Choosing an Audio Guide
A Buyer's Guide
Audio-guide handsets, an app, or a conversational guide? All three work. They just don't take the same amount of work to keep working. Here's a fair comparison of what each one actually costs you, some things worth weighing before you sign anything, and why conversational guides are a genuinely new option, not just a lighter version of the other two.
The Three Options
Handsets
Dedicated devices, rented at the entrance and returned at the end, playing pre-recorded audio tied to numbered stops. The most established option, with decades of use behind it - and the one with the most physical infrastructure: units, chargers, storage, a desk to staff.
A Museum App
A branded app visitors download before or during their visit, usually carrying the same pre-recorded content as a handset but on their own phone. Once built, it tends to get updated in occasional releases rather than continuously - a temporary exhibition often outpaces the app describing it. It also asks a lot of the visitor before they've even arrived: one independent analysis of 175 museum apps found average adoption of just 2.47% (Nubart, 2026) - the vast majority of visitors never download it at all.
A Conversational Guide
A genuinely new category, not a lighter version of the first two. Instead of a fixed script played back through a handset or an app, visitors have an actual conversation: they ask what they want to know, in their own words, and get an answer grounded in your own verified content and where they're actually standing. A visitor scans a QR code or taps a link and it runs straight in their phone's browser - no device to collect, no app to download.
How They Compare
Handsets
Upfront cost
High - devices, chargers, storage and a collection desk
Visitor uptake
Limited by queueing to collect and return a device
Revenue potential
Rental fee only, fixed regardless of use
Maintenance overhead
High - daily charging, cleaning, loss and repair
Content updates
Slow - re-recording and re-flashing devices
Language support
Fixed set of pre-recorded tracks per language
Museum App
Upfront cost
Medium-high - build, plus app store setup
Visitor uptake
Limited by download friction before or during the visit
Revenue potential
Rarely monetised directly
Maintenance overhead
Medium - OS updates and app store resubmissions
Content updates
Slower - a code release and app store review
Language support
Limited to what was built and localised
Conversational Guide
Upfront cost
Low - no hardware, no app store
Visitor uptake
Scan or tap, no download - higher uptake
Revenue potential
Can charge per visit and share revenue, or run free
Maintenance overhead
Low - no hardware, no app releases to maintain
Content updates
Fast - update content directly, live in minutes
Language support
Flexible - can converse in many languages
| Handsets | Museum App | Conversational Guide | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Upfront cost | High - devices, chargers, storage and a collection desk | Medium-high - build, plus app store setup | Low - no hardware, no app store |
| Visitor uptake | Limited by queueing to collect and return a device | Limited by download friction before or during the visit | Scan or tap, no download - higher uptake |
| Revenue potential | Rental fee only, fixed regardless of use | Rarely monetised directly | Can charge per visit and share revenue, or run free |
| Maintenance overhead | High - daily charging, cleaning, loss and repair | Medium - OS updates and app store resubmissions | Low - no hardware, no app releases to maintain |
| Content updates | Slow - re-recording and re-flashing devices | Slower - a code release and app store review | Fast - update content directly, live in minutes |
| Language support | Fixed set of pre-recorded tracks per language | Limited to what was built and localised | Flexible - can converse in many languages |
Before You Decide
Match the format to your footfall.
A quiet gallery wing and a busy high street behave completely differently - queuing to collect a handset is a minor delay in one and a dealbreaker in the other.
Budget for the full lifetime, not the sticker price.
Handsets and apps both look cheaper up front than they end up being once staffing, charging, repairs or app store cycles are factored in.
Check how fast content can actually change.
A temporary exhibition or a last-minute correction needs a same-day update, not a re-recording or app store review cycle.
Ask what data you get back.
A device return count tells you how many people picked one up. It doesn't tell you what they actually wanted to know.
Trial before you commit site-wide.
Start in one space, look at what actually happened, then decide what - if anything - to expand. See what that looks like in practice.
Why Conversational Guides Are Different
Handsets and apps have spent years solving the same problem in different packaging: how to deliver a fixed, pre-recorded script to a visitor. Neither actually solves interpretation itself - a visitor with a follow-up question, a niche interest, or their own pace is still stuck pressing play on someone else's script, however it's delivered.
A conversational guide is the next generation of the same idea: visitors ask what they actually want to know, in their own words, and get an answer grounded in your own verified content. It happens to run in a visitor's phone browser, with no device to collect and no app to download - but that's a side effect of the format, not the point of it. The point is that it's a conversation, not a recording.
Final Thoughts
For the vast majority of museums, galleries and visitor attractions, a conversational guide is worth the trade-off: no hardware to manage, content you can update the same day, and often a way to turn the guide into revenue rather than just a cost. It asks the same thing of a visitor as any app-based option - a smartphone and a browser, with a data or WiFi connection - so a handset only remains relevant for those truly off-grid. For everywhere else, it's worth finding out what your own visitors do with an actual conversation.
See a Conversational Guide In Action
Try Dwel for yourself, or talk to us about what it would take at your place.
See what getting started looks like →Source: Nubart, “Museum Audio Guide App Adoption Rates” (analysis of 175 apps, 2026)