Explorer - AMNH NYC

Download Explorer for a new way to experience the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) in New York City! Enjoy behind-the-scenes stories about exhibits, captivating interactives, stimulating quizzes and more.

THE NEW YORK TIMES on Explorer:

"A great aid to anyone seeing the museum for the first or 40th time.”

"Lots of fun facts, videos, and teaching tools for some 70 of the most compelling items on display."

"Guides you GPS-like to exhibitions it recommends you see based on your input."

"Very helpful if you are looking to find the bathroom or the cafe."

Explorer Features:

Personalize Your Experience
- Your journey is up to you! Select your interests and Explorer will organize your list based on how close you are to your favorite exhibits.

Test Your Knowledge
- Uncover evolutionary relationships between species by testing your understanding of how mammals are related, in the Tree of Life featured experience.

Purchase Tickets and Skip the Ticket Line
- Purchase tickets in Explorer and skip the line. Already have tickets? Link them to Explorer using your order ID.

Find Out More About the Museum’s Exhibits
- Explore amazing worlds and unlock the secrets of the Museum from anywhere – home or inside the Museum! View iconic exhibits from the Museum’s world-famous halls.
- Discover new exhibits, go behind the scenes, and dive deeper with videos, quizzes, and more.

Share Your Experience
- Share highlights from your visit on Facebook, Twitter, and more.
- Take a selfie and share your adventures on social media.

Get Turn-by-Turn Directions Using Beacon Technology
- Visiting the Museum? Explorer provides turn-by-turn directions from any location, from the edge of the universe to the age of the dinosaurs, plus the shortest route to restrooms, shops, cafes, and exits.

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.

NOTE: Bluetooth must be turned on for full functionality. Continued use of GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life.

Let us know how the app is working and how we can improve your Museum experience by sending us your feedback to explorer@amnh.org

*Supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies