Here’s everything you can do on the Google Arts & Culture app

Here’s everything you can do on the Google Arts & Culture app
Here’s everything you can do on the Google Arts & Culture app

If you’ve been on social media the past few days, you’ve probably seen your friends posting their historical art twin alongside their selfies. This hilariously intriguing feature is part of Google’s Arts and Culture app. Although this app has been around for over two years, the selfie-matching feature has bumped the app to the top of the App Store and Google Play Store. So now that you (and all your friends) have downloaded Google’s Arts and Culture app, here are all the things you can do while using it.

When you first download and open the free app, you’ll arrive at the Google Arts and Culture home page. Here is where you can tap to read a plethora of articles pertaining to historic works of art, artists, and architecture, as well as informative pieces about past and modern cultural trends and important people. Think of it like a newsfeed dedicated to, well, arts and culture.

The Explore page on the Google Arts and Culture app is similar to the Home page, but the information here is delivered in a more organized fashion. By going to the Explore page, users can browse the app’s highlights like Art Camera, 360-degree videos, virtual reality tours, and street views.

Art Camera, for example, is a super cool feature that allows users to zoom into and take a closer look at their favorite works. Here’s an up-close look at The Medusa Mosaic:

Image from Google's Arts & Culture app
Image from Google's Arts & Culture app
Image from Google's Arts & Culture app
Image from Google's Arts & Culture app

You can also explore the seemingly endless information by artist, medium, movement, places, and historic events via the Explore page. Simply scroll through the entire selection, or search chronologically or alphabetically.

Image from Google's Arts & Culture app
Image from Google's Arts & Culture app

Then, feel free to browse through over 1,000 collections in museums worldwide or thumb through popular topics. This app lets you travel to any museum at the tap of finger, which is pretty freaking awesome.

If you allow the app to detect your location, you can check out museums near you and also look at what shows are currently on display there. You can even make a Google account to “favorite” certain selections and stories.

Finally — don’t forget to find out who your famous painting look-alike is. Face it, this is reason you downloaded the app in the first place.

Have fun and get educated! Your high school art teacher would be so proud.