British Museum Audio

The British Museum

In-app purchases

About this app

Start your visit early, make the most of your time at the Museum and explore the diverse collection from the comfort of your own home.

Bring your headphones with you or purchase earbuds from the Guide Desk and British Museum Shop.

The British Museum app features:

• Expert commentaries on 250 highlight objects from the collection
• 65 gallery introductions available for free
• Audio, video, text and images provide in-depth information
• Self-guided tours for exploring the Museum, from ancient Egypt to Medieval Europe
• A space where you can add objects to favourites
• Practical visiting information to help you prepare for your visit and find your way around the Museum

Prices (in-app purchases)
Full bundle per language £4.99 (introductory offer)
Themed tour per language £1.99–£2.99

How to use this app

Take a self-guided tour
Choose from one of the self-guided tours which each explore a theme – from Top Ten to Ancient Egypt. Each tour has an audio introduction, providing background information and context, before guiding you around the Museum.

Explore the collection
View some of the British Museum’s most popular objects at a glance. Browse pictures of all the objects in the Audio app by culture and theme – and see how the collection is displayed within the galleries – then decide what you want to explore.

Dive deeper
Listen to a diverse selection of commentaries featured in the Audio app. Using the latest research, they provide new insights into the British Museum collection.

Languages
Enjoy expert commentaries from curators in 9 languages – English, Chinese, French, Italian, Spanish, German, Japanese, Korean and British Sign Language.

Look for audio guide symbol
The Audio app covers 250 objects in the permanent galleries – when you see the audio guide symbol on cases or next to objects, enter the number using the keypad on the app for audio commentaries and other information.

Favourites
Create your own list of favourite British Museum objects by adding objects to the Favourites page as you explore the Museum on the app.

Ratings and reviews

Download the audio tours ahead of time before you arrive to the museum‼️ The cellular/mobile surface within the the museum can be very spotty and slow, especially on a busy day. To download, you have to go to the tours feature in the app and you will see the download button on the top right. I didn't even notice it because the lack of contrast with the background image. Note, there is also no search feature within the app if you're looking for item you want to learn about.

The app is just okay. The info is great and I'm glad I had it but you have to keep the app and your phone open for it to work, so the audio stops if you close your phone or use another app, which is annoying if you want to take a picture of the item you are looking at while at the same time listen to the audio. And it is glitchy to the point that I had to completely close the app and reopen if I ever used a different app. It could be that we were there on a very busy day though.

Hooray! In-app payment now works so we can now purchase the additional tours (much better buying the whole bundle). It's great to have the whole museum guide available in your pocket. The audio reocordings are excellent. I'm really looking forward to my next visit where I can browse the collections using the app. Thanks for sorting out the purchase issue.

What’s new

What's New:
- Bug fixes and improvements
- Multiple options to access the permanent collection audio guide