Smithsonian.com

Greatest hits, guided tours and interactive postcards are some of the goodies packed inside the Smithsonian’s new app.

The new Visitors Guide & Tours app, created by the editors of Smithsonian magazine and Around the Mall was released today in the Apple Store, an Android version was released in Google Play last week. The app, which is a 99-cent download, simplifies the overwhelming and vast choices to be made when touring the Smithsonian’s 15 Washington, D.C.-based museums and the National Zoo

The new app includes ten customized tours, a list of this summer’s must-see exhibitions, easy-to-use floor plans, a Google map of the National Mall, and more than 100 “Greatest Hits” artifacts and Smithsonian treasures that should not be missed. We designed the tour with everyone in mind, not just families, but for nature lovers, science geeks and history buffs, plus a specialty tour for those who have only three-hours to see it all.

For the Around the Mall team, the Smithsonian is our playground, and we’ve become accustomed to being the go-to guide for visiting guests and families. We’ve scribbled out plenty of quick lists, taking into account the special interests of our mothers (Hope Diamond and Katharine Hepburn’s Oscar), our fathers (Archie Bunker’s chair and the Wright Flyer), our friends (the cool beaded kicks over at the American Indian museum.)

But for all of you others, we know that when facing down the idea that there are 137 million objects, specimens, artifacts and works of art that are contained within the 19 different Smithsonian museums in D.C. and New York, you just need a little tour guide in your pocket to help you find you’re way.

Our favorite part about the app? A postcard feature that allows you to snap photos of yourself or your friends wearing the Hope Diamond, walking the stegosaurus like it was dog, hanging out with the Zoo’s orangutan, or finding your way around D.C. with Lewis & Clark’s compass.

We’ll be continually updating the app with the latest exhibitions, crafting new tours and selecting more of the Smithsonian’s treasures to profile, all while keeping you abreast of the latest happenings Around the Mall with Twitter feeds and push notifications.

To those visitors and DC residents who have failed to visit the Smithsonian museums for fear of not knowing where to start, you just ran out of excuses. Buy the app here.