Sonic City

🇬🇧 London — Available now

Every street
has a soundtrack.

Sonic City turns London's streets into a music history tour. Walk past a landmark and your iPhone plays the track connected to it — automatically, no tapping required.

GPS-triggered 300+ landmarks Stamp collection Works offline Apple Music

Free · No ads · No subscription · No tracking · Requires Apple Music

Sonic City now playing screen
Sonic City map view with landmarks

Explore London's music landmarks

Sonic City music map screen

Your London music map

Sonic City landmark story screen

The full story behind every location

How it works

No tapping. No searching.
Just walk.

Open Sonic City and start walking. Everything else is automatic — and between landmarks, an optional soundtrack keeps the music going.

01

Walk

Open the app, put your phone in your pocket, and walk. Your GPS is always on in the background.

02

Detect

Within 50 metres of a music landmark, your iPhone detects it automatically — no tapping required.

03

Play

A vinyl-crackle DJ transition cues the track from your Apple Music subscription. The music connected to this place.

Features

Everything in
your pocket.

Sonic City runs quietly in the background, doing all the work. You just walk.

GPS-triggered playback

No tapping, no menus. Walk close enough to a landmark and the track plays. Completely automatic.

A soundtrack between the landmarks

Turn it up to 11 and a handpicked soundtrack plays as you walk — then steps aside the moment you reach a landmark, and picks up where it left off when you move on.

Live Activity on your Lock Screen

The landmark you're at lives on your Lock Screen. One tap opens the full story — no unlocking, no hunting through the app.

The story behind the sound

Every landmark has a reason it matters — a lyric, a gig, a home, a last day. Read it before you walk past.

Stamp collection

Collect a stamp for every landmark you visit. Build your personal London music map. Each stamp is earned in the field.

Works offline

Download the London pack and the app works without a signal. Perfect for the Underground and signal-dead areas.

More cities coming

London is just the start. Manchester, Liverpool, and New York are next. Each city gets its own handpicked music heritage pack.

We collect nothing.

Your location is processed entirely on your device by iOS. No accounts. No analytics. No tracking. Sonic City doesn't have a server.

No accounts No analytics No tracking On-device GPS only
Cities

Start in London.
More cities coming.

Every city is a carefully curated pack of real, documented music landmarks — places where history was made and can be heard.

🇬🇧 Available now

London

20 landmarks · 20 tracks · From the Beatles to Stormzy

Walk the streets where rock was born, where punk erupted, and where British soul found its voice. Abbey Road, Heddon Street, Brixton, Carnaby Street — 20 of the most significant music locations in the world, each linked to a track you know.

  • The Beatles
  • David Bowie
  • Amy Winehouse
  • Queen
  • The Rolling Stones
  • The Sex Pistols
  • Jimi Hendrix
  • + 13 more
Start walking London →
Coming soon
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

Manchester

The Haçienda · Oasis · Joy Division

Coming soon
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

Liverpool

The Cavern · Beatles · Merseybeat

Coming soon
🇺🇸

New York

Brooklyn · Hip-hop · Manhattan

Pricing

Completely free.

No ads. No subscription. No in-app purchases. No tracking. Sonic City is free — all you need is an active Apple Music subscription to stream the music.

FREE

Always. No catch.

No ads No subscription No in-app purchases Full privacy

Requires an active Apple Music subscription. Spotify support is coming soon.

Download on the App Store
I built Sonic City because I kept walking past music history without knowing it was there. I'm obsessed with music and cities, and I wanted an app that would just tell me — no effort, no searching. So I built it for myself. Then I thought: why not share it? No business model, no investor deck. Just a passion project from someone who thinks every street deserves to be heard.
— Simon, developer
FAQ

Questions we get a lot

Sonic City is a free GPS-triggered music heritage app for iPhone. Walk around London and when you get close to a landmark, your iPhone automatically plays the track that was made, recorded, or associated with that location.

Nothing. Open the app, put your phone in your pocket, and walk. The GPS does the rest. Within 50 metres of a landmark, the track plays with a vinyl-crackle DJ transition.

Yes. Sonic City plays tracks directly from your Apple Music subscription — you'll need an active one. Sonic City doesn't store or stream music itself. Spotify support is coming soon.

Yes, completely free. No ads, no subscription, no in-app purchases. The only requirement is an active Apple Music subscription to stream the music.

The London pack can be downloaded for offline use. GPS doesn't work underground, but you can browse landmark stories and listen to already-triggered tracks without a signal.

GPS use does increase battery consumption. We recommend starting with a full charge for a long walk. Sonic City uses iOS's efficient significant-location-change API to minimise battery impact.

London is available now with 300+ landmarks. Manchester, Liverpool, and New York are in development and coming soon.

On your device only. Sonic City has no user accounts and no server. Your location is processed entirely by iOS — it never leaves your phone. We collect nothing.

Sonic City

Every street
has a soundtrack.

Free. No ads. No subscription. Walk past a landmark — hear the track connected to it.

Download on the App Store

iPhone only · Requires Apple Music · Spotify coming soon

Get in touch

Questions? We're here.

Got a question, found a bug, or want to suggest a landmark? Drop us a line — we get back within one working day.

hello@sonic-city.app