In the modern world, it seems to be easier than ever to access information and cultural artifacts. Thanks to Wikipedia, Youtube, and the internet in general, people have a multitude of options for enriching their lives.
DailyArt is a mobile app which attempts to couple the power of the internet and increasing popularity of mobile phones with a desire by the app’s creators to bring art, history, and culture to the general public. The app created by the Polish startup Moiseum, delivers a dose of art and history to the app users by introducing them daily to a new notable work of art, its photo and a brief description. Xyo.net estimates 13,000 downloads of the iPhone app.
Moiseum was founded in April 2012 by Polish Zuzanna Stanska (the former team member of the startup accelerator Gamma Rebels). Stanska is an art historian who aims to assist art museums in finding ways to engage visitors and inspire a love for art history. She tells me that the company primarily focuses on mobile apps, but is also engaged in providing training and consultation to museums, assisting in brand-building and SEO, as well as web design.
DailyArt is currently available for iPhone in the AppStore and in the Google Play store for Android. It has not been released without some criticism from users, however. When I searched for the app in the Google Play store, I found that some users had complained about poor translations of some of the articles which accompany each piece of art and of a lack of pinch-to-zoom feature. I asked Stanska about these issues and she told me that the pinch-to-zoom issue has since been addressed and that they have hired a professional translator to make sure that the descriptions offered are readable and accurate. The app maintains a 4.4-star average rating from 24 reviews in the Google Play store and a similar rating from 53 ratings on iTunes.
As for the revenue model, in-app purchase feature is under consideration. Further, Stanska told me that an Appbackr, a site which allows developers to crowdfund their app ideas, has been an important tool for raising funds for the DailyArt app. Thus far, $3,000 (2,262 euros) have been raised from various contributors towards the goal of creating a DailyArt PRO and to improve the current app by offering sharing capabilities, allowing users to build custom galleries, and an improved search tool.
