App overview

The free Bloomberg Connects app delivers your digital guide to your visitors. It houses the 1000+ guides that are part of our community, so people can easily discover new organizations nearby and around the world.

This article provides a high-level overview of the app so you can see how the changes you make in the content management system (CMS) impact your guide.

For an introduction to the CMS, see CMS overview.

Tour of the app

The Connects app is the gateway to your organization's guide and to the comprehensive portfolio of guides to all partnering organizations. This section briefly describes how to find your way around the app.

Explore screen

The Explore screen is the first screen that appears when someone opens the app. It lists all available guides.

1. Language picker: The app inherits the language set in your device settings. If your device language is not yet supported, the app uses English. You can choose a different language here.
2. Search: Search by name or location to pull up relevant organizations. Talk to your relationship manager if there are any other names or keywords that your audience will use to look for your organization.
3. Map toggle: Switch from the list of organizations to a world map. All organizations appear on the list view, but only organizations with physical addresses appear on the map.
4. Categories: During your onboarding process, your relationship manager will discuss which categories apply to your organization. In the app, you can filter the list of organizations by category. The "Favorites" category always appears first, and is unique to each user.
5. Organization card: Tap to open the guide. Tap the heart icon to add a guide to your Favorites.

Settings menu

The Settings menu, accessible via the cog wheel icon at the top of the Explore screen, is available for all app users. This is where people can set their preferences for things like notifications and mobile data usage.

There are two important features that you, as a cultural partner, should be aware of while building and maintaining your guide.

1. Legal and more > internal mode: This hidden pathway is only applicable to cultural partners. Logging into the app via internal mode lets you preview your draft content before it's live, so you can make sure that your changes always look how you expect. For more, see Review draft content in the app.
2. App version: You can see which version of the app you have at the bottom of the Settings page. If you ever encounter a bug or unexpected behavior in the app, make sure to include the version number in your communications with the Bloomberg Connects team. We recommend that you enable auto-updates so you always have the latest version of the app on your device. Read more about managing app updates for iOS and managing app updates for Android.

Guide navigation

All guides have the same basic navigation structure. All guides open to the home page, which is a list of featured content. Swipe and tap to explore the content. At the bottom of the screen, simple tabs let you jump to the map or lookup.

1. Favorite icon: Add this guide to (or remove it from) your Favorites category.
2. Notifications icon: Turn notifications for this guide on and off.
3. Share icon: Open your device's options for sharing a link to this guide.
4. Info: Opens basic information like your organization's brief description and hours. For more, see the Info screen section of this page.
5. Home: Your guide's scrollable landing page or table of contents. Your home page is where you can feature your most important or must-see information. For more on customizing your home page, see Home screen.
6. Lookup: A way to connect your physical space with your digital guide, the Lookup tab lets visitors enter a lookup number or scan a lookup QR code to jump directly to guide content that supports what they see on site. For more, see Lookup numbers and QR codes.
7. Map: A high-level view of your entire physical space, with pins that represent key objects and points of interest. For more on adding select content to your map, see Feature on map.

Info screen

1. Organization image: A unique, compelling, or recognizable feature of your space that serves as the cover image for your guide. This image also appears on the Explore screen. For more, see Organization image.
2. Name: Your organization's official, formal name. For more, see Organization information.
3. Language switcher: By default, app users see guides in the default language set by their device, but they can choose to see content in another language. For more, see Choosing a language in the app.
4. Description: Your brief "elevator pitch." For more, see Add your organization's description.
5. Location and hours: Your physical address and visiting hours, if applicable. For more, see Update your location and hours.

App accessibility

Bloomberg Connects app supports access to arts and culture for as many people as possible.

For complete details on accessibility features and support for assistive technologies, see An app for all abilities.

Multilingual app experience

Multilingual content helps you reach a wider audience.

For more on supporting multilingual content in your guide via human translations, automated Google Translations, or a combination of the two, see Multilingual content.

App size and compatibility

Bloomberg Connects is compatible with most newer devices.

Devices must be running iOS 15.6 and above (iPhones) or Android 10 and above (Android 13 and above is recommended). If you have a question about compatibility with a specific device, contact your relationship manager to discuss.

Download size of individual guides can vary based on the amount of content and the size of the media files. Guides are only downloaded onto a visitor’s phone if the visitor is on Wi-Fi. All downloaded guides are deleted from the visitor’s phone after one week to preserve space.

Mobile web experience

The Connects app is the main tool for delivering your guide to visitors. However, people might be reluctant to download a new app before they see a good reason to do so. The mobile web experience gives more visitors the opportunity to enjoy your guide.

For visitors who haven't downloaded the app, tapping on a shared link or scanning a QR code opens the content in their device’s internet browser, so they can read, listen to, or watch the content right away. For visitors who have already downloaded Connects, links open inside the app.

Since some features, like tours and maps, are better experienced in the app, the mobile web experience includes a prompt that encourages visitors to download the app when they’re ready.

The table below summarizes key differences between the app and mobile web experiences.