The Banksy App is a bit crap

Anyone subscribing to a Google search for ‘Banksy’ can’t have failed to notice that a new ‘Banksy-Locations’ app has been released. It’s been featured in loads of places including on Gizmodo and on the home page of the iTunes App store.  Whilst I’m guessing its a 100% unofficial Banksy related product I stumped up the £1.49 required so I can tell you, dear reader, if its actually any good?

No.

There you go. Of course reviewers normally post a little more detail so read on after the pictures below:

The Camden Maid hasn’t been there for years…so don’t go looking!

This yellow flower piece by Banksy is in the East End rather than as the app claims Kilburn

The locations are hideously out of date. Lots of the listed locations that exhort you to get there quick are now just blank walls. Some of these have been like this for years. I pity all of the people who buy this app, buy a travel card and then try and find the Camden Maid, One Nation Under CCTV, The Museum Guard, Bomb Hugger in Brick Lane, Pulp Fiction in Old Street or The Clash chair in Wapping. That list goes on and on but you get the idea. Recent pieces that you actually may stand a chance of seeing aren’t on the map either.

So, um, what else is there? There’s a gallery of Banksy pieces which includes work which is not even by Banksy – I spotted Orticanoodles and T.wat pieces in amongst the 100 or so images. The videos on display are all already on Youtube and that’s another major drawback of this app. Everything is available elsewhere. The photos are all nicked off other peoples websites / photoblogs. This app has just 100 odd Banksy photos – the Banksy Flickr group alone has over 23,000!

Finally lets move to the last section – Banksy News. Well the majority of this is lifted straight off this very blog. Just to be clear I was never asked if this was OK and have nothing whatsoever to do with this app. It does have one slight advantage though. I can get anything I like to the top of the apps Banksy News list because it automatically pulls post from this blog for its Banksy News section. So I leave you with this final screen shot of the Banksy app – check out the first article title.