ArtGuide CBI vs SOS Explorer
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
ArtGuide CBI
This museum audioguide app uses Bluetooth beacons to provide location-specific information about artworks and exhibits as you explore galleries. Discover details about paintings, authors, related pieces, and access high-resolution photos and audio explanations. It also offers practical museum information and social sharing features.
- Location-aware exhibit information
- Artwork details (author, related art)
- High-resolution photos
- Explanatory audio guides
- Museum and gallery services info
- Social sharing
- Favorites list
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ArtGuide is an audioguide for museums that you can carry on your smartphone. It uses bluetooth beacons to show location-related information to the visitors as they are roaming each gallery inside the museum. Artguide will give museum visitors information about each painting, its author, related artworks, hi-res photo and explanatory audio. It also lets users share information related to each painting on social networks and add paintings to a "Favorites" list. It can also show additional information about the museum or gallery: schedule, location and services such as bathrooms, atm, wardrobe, among others.
SOS Explorer
Explore interactive animated datasets of Earth and space phenomena, from planetary rings to climate change models. This app brings complex environmental processes to life in an intuitive and captivating way, making learning accessible anywhere.
- Streaming high-resolution datasets
- Educational videos
- User-guided tours
- Analysis tools
- 100+ datasets
- Global and flat map views
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SOS Explorer (SOSx) Mobile is a free, flat screen mobile app version of the popular NOAA Science On a Sphere (SOS). This revolutionary software takes SOS datasets, usually only seen on a 6-foot sphere in large museum spaces, and makes them accessible, portable, and interactive anywhere. SOSx Mobile can immerse the user in animated images such as Saturn’s rings, atmospheric storms, climate change, and ocean temperatures to help explain sometimes complex environmental processes in a way that is intuitive, captivating, interactive, and entertaining. A desktop version, called SOS Explorer, is also available. Thank you for using SOS Explorer (SOSx) Mobile. We are committed to continually improving our software and providing you with an engaging and educational experience. We hope you enjoy the new features and enhancements in version 1.2! Please continue to share your feedback with us as we work on improvements. We appreciate your patience and support. Features include: • Streaming, high-resolution datasets • Educational videos • User-guided tours • Analysis tools • 100+ datasets • Global and flat map views Sample datasets: • Recent Hurricane Seasons • Bird Migration • Earthquake Activity • Snow and Ice • Ocean Currents • Historical Tsunamis • Facebook Friendships • Air Traffic • Planets of the Solar System • Climate Change Models • 360 Underwater Imagery • Narrated Movies • ...and so much more!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: SOS Explorer at 86% against ArtGuide CBI's 0%. SOS Explorer also leads on ratings volume (20 vs 1) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 15.6). ArtGuide CBI's advantage is update cadence (every 2 months vs every 11 months) and rating (5.0 vs 4.7). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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.
ArtGuide CBI holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: SOS Explorer has 20 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 0% of ArtGuide CBI's written reviews are positive against 86% of SOS Explorer's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
ArtGuide CBI ships an update every 2 months, SOS Explorer every 11 months. The most recent releases landed on October 10, 2026 and October 9, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | ArtGuide CBI | SOS Explorer |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better | 4.7 (20 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 0.0% of reviews | 85.7% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 20 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months — better | Every 11 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 | 12.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 23 MB | 249 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | CBI Systems, S.C. | University of Colorado Boulder |
Customer experience
ArtGuide CBI
SOS Explorer
In-app purchases
ArtGuide CBI
No in-app purchases
SOS Explorer
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is ArtGuide CBI free?
Is SOS Explorer free?
Which has better reviews, ArtGuide CBI or SOS Explorer?
Do ArtGuide CBI or SOS Explorer have ads?
Which is updated more often, ArtGuide CBI or SOS Explorer?
Other comparisons
