History in your pocket with HistoryPin’s new Android app

HistoryPin, a great website which brings the past right into Google Maps, has launched its first mobile app. Starting with the Android platform, the free app will let you browse old photos posted on the site. HistoryPin, much like What Was There, gives users the ideal way to bring modern technology together with preserving images of the past.

The site features stunning and fascinating collections of photographs, as well as virtual tours of some of the most iconic locations, such as New York’s Times Square.

Taking advantage of the phone’s location aware capabilities, you can check out photos that have been ‘pinned’ near your location. And it doesn’t end there.

You can also use your phone’s camera to seek out nearby images. Holding up your phone in the street will display the images that were taken in that very spot years before. You can then view an overlaid image of the old and the new, fading between the two to compare.

Your phone’s camera can also be used to snap a shot of the location, as it looks today.

The HistoryPin Android app not gives you an easy way to keep up with what other members have shared, you can also use the app to share images of your own. Rather than scan old photos, you can snap them with your Android camera, and share them on HistoryPin.

If you’re in the mood for some random content, just shake your phone, and HistoryPin will present you with a time-machine trip around the world. HistoryPin’s collections are also available on the app, but there is no sign of the tours just yet. The HistoryPin app could be a great way to combine virtual and physical tours together, for a walk down memory lane, while in the exact location the photos were taken.