The soul of a city lies in its stories, amid the myths and histories surrounding its streets, localities, communities, cultures and peoples. Sadly, these tales are often taken for granted. Which is why we have HopOn, a new app created by a Mumbai based start-up. It provides audio tours, but it is much more than just that. You first let the app detect your location, though for now walks are available only in Mumbai (Aurangabad, Kolkata and Varanasi to come soon). There are currently five toursa Mumbai cricket walk, Matunga & Dadar Parsi Colony walk, Gateway of India to Flora Fountain walk, Elephanta Caves walk and Bollywood walk. For each one, the app shows the length, duration, number of locations within the tour, as well as a description and relevant tips. Choose your walk, purchase it (between 300 and 400 for English stories) and then opt for either navigation mode (where you actually go for the walk) or virtual mode. Finally, pick a starting point and walk along, accompanied by the well-researched narration. If you walk slower than the audio, it will pause till you reach the next section. You can also control the track. All in all, this is a well-produced, value-for-money experience. Available on both iOS and Android.
