Google Arts & Culture Reviews

by Thechris623

Google needs to own up to what they’re doing with biometric face scans, and either address the issue with Texas residents or remove the feature altogether. Banning an entire state from using the features on their app is exclusionist, and I doubt if Google’s intentions were pure that they would refrain from simply including a legal notice for Texas residents (based on state laws, TX residents have the right to know what biometric face scans are used for; Google refuses to comply with this, and instead they just opted out entire LARGE state out of GoogleArtsCulture’s premier feature.)

I’ve never been disappointed in a Google product—until now (okay, Google+ sucked too). I’m considering trading in my Google Home for an Apple Speaker, if Google doesn’t improve transparency with its users. This is absurd.

by Clockwerk

GoogleArtsCulture should have come with a notification that the “Is Your Portrait In A Museum” feature is only available in some states. I can’t believe it’s not available in Texas, and apparently not in Illinois either! Think of all the kids who are missing out on this great chance to get connected with Art History through a trending tech app. And for what? Because Google doesn’t want to be the boogeyman about scanning people’s face biometrics? Sad. Look, people are only scared of that when info gets kept secretly, or when things aren’t disclosed. Ironically, by not letting users in Texas and Illinois know that that feature isn’t available upfront, they’re promoting a technological paranoia. This works against everything they’re trying to do, and wastes everyone’s time (like mine, writing this review.)

by Kimo Ki

Nothing is wrong with the content itself; but I haven’t even been using GoogleArtsCulture for more than ten minutes and I would say the overall usability is… strange.

For one, there’s no ‘dark’ mode. I study art even while I’m in bed, which makes it important for me to be able to use dark mode as a way to avoid the extra eye strain.

Secondly, there’s no way for me to go back to the homepage! I don’t know if this experience is exclusive to the iPad; but you would think that having a back button would be the norm for all apps - especially those produced by one of the largest companies on the internet. When I enter my settings, I don’t see any way to access the homepage. There is no quick access menu anywhere onscreen. Swiping anywhere across the screen to switch back also does not work. I would have to go back to the main page by exiting GoogleArtsCulture and forcing it to close.

I highly recommend GoogleArtsCulture for the art itself, but the UX needs work. If GoogleArtsCulture missed having these two basic functions (which could be noticed in minutes) i don’t doubt that the issues stop there.

by Kerrynet32

Excellent app in theory however the programming needs a lot of work. Very poor in app functionality such as moving smoothly between images and back to previous menu pages, landscape view is off, when zooming into images you are then unable to continue scrolling to next image without first returning to previous page. Also, many artist pieces are missing. I scrolled through all of the Surrealism pieces looking for Salvador Dali and did not find a single piece by him. Then when I go to Dali’s page on your app, there are barely any of most famous pieces. That is the case for many artists offered on GoogleArtsCulture. Another example would be Hieronymous Bosch. If these things were all corrected, you would have an excellent app and I will happily change my rating.

by Reflect101

So broad and comprehensive it is unusable; you might as well use the internet. If you want specificity, like favorite paintings by favorite artists, Pinterest is more functional. The only competitive advantage this has is geographic locations. Let’s say I want to revisit the Louvre, well this works well for museum tours. Hundreds of thousands of items and articles presumes you have infinite time and no plan. If you like to meander endlessly without goal or outcome, other than killing time, than this is for you. If you want to create order and structure out of your artistic preferences and explore undiscovered items similar to what you love, skip GoogleArtsCulture. I am going to give it another week and then either delete it or revise the review. Let’s see.

by ProWitchHazel

The stories are interesting, but navigating GoogleArtsCulture is rather difficult. Also, I noticed a lot of African American art, but it was hard to find African art. It’s there, it’s just not in one of the main collections. Also, I wish there was more to the fashion collection.

In regards to everyone’s displeasure with the face recognition portion of GoogleArtsCulture , I do agree that the “select locations” seem to have been chosen arbitrarily, but I feel that people would be a lot less upset if we were told which locations that part of GoogleArtsCulture actually functions.

by Mlchicago1871

Echoing what many have said about the location restriction on the selfie feature. I can understand Google didn’t expect the selfie feature to go viral and were thus unprepared. However, the limited access was not clearly communicated and the fact that it seems the coastal cities got access and middle America did not seems misguided. Overall, like the way GoogleArtsCulture allows you to interact with art and exposes you to art you’re not familiar with. The UI and overall experience seems on par with Google’s other great products. One last point of feedback would be to incorporate even smaller art institutions. I live in Chicago and the many diverse art institutions of the city are not well represented.

by Hitman4832

This is a hit or miss. Sometimes there is a back button at the top left corner to return to the previous page. Sometimes not. I can’t tell you the amount of times I had to turn to the main page of GoogleArtsCulture to re-search the location I was just in. For example; explore by places. Click on a location from the list. Now try to go back. Yep no back button so you have to go back to Home again, click Places, sort by alphabetical...again and scroll ..again. Cmon this is 2021 Some galleries also don’t allow you to zoom in on the artwork. This is especially stupid if the artwork is what looks like to be the size of my iPhone....on my 12.9’ iPad Pro. I did not buy this giant iPad to view small pictures that don’t allow me to zoom in.

by N_to_the_PO

Like most, I downloaded GoogleArtsCulture to use the portrait face match feature. I was able to use it once, but then when I got back into GoogleArtsCulture later in the day the feature was no longer available. I understand that it is only available in certain locations but I don’t understand why it worked in my location (OKC) in the morning and then it disappeared in the afternoon. My husband’s phone still has the feature so that makes it even more confusing. Despite that major screw up with the face match capability, it is a cool app if you have any interest in art.

by Reviews2714

I recommend GoogleArtsCulture for anyone interested in an immersive art experience. There are a lot of tools that allowed you to explore famous artworks, and even a feature that lets you incorporate yourself into a famous piece of art.
I had some issues with GoogleArtsCulture, though. I downloaded it for science class and there was a tool that allowed you to go inside the lungs. It was interesting but very glitchy.
Also, some of the features are difficult to understand and sometimes it is hard to find certain features. I give GoogleArtsCulture a three out of five.

by 1 D!!!!!!

On one hand I am slightly disappointed that I am not able to use the selfie feature in the state that I live in. However, GoogleArtsCulture has caught my attention for a few weeks now because it’s amazing options for viewing art. It allows me to go into a 360° environment and be able to look around at the artwork. I really enjoy using GoogleArtsCulture and I hope that someday in the near future they will be able to install the portrait comparison in the areas that it has restricted.

by MK500

Please allow us to view the art image full screen in retina mode (high dpi) with black borders. The text menus at the top distract when you just want to take in the piece of art. Simple fast (cached) pinch-to-zoom in this mode would make examining brush strokes and details great!

I really like the idea of GoogleArtsCulture. Clearly an immense amount of work and resources have been dedicated to this; which I appreciate. The informative text and background info is awesome. But the interface feels clunky; like a web site from a decade ago.

by EmaNekaf23

This is a slick app. Most well-known is the museum doppelgänger feature, which was fun to experiment with. Then, I checked out some of the other features and had a pleasant time exploring the British Museum and Versailles in the street view section. The only thing that could make that part of GoogleArtsCulture better would be if it could track the movement of your device, and it could be like actually walking around those places. Constantly pressing the arrows to move a few feet was a little clunky, but it was still fun.

by Maester Pycelle

Great. I only wish I could swipe through my favorites rather than clicking, backing out, and clicking again. Also, it would be nice to have different options for organizing my favorited works—by medium, time period, etc., or even reversing the order— rather than having to always scroll through them from my most recent to the earliest that I favorited; once you gather a decent number, it’s very tedious to navigate them always in the exact same order.

by Jolinskyparadise

I'm not sure why people are writing reviews, saying that the selfie option doesn't work, because it worked perfectly fine for me. It took me two seconds to scroll down the home page, find the selfie option, read about how it is new and experimental, take a selfie, and find pieces that resembled me. Maybe it only works on certain devices, but as the owner of an iPhone 6, I assure you, the selfie option works phenomenally. Also, there are countless informational texts and articles regarding art(ists). GoogleArtsCulture is amazing and I 10/10 recommend!

by The Mina Lisa

So appreciative that GoogleArtsCulture exists. What generosity that Google even created this, to have this accessibility to art without leaving your home. And they way in which they present it isn’t just “here’s some art, look at it”, you can project masterpieces with your phone on to your own wall, get into sometimes hidden detail of what makes Rembrandt a genius, take virtual tours of the Prada! Almost a crime if you don’t use it.

by HRS5165

It always brightens my day. So much to learn and explore. I love it and always forget about it but once I open GoogleArtsCulture I’m in heaven. I love that you can save favorite articles or pictures. There are so many ways to appreciate art within GoogleArtsCulture so it can fit any need or style of learning and enjoyment. It’s endless! I feel like I never have enough time to browse but there’s constant information so I don’t feel like I missed out on anything, it just keeps coming. Love it!!

by Cor Carriero

Google Arts and Culture is an amazing resource - a treasury of links to over 1,000 international museums, galleries and cultural institutions. The entire site is searchable in many cases in a variety of ways- alphabetically, chronologically, geographically, and by medium.

As an educator I am awed and excited by its potential for use in every curriculum area!

As an everyday person I get caught up in exploring and learning every single time I open GoogleArtsCulture . I am transported to far away places, caught up in the beauty of innumerable works of art, and educated by the “stories” that are included.

by Miah.s

I’ve never arted so hard in my life. after getting GoogleArtsCulture I literally arted everywhere !! I couldn’t even contain the art that was coming out of me! i’ve arted my pants, I’ve arted at work, and I art everywhere now. One time I arted sooo hard that I had to pull over ! My girlfriend (well ex now) would get so jealous watching me art all over the place, so she left me. She called me
‘disgusting’ because I’d art so much around her. Arting in public has become one of my new found hobbies. So thanks google, I never new I could art so much in my life.

by TGRSSBB

I like everyone else am downloading to use the selfie portion of GoogleArtsCulture . I don’t know yet if I can yet because this whole location restriction thing but the fact that people are so upset by it is hilarious. Someone is so upset that they spent “lost” fifteen minutes of their time trying to find a place to use it. Are you kidding me? You ran around for fifteen minutes trying to make something that will have no impact on your life or anyone else just so you can’t post it on social media?? 🤣

by Janicejudy

Yeah do disappointing. GoogleArtsCulture went viral basically but I can’t access it cause of my location? You wasted my time! Why would you do that? I live in a Chicago suburb called Lisle. I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt and maybe I’m just not finding it??? So please Google show me where to find it... “compare your selfies to famous works of art”. I downloaded your app...Arts and Culture” and wasted lots of time trying to find it. And if I can’t access from my location... then I think that’s a shame!

by 🌗🌠old TM Player

I’ve been kind of bored with all my apps and I’ve been looking for something more informational. I have oodles of art pos and they’re great, it’s awesome to just browse through art. GoogleArtsCulture takes it further and provides so much incredible information and learning on all kinds of art. I haven’t been able to tear myself away from GoogleArtsCulture and have actually found myself clicking on this over Twitter, fb, instagram, etc.