This free app whispers the hidden history of wherever you're standing

Key points

• Wrinkles, a free iOS and Android app, uses your phone's GPS to automatically play audio stories about nearby places as you walk around.
• The app launched with 1.3 million points of interest across 177 countries.
• Museums, tourism boards and hotels pay to add their own content, which is how the app makes money while staying free for users.
• Founders David Stemler and Ryan Hansan say the app works as well on your daily commute as it does on holiday.

The idea hit David Stemler at the British Museum in London. He was using the museum's official tour app, eyes glued to his screen, cross-referencing numbers on exhibits against a list on his phone. By the end of the visit, he had barely looked up at the actual artefacts.

"I spent the entire visit heads-down, matching numbers on the walls to lists on my phone instead of taking in my surroundings," Stemler told TechCrunch. At the airport, he called his old school friend Ryan Hansan and asked a simple question: if his phone already knows exactly where he is, why can't the places in front of him just speak?

That question became Wrinkles, an app now available free on both iPhone and Android.

So how does it actually work?

Open the app, put your phone in your pocket, and walk. Wrinkles detects your location using GPS and automatically queues up audio stories about whatever is nearby, whether that is the building you just passed, the street you turned onto, or the fountain at the end of the square.

You can also ask follow-up questions while you listen, like a tour guide who takes interruptions. Standing at Rome's Trevi Fountain and curious where the water actually comes from? Just ask.

Beyond the 1.3 million built-in stories, historians, museums and creators can upload their own content to the map. That means a local history society could add a walking tour of your town, and you would discover it just by passing through.

There is a social layer too. You can follow friends or organisations, save your favourite spots, and build your own custom maps and guides. Families can attach photos, recordings and memories to specific places, essentially pinning a story about a childhood home or a first date location to the map forever.

Does it cost anything?

Nothing, for regular users. Wrinkles keeps the app free by charging on the supply side: museums, tourism boards, universities and hotels pay to create location-based experiences for their visitors without building a separate app from scratch. Businesses can also promote their locations through the platform and earn booking links for tours, tickets or restaurant reservations, with Wrinkles taking a cut of those transactions.

Stemler and Hansan, who have been friends since middle school and built the startup out of years of travelling together, say they see this less as a travel app and more as an everyday curiosity tool.

"A travel app gets used on one trip a year," Hansan said. "Wrinkles gets used on your commute, at the botanical garden, at the zoo with your kids."

One privacy note worth knowing: the app tracks your location continuously to trigger stories. Check the app's location-sharing settings and decide whether you want it running all the time or only while the app is open.

Common questions

Does Wrinkles work somewhere like my own town, not just tourist hotspots?

Yes. The founders designed it for everyday use, and the 1.3 million points of interest span 177 countries, including plenty of ordinary streets and neighbourhoods. Local creators and organisations can also add their own stories, so coverage tends to grow over time.

Is there a paid tier with extra features?

Right now the app is free for all users. The founders say they have experimented with a freemium model but are committed to keeping core features free, with revenue coming from partner organisations rather than listeners.