MoMA: The Free (and Awesome) iPhone App For The Art Lover

Of all the types of apps that are

available in the App Store

, art apps are perhaps some of the most understated. There are great offerings available but most of the best ones are paid and usually deal with very specific topics, such as one artist or one art genre.

However, what if you would like to learn more about art in general or to just wander around an app where you can discover new art and artists and be surprised? Well, that’s exactly what the MoMA app offers. It brings almost all the experience of the Museum of Modern Art to the palm of your hand in a very complete and interesting app.

Here’s a look at what the app brings.

One of the great things about the MoMA app is that with the use of simple menus and unobtrusive views, it manages to convey the museum experience quite effectively.

Upon entering the app, you are presented with its main screen, which shows what’s currently going on at the museum. Of course, this section will be of much more help if you actually live where the MoMA is, but even so there is still a lot to learn and enjoy from the options offered on this screen.

As you can see from the screen above, the Calendar menu allows you to see what goes on in the museum at the time and also to check the future schedule for upcoming events and exhibits. The Today at MoMA is by far the most interesting part of this section tough, offering you insight into current and upcoming exhibitions.

The Tours section of the app offers, as its name states, virtual tours around the MoMA’s premises and the current exhibitions that it hosts. You can browse the museum by floor, hear audio descriptions from exhibitions and even have some of the audio and navigation elements in your own language.

The best part of this section though, are the Visual Descriptions. These allow you to “visit” any part of a collection (like a particular painting or sculpture) and listen to short audio descriptions read by the museum’s own tour guides and curators.

Interestingly, the app also has the same visual descriptions, but aimed at kids, offering them information and insight into some great works in a friendlier and more entertaining way.

The Information section offers all the necessary information about the museum, including directions, floor plans, attention hours and more. Of course, all of this should prove extremely useful only for someone visiting the museum, so let’s skip to the next section of the app.

The More section provides a series of options, including the ability to browse the app while listening to songs from your library, to take pictures without leaving the app or to visit MoMA’s YouTube page.

The MoMA’s Art Collection

This is by far the best and most enjoyable part of the MoMA app. The Art section is where artwork from all over the museum is to be found. In this section you are able to browse the art of MoMA to your pleasure choosing either your favorite artists, the artwork currently on view in the actual museum, the kind of works or the time period of their creation.

The app provides a very handy glossary of art terms as well.

When exploring a particular piece of artwork, you can learn about its author, its history and even see it in full screen.

Cool Tip: Take a screenshot of any piece of art that you like while viewing it in full screen and you will be able to use it as a wallpaper on your iPhone ????

Final Thoughts on MoMA

It is not often that you find an app that offers so much for free. The MoMA app might not be a replacement of the actual museum, but it provides a virtually endless source of information and discovery for anyone even barely interested in art and its many forms. Make sure you download it and experience it to its fullest.