Web Buzz: Discover the neighborhood around you with the History Here app

Put down that heavy history book or travel guide; here’s an app that locates points of interest across the country — or in your neighborhood.

Name: History Here

What it does: Provides easy-to-digest nuggets of history about thousands of locations across the United States, including famous homes, battlefields, museums, cemeteries, hotels and more. It can be used to prepare for a trip or to discover what’s around you on a current trip. You can keep your own to-see list in “My Places.”

Available: In the App Store, requires iOS 7.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. In Google Play requires 4.0 and up.

Cost: Free

What’s hot: The four-option menu bar is terrific. Many apps try to give you more features, but here simplicity is key. Choose “Explore” to search for historic locations; “Tour” for curated collections of locations with a connected theme; “Surprise Me,” a tool that takes you to a random location in the U.S.; and “My Places,” a tool for bookmarking your list. My favorite pin from “Surprise Me” was Maxwell’s, a Hoboken, N.J., club and restaurant that has been around since 1978 and was the location for some of Bruce Springsteen’s “Glory Days” music video.

What’s not: There’s little to complain about, but I did want to see more photos for each location. That said, there often were more photos for the curated historic tours. Also, why was Palm Springs neglected? It’s a treasure trove worthy of a spot in the “Tour” section. If you find a historic location missing, click on the “Suggest a Place” button in the lower right corner of the map screen.