Art Authority for iPhone is an art-specific Web-image browser, organizing and displaying the world's great art on your iPhone. It is closely related to Art Authority for iPad and Art Authority for Macintosh. It is based on the more general Envision Web-image browser for the Macintosh, the iEnvision Web image browser for the iPhone, and the whole Envi app series for the iPhone.

When you first run Art Authority, the topmost item in the group list is a Message of the Day (MOTD), containing the latest news about the app.



Tapping on the MOTD ("Art Authority for iPad/iPhone" in the image above) brings up further text.



After you've viewed Art Authority's current MOTD, that MOTD will not be displayed again (unless you choose to display it, via the Settings app), but the next new MOTD will be displayed when it's available.

The simplest way to enjoy art in Art Authority is to use Shuffle Mode. In the main window above, tap All Artists and then Shuffle all artists. This brings up an endless random show of works from all artists across all periods and movements. There are similar shuffle mode shows for each period. To view the works of a specific artist, tap All Artists for a list of artist names, or tap a period (say, "Renaissance") to bring up a list containing

• An overview of the period
• All Artists within that period
• Movements within that period

Tapping a movement within the period (say, "High Renaissance") brings up a list of artists within that movement.



Shows are sorted alphabetically, and have a standard rolodex feature on the right side of the screen (e.g. to scroll the list to show names starting with "R", tap R). To play a show, tap on the show name. For example, to view Raphael

1. Tap Renaissance in the main list
2. Tap High Renaissance in the Renaissance movements list
3. In the High Renaissance artist list, tap R on the rolodex or flick down the list to Raphael
   
   
   
   
4. Tap Raphael in the list. The show begins.


You could, of course, also get to Raphael by using All Artists and scrolling to Raphael.

Many shows begin with a "poster" image, which is displayed while the first show image is being downloaded. If a poster is displayed, the word "Loading" will appear on the screen until the first image is downloaded and displayed. at which time controls appear, along with information about the show and group.



The show's title (Raphael in our example) appears in the show's title bar, and the name of the group to which the show belongs (High Renaissance) is the name of the "back" button. Tapping the "back" button will quit the show and return you to the group. While the show is running, the controls will disappear within four seconds, but can be brought back at any time by tapping anywhere on the screen. The controls are:

• Go to the first image of the show
• Go to the previous image
• Pause and play the show
• Go to the next image
• Access commonly used functions
• Access less frequently used functions

Note that tapping the globe or gear icon pauses the show.

You can also go to the next or previous image using the "flick" motion. Images may be zoomed in and out using the standard "pinch" technique (this also pauses the show), or by double-tapping the image (iPhone OS 3.0 and later), and you can rotate the display as desired. When a show finishes, it may go back to the group screen, or may loop back to the first image, depending on the show. The time and transition between images also depends on the show. Show parameters can also be overridden as described in the Settings section