This is how you should do your audio guide

If you’re weighing the pros and cons of a mobile app vs. a traditional audio guide, or even have your heart already set on an audio guide for your space, we’d like to tell you why a mobile app is the way to go.

First and foremost, a mobile app can be an audio guide. And in that case, this blog is really less of a comparison between the two and more of a “how-to” on how you should do an audio guide in your app. All you have to do is upload your .mp3 files into the Content Management System to create an audio guide for your app.

All of the reasons that you love audio tours - enhanced accessibility, a great resource for visitors, a better experience - a mobile app can do, and much more. Don’t get us wrong, we think an audio component to your museum is great, but why stop there?

With a mobile app, you’re not limited to solely an audio experience. This is the main reason a mobile app is hands-down the way to go if you’re choosing between one or the other. Not only can you have a full audio tour, you can offer other information and interactive experiences as well.

If you are thinking of using an audio tour for accessibility purposes, this is especially true. Rather than just telling someone where to go, you can show them. Highlight wheelchair accessible areas on your interactive map, provide multiple languages, or offer tours for the needs of your visitors, from low points of light in the museum, to places to rest during their visit. And best of all, it’s their own device, so it will automatically update to their specific settings and needs.

With a mobile app, you’re able to not only give your visitors new information, but also a better way to understand and interpret what they’re seeing as they explore. Instead of simply talking about a specific object or work of art, you can show them. An app is a great opportunity to provide behind the scenes videos of hidden objects, show artists creating works of art, or talking about it from their perspective. You could even show what a restoration of an old painting looks like, and how much time, work, and dedication goes into the piece of art that’s in front of them at that very moment.

To put a mobile app even further in the lead, once recorded, traditional audio guides are difficult to change and more often than not, you end up stuck with an outdated guide. And if your exhibits ever change, it’s difficult to change your audio along with it. Knowing that this is a challenge for many spaces, we created a mobile app that you can change easily and often with absolutely no charge or fee.

Many times, people rule out a mobile app from the start simply because they believe it will be too expensive, difficult to update, and every change and tweak will cost them. While that has been the case in the past, and with other companies, that couldn’t be further from the truth with us. Coming from the museum space, we know the struggles that take place in the museum community, and we work to make a product that fits the needs of this group specifically. So you can continually add to your audio guide, create new tours, and make updates as often as you need.

Flexibility is a key component of our apps, as well as offering incredible opportunities for engagement and collaboration. With each new advancement in technology, we’re able to offer better ways to serve and engage visitors. A mobile app is that next great possibility. It takes the old idea of an audio guide, and transforms it into a more universal tool for a wider audience. We all know smartphones aren’t going anywhere anytime soon, which makes a mobile app the perfect platform on which to engage your diverse audience.

A mobile app does something an audio guide will never be able to do or replicate. It offers greater flexibility, increased accessibility, and leaves your visitors with a more meaningful understanding of what they just experienced in your space.