A NEW app has been launched which lets visitors to York find out more about the city.

The makers of England’s Historic Cities app have placed special ‘trigger points’ around historical sites in 12 cities around the UK, which - when scanned with a phone or tablet - use mobile technology to improve the visitor’s experience.

These trigger points uncover augmented-reality displays - showing features on the smartphone screen ‘on site’ at the historic venues around the country - 3D reconstructions, and 360-degree panoramas that tell the unique stories associated with the sites, which includes York Minster.

The app went live last week, and is available for Android and iPhones, and was funded as part of the £40 million Discover England Fund.

Developed by Hex Digital with Visit York and York Minster, visitors using the app can find out more about the Minster in real time, and with the help of virtual assistants.

In their promotion for the app, Hex Digital recount the circumstances around the major fire in the Minster’s Quire in 1829, which caused part of the building’s roof to collapse.

They said: “The Minster had survived all this before.

“The secret history of York Minster is filled with stories of conflict and disaster. However, every time, this stunning structure has risen from the ashes through the fortitude of its people.

“Discover these fascinating stories and more.”

Users of the app also will also be shown around the building by a virtual guide, a schoolboy called Swinbank, whose tales developers said would let visitors “learn how the actions of certain characters changed the course of history”.

The app is available now from Google Play and the App Store, and also covers sites in Durham, Lincoln, Stratford-upon-Avon, Cambridge, Oxford and Greenwich.