that you are in and provide turn-by-turn directions, but sometimes the “blue dot” is not exactly in the right place. In some rare cases it will even be missing. Moving to another area and waiting a few moments will usually fix the issue. The Museum’s free AMNH-GUEST Wi-Fi also varies in strength throughout the complex. Certain materials and large exhibits (i.e. the Blue Whale) either absorb or reflect the radio signals used by Wi-Fi, further complicating this technology. If you experience difficulty connecting to Wi-Fi in a particular part of the Museum, you can usually fix the issue by moving a short distance away. We’d Love to Hear From You! Your feedback is important and will help us improve your Museum experience. Email explorer@amnh.org. Supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies
GettyGuide
Discover unique perspectives on art with audio tours and immersive experiences of exhibitions and outdoor spaces. Navigate Getty's locations, explore art with diverse commentary, and plan your visit with essential information.
- Thematic audio tours
- Explore art on-demand
- Mood Journeys for unique experiences
- Exhibition and event information
- Location-aware navigation map
- Dining and shopping details
- Multilingual audio content
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With Getty’s official app, you’ll discover unique perspectives on art and enjoy an immersive experience of exhibitions and outdoor spaces. Let GettyGuide® be your personal tour guide during your visit. Listen to original, thematic audio tours that offer intimate experiences of the Getty’s two locations, and of the can’t-miss art, with commentary from diverse voices. At the Getty Center, stroll the one-of-a-kind Central Garden while hearing from a museum curator, landscape architect, mindfulness expert, and gardeners about this ever-changing space. Or try Mood Journeys, a feature that allows visitors to navigate hand-picked destinations and activities, according to a feeling you’d like to explore. At the Getty Villa, be transported 2,000 years into the past to experience the sounds and stories of life in an ancient Roman country house. You’ll find all the information you need to plan your day at the Getty Center or Getty Villa, including events and exhibitions currently on view, and where to eat and shop. App features include: • Audio tours and playlists of exhibitions, art, architecture, and gardens • “Explore on your own” feature for on-demand audio about hundreds of works of art • “Mood Journeys” feature, to inspire visitors to experience Getty locations and works of art in a unique way, with short activities designed to explore moods or feelings • Exhibitions and events happening today • Location-aware map to navigate Getty sites • Dining and shopping information • List and map of where to eat and shop • 10 language options for key content in English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Mandarin Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Russian, and Brazilian Portuguese
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: GettyGuide at 4.2 against Explorer's 3.9. GettyGuide also leads on chart position (#197 vs unranked) and iOS requirement (13.4 vs 16.0). Explorer's advantage is review sentiment (58% vs 50%). On price, ratings volume, update cadence and ads 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.
GettyGuide holds the better App Store score, 4.2 against 3.9. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 108 and 43 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 58% of Explorer's written reviews are positive against 50% of GettyGuide's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on August 31, 2026 and June 5, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Explorer | GettyGuide |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.9 (108 ratings) | 4.2 (43 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 58.1% of reviews — better | 50.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 108 — better | 43 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Best chart rank | — | #197 — better |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | 13.4 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 88 MB | 31 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 9+ |
| Developer | American Museum of Natural History | J. Paul Getty Trust |
Customer experience
Explorer
GettyGuide
Bugs and requests
Explorer
Reported bugs
12 issues- App crashes when accessing membership/ticket linking
- Location services fail to detect user position
- Bluetooth continues tracking after app closes
- Payment confirmation button unresponsive
- Duplicate charges on payment attempts
Show 7 moreShow fewer
- App freezes on food page navigation
- Crashes when changing map levels
- Swiping on image galleries doesn't work
- App won't open or closes immediately
- GPS shows incorrect floor levels
- Directions loop back on themselves
- Maps don't match physical museum layout
Requested features
10 requests- Digital membership card storage
- Apple Pay support for payments
- Search function for exhibits
- Swipe functionality for image galleries
- To-do list based on interests and time
Show 5 moreShow fewer
- Planetarium and show times integration
- Ability to highlight halls on map
- Improved battery optimization
- Current exhibition listings
- Ticket pricing and hours information
GettyGuide
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Explorer
No in-app purchases
GettyGuide
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Explorer free?
Is GettyGuide free?
Which has better reviews, Explorer or GettyGuide?
Do Explorer or GettyGuide have ads?
Which is updated more often, Explorer or GettyGuide?
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