Developing iOS and android apps for UK art trails
Making Trails iOS and Android apps
Making Trails launched their first sculpture trail in 2020, called Burton Swans. For this trail, they enlisted the expertise of Haywyre to develop an innovative iOS and Android app. This interactive app complemented the physical sculptures, enriching the trail experience and providing visitors with valuable information about the sponsors and artwork at each location.
Building on that initial success, Making Trails went on to launch two more projects in 2022: the North Notts Nectar Trail and the Big Burton Carousel. 2024 saw the launch of the Burton Barrel Roll app, followed in 2025 by Buzz in the City, a trail of giant bee sculptures across Chelmsford raising funds for Farleigh Hospice. The partnership has since grown further afield, with three more trails launching in 2026: the Staffy Trail, spanning Stafford, Stoke, Lichfield, Tamworth and Uttoxeter; Ay Up Me Duck, bringing duck sculptures and mystery mini ducks to Belper, Alfreton, Heanor and Ripley in the Amber Valley; and the Branston Pickle Pots trail, a pollinator pot trail supporting Branston Town Council's Greener Town Campaign. Each project has required its own personalised app to support the trail.
Our Approach
The first Burton Swans app was built bespoke, from the ground up - a user-friendly map guiding visitors to every sculpture, with a playful twist: type the unique four-digit code found on each piece into the app to unlock extra information, messages or rewards.
Rather than starting from scratch for every new trail, we've spent the years since honing and improving that original build - carrying what we learned from each partnership into the next, so the app gets sharper and more capable with every launch, while still feeling tailored to each trail's own sponsors, artists and locations. To keep content fresh throughout a trail's run, we built a dynamic database that allows live updates, and every app goes through extensive testing before it ever reaches a visitor's phone.
The Outcome
With thousands of downloads across every trail, the app has become part of how visitors actually experience a Making Trails trail — helping them find each sculpture and unlock the story behind it. It's also given Making Trails real data on how each trail performs and where it's landing best.
That's what's kept the partnership going six years on: eight trails and counting, each one building on what we learned from the last, while the app stays true to Making Trails' own brand throughout.
