Xploreo

How it works

From the map to your headphones

How Xploreo builds a walking loop around you, starts each stop's story as you arrive, and lets friends join the same walk.

  1. Step 1: Pick a loop

    Open the city map. Take a ready-made walk or build your own: how long, what you like.

    Explore: the Barcelona map with photo pins and ready-made walks
  2. Step 2: Follow the line

    The route starts where you stand. Add, drop or reorder stops; wander off and it rebuilds.

    Walking: 410 m to the next stop
  3. Step 3: Listen as you arrive

    Within 50 m of a stop its story starts. Screen locked, hands free.

    Now playing: Arc de Triomf

In detail

What happens on a walk

  • A loop, not a line

    A route starts and ends where you stand, so there is no meeting point to find and no walk back at the end. Set the length, from half an hour to an afternoon, and the stops are fitted to it, story time included. Wander off and the rest of the loop rebuilds around the stops you have not reached yet.

  • The story starts at 50 m

    When you come within about 50 metres of the next stop, its story starts in your headphones. The radius is wide on purpose: in narrow old streets a phone places you with an error of 10 to 30 metres. Audio keeps playing with the screen locked, with play and pause on the lock screen.

  • Every place is graded

    Each place on the map carries a grade from S to E, worked out from how the world documents it: articles, photographs, heritage listings. The grade decides what shows at each zoom level and which places a route favours, so a short loop still lands on the ones that matter.

  • Stories, not plaques

    A few minutes per place, told by a narrator. Length follows significance: a basilica gets chapters, a fountain gets a minute. Pause, skip, or read the story as text whenever you like.

  • Walk it together

    Show the QR code or read out the eight-character code, and up to five friends with the app join your walk for the day. You lead: when a story starts for you, it starts for everyone, each in their own language.

  • Your walks, kept

    Every walk is saved on your phone with the line you walked, the stops you reached and the stories you heard. Countries and cities fill in on your world map. There is no account to create.

FAQ

Good to know

Which cities can I walk?
Barcelona, Rome and Berlin. Every place on the map is graded and routable, and new stories appear without an app update.
How close do I need to be for a story to start?
About 50 metres. On a route, the next stop's story starts when you get there. Off a route, turn on autoplay for nearby places or tap one on the map.
Do I need an account?
No. There is nothing to sign up for. Your walks, places and cities are stored on your phone.
Does audio keep playing with the screen locked?
Yes. Stories play in the background, with play and pause on the lock screen like any other audio app.
Can I walk with friends?
Yes. Up to five people join by QR for the day. You lead, and everyone hears the same story at the same moment, in their own language.

Walk the city. The stories find you.

Put your headphones in, pick a city, start walking.

Download on theApp Store
The map with a story playing in the mini player