North York Central Library Blog

For those of you with a smartphone – either andriod or iPhone – and a curiousity in the history of Toronto there maybe an app out there for you.

Toronto in Time is an application that shares over 150 stories related to Toronto's past. There are many different ways to find information. You can browse topics by theme, area or by map. A series of walkable trails organized by theme is also available – for example: Immigrant Toronto, Early Defense of Toronto, Discovery and Innovation, etc.

This is app is not recommended for the serious researcher or history buff as the description of events only stratch the surface, but its great for the more casual observer of history. Don't fear, if you are feeling a little left since you don't have a smartphone all the information – text, photos, etc – is contained with in the cities in time site.

Example of a typical article's layout

Explore then and now of specific buildings

Zeitag

For the iPhone user another great (free) app, Zeitag, allows the user to browse a map of Toronto to see   over 500 archival photographs that have been geotagged. The photographs range from the late 1800s until the 1980s. It incredible to see the changes that have occurred in a relatively short peroid of time. It makes me wonder what this city will look like in another century? Unfortunately this is only available for the iPhone, but all the photos used for the app are available through the City of Toronto archives and Archives Ontario.

A screenshot showing the geolocation of photos

And finally, WhatWasThere combines google's street view technogoly and archival photography to create a truly unique instractive experience. Currenlty, an app is currently only available for iPhone – but andriod users don't fret a version is coming, but for now you'll have to tough it out and use it within Chrome – which isn't that bad. It's actually pretty good.

WhatWasThere works by overlaying archival photography overtop of Google streetview shot. The archival photo's opacity can be adjusted so that the user can'toggle back and forth between images. Creating an interesting effect. It's a wonderful idea and great way to experience Toronto's history.

A screenshot displaying WhatWasThere's fade feature.