Google's Art App Tops Charts Despite Limited Availability

By Shannon Azares, Christian Post Contributor Thursday, January 18, 2018

A new update on the Google Arts & Culture app has rocketed it to the top charts of both the App Store and Google Play Store. However, it was revealed that the availability of the new selfie feature seems to be limited.

According to reports, the new update to the Google Arts & Culture app allows users to take a selfie and allow the app's facial recognition technology to analyze it. It will then match the faces of the users to a specific painting that looks like the users through the database that the tech giant has collected since the app was released in 2016. As a result of the update, the app has soared to top the App Store and Google Play Store charts, effectively dethroning Messenger and YouTube.

Despite its popularity, the Google Arts & Culture app has one caveat. Further reports have revealed that a Google spokesman has confirmed that the feature is available throughout the U.S. with the exception of Texas and Illinois. Although it is unclear why it is unavailable in Texas, rumors speculate that the app did not reach Illinois because of the strict laws they have on biometrics that include facial, fingerprint, and iris scans. Some fans in Texas and Illinois have found a workaround to the situation but simply turning off their location services.

The Google Arts & Culture app was created to allow people to discover works of art that are showcased in over 1,000 museums. It also allows them to learn about artists and virtually visit a museum. The new selfie feature for the app works by comparing the faces of the users to over 70,000 artworks. Considering its popularity, fans believe that Google might release more information in the coming weeks. In the meantime, Google Arts & Culture is now available on the App Store and the Google Play Store for iOS and Android devices, respectively.