A history app teaches you about the past in a format that fits your phone: short lessons, timelines, maps, quizzes, articles or documentaries. Some suit exam revision, others suit curious adults with ten spare minutes. The right one depends on how you like to learn. Ten apps follow, in no particular order.
History is one of the easiest subjects to dip into on a phone and one of the hardest to revise there. A five-minute story is great for curiosity, but exams want you to read sources, weigh evidence and write about them, and that takes a different kind of practice.
The apps below are listed alphabetically and in no particular order, and each description comes from the app's own App Store listing, read this week. They cover a wide range, from documentary streaming to timelines and expert-reviewed articles. For revision ideas you can use with any of them, my guide to ChatGPT prompts for studying and revision is a good companion.
History apps at a glance
I checked the free plan column on each app's own App Store listing, as of Oct 2026. Yes means the listing names a free app, a free version, a free tier or free content. Trial only means a time-limited trial. Not stated means the listing I read named neither, even where there's a download button, so check the app's own page before you subscribe.
| Tool | Type | Good for | Free plan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attila | Five-minute history lessons | Replacing scrolling with a short lesson | Yes |
| DailyArt | Daily art history app | Learning art history one painting a day | Yes |
| History Globe | 3D world history globe | Seeing where and when events happened | Not stated |
| History Hit | History documentary channel app | Documentaries and ad-free history podcasts | Not stated |
| HISTORY Vault | History Channel streaming app | Commercial-free History Channel shows | Not stated |
| Khan Academy | Free learning library | School history alongside every other subject | Yes |
| Learn History: Timeline Quiz | Timeline, flashcard and quiz app | Testing yourself with timelines and quizzes | Yes |
| Paladin: Learn History | Short history stories app | History's big personalities in minutes | Not stated |
| River of History | Visual timeline atlas | Seeing six thousand years on one scroll | Not stated |
| World History Encyclopedia | Expert-reviewed history encyclopedia | Trustworthy articles for essays and homework | Not stated |
Ten history apps worth a look
Attila
Best for: Phone scrollers who'd like to swap a feed for one five-minute history lesson at a time, with the first era free.
DailyArt
Best for: Anyone curious about art history, with one masterpiece a day and a short story about it, free on the listing.
History Globe
Best for: Visual learners who want to spin a 3D globe and move between years to see events, cities, voyages and trade routes in place.
History Hit
Best for: Viewers who prefer watching to reading, with hundreds of hours of history documentaries, original films and ad-free podcasts.
HISTORY Vault
Best for: TV history fans who want full-length History Channel documentaries without adverts and without needing a TV provider.
Khan Academy
Best for: School and college students who want free lessons and exercises across subjects, history included, from a non-profit library.
Learn History: Timeline Quiz
Best for: Revisers who learn by testing themselves, with interactive timelines, flashcards and quizzes across dozens of topics, many free.
Paladin: Learn History
Best for: Readers short on time who want the stories of history's best-known people told in about five minutes each.
River of History
Best for: Big-picture thinkers who want civilisations, religions, science and wars laid out side by side on one vertical timeline.
World History Encyclopedia
Best for: Students writing essays who need history articles, maps and videos that are written by people and reviewed by experts.
Which app for which learner
- You want something instead of scrolling: Attila.
- You think in maps and places: History Globe.
- You prefer watching to reading: History Hit.
- You need sources for an essay: World History Encyclopedia.
- You're revising with quizzes: Learn History: Timeline Quiz.
What history exams test, and why dates aren't enough
College Board's description of the AP U.S. History exam shows why. Section I, Part A is 55 multiple-choice questions in 55 minutes, worth 40% of the score, and the questions usually come in sets of 3 to 4 built around primary and secondary sources, images, graphs and maps. Part B is 3 short-answer questions in 40 minutes, worth 20%.
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In other words, you're tested on reading evidence, not reciting dates. College Board also says the short-answer and long-essay questions change from the 2027 exams, though course content stays the same, so check the current format for your own exam year.
Long reading lists are the history student's problem, so give speed reading apps a look.
Matching the app to the job
- Curiosity: short stories, daily lessons and documentaries keep you interested and build general knowledge.
- Big picture: timelines and globes help you see what was happening in different places at the same time.
- Revision: quizzes and flashcards help with recall, but pair them with source practice.
- Essays: expert-reviewed articles give you material you can trust and cite.
Revising a science subject too? Try the companion list, biology study apps.
A simple revision loop
- Read or watch one topic in an app.
- Put three key events on a timeline in your own notes.
- Find one primary source on the topic and write two sentences on what it shows and what it leaves out.
- Quiz yourself the next day, then again a week later.
Do you make history, culture or learning apps? Tool makers can ask to be considered for a featured place on this list.
My plain advice on history apps
Use one app for curiosity and one for revision, and don't confuse the two. A daily story app keeps you interested, but if you've got an exam coming, spend most of your time on sources and short written answers, with quizzes as a warm-up.
When you're writing, check facts against an expert-reviewed source rather than a quick summary. For essay angles to practise on, my list of explanatory essay topics for students has plenty to choose from.
Related: the history page.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best app to learn history?
That depends on how you learn: short lessons for busy people, timelines or maps for visual learners and quizzes for revision.
Are there free history apps?
Yes, several apps here name free lessons, free topics or free content on their listing, so check the free plan column.
Can a history app help with AP or GCSE revision?
It can help with recall and background, but exams test sources and written answers, so pair any app with past questions.
How is the AP U.S. History multiple-choice section set out?
College Board says it's 55 questions in 55 minutes, worth 40% of the score, usually in sets of 3 to 4 based on sources.
Is there an app for learning art history?
Yes. DailyArt shows one artwork a day with a short story about it, which suits a few minutes of learning daily.
Which history app is good for essays?
Look for articles written by people and reviewed by experts, so the facts you use are reliable enough to cite.
