Reviews of iNaturalist

By: iNaturalist App

List of user reviews and ratings for iNaturalist

Total ratings

4.10 (Rating count: 651)

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Review summary

Users praise iNaturalist for its educational value, community-based identifications, and features like batch uploads and maps. However, persistent performance issues on the newer app—freezes, lag, crashes, and upload failures—along with missing features, a confusing UI, and privacy concerns are frequently noted. The overall sentiment is that the app is valuable for learning and field use, but stability and feature parity with the Classic version remain major drawbacks.

Pros

Strong educational value and community-driven identifications that help users learn about species
Valuable identification capabilities and real-time data from a large, engaged community
Batch uploads feature and an easier-to-navigate interface compared to iNaturalist Classic
Access to profiles, range maps, and projects (e.g., state projects) for biodiversity data
Useful for field work and research; appreciated by ecologists and nature enthusiasts

Cons

Frequent freezing, lag, and crashes leading to unresponsive UI and upload failures
Uploads can fail or be slow; photos and IDs sometimes won't load correctly
New UI is buggy and missing or hard-to-use features (e.g., tagging location, direct messaging)
Privacy and data-tracking concerns with the newer app versus the older version
Inconsistent identification quality and over-reliance on AI IDs, reducing accuracy

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User Reviews

Recent rating average: 3.10

All time rating average: 4.10

Upgrade to see all 88 reviews

26% (23)

Date	Author	Comment
2026-08-08	Et*****	Impossible to create a password that is acceptable, even when following the rules. Tried all lengths and combinations and every one was denied. (Again, I followed the rules) And don’t try to system generate a strong one. No way will that work. Will have to find another app
Impossible to create a password that is acceptable, even when following the rules. Tried all lengths and combinations and every one was denied. (Again, I followed the rules) And don’t try to system generate a strong one. No way will that work. Will have to find another app
2026-08-06	Ne*****	Title pretty much captures it. Please no generic-“we’ve been using machine learning since 2017” reply, it doesn’t matter, the ID feature completely blows NOW & gives the most random stupid ids. This happens nearly every time I use the app. No one community id’s anything anymore, because people are dropping INaturalist. Constant email ghost notifications, but no actual activity in the app. Also got lots of google & still begs for $ all the time. If u want $, fix the app, the UI is horrendous too. Once loved iNat, oh well
Title pretty much captures it. Please no generic-“we’ve been using machine learning since 2017” reply, it doesn’t matter, the ID feature completely blows NOW & gives the most random stupid ids. This happens nearly every time I use the app. No one community id’s anything anymore, because people are dropping INaturalist. Constant email ghost notifications, but no actual activity in the app. Also got lots of google & still begs for $ all the time. If u want $, fix the app, the UI is horrendous too. Once loved iNat, oh well
2026-08-06	cl*****	If you are inexperienced with nature and looking for an app to help identify things this is really the best option out there
If you are inexperienced with nature and looking for an app to help identify things this is really the best option out there
2026-08-06	LA*****	iNaturalist is an awesome tool for both the curious observer and researchers alike! I do wish you could add observations directly to projects from the app like you can in iNaturalist Classic.
iNaturalist is an awesome tool for both the curious observer and researchers alike! I do wish you could add observations directly to projects from the app like you can in iNaturalist Classic.
2026-08-04	Qu*****	the AI that identifies species is extremely accurate and i've only seen it mess up a few times. tons of observers and users that will help you identify things if you don't know what it is. incredibly useful UI and tons of ways to be involved in your community and bond with others through nature. only complaint i would have is (as far as i've seen) there's no way to turn on notifications and i'd like to be notified when people ID species that i post. other than that it's simply a phenomenal app and i have no other complaints. 😊
the AI that identifies species is extremely accurate and i've only seen it mess up a few times. tons of observers and users that will help you identify things if you don't know what it is. incredibly useful UI and tons of ways to be involved in your community and bond with others through nature. only complaint i would have is (as far as i've seen) there's no way to turn on notifications and i'd like to be notified when people ID species that i post. other than that it's simply a phenomenal app and i have no other complaints. 😊
2026-07-30	Ch*****	This might be my favorite app of all time
This might be my favorite app of all time
2026-07-28	Ji*****	It’s a fun app, helps to identify mysterious things in the yard. But something odd has happened to it in the last year or so: I now seem to get email notifications of observations from just one user. Hundreds of notifications. Many per week. And nothing from anyone else. Nothing! I think I’ve now blocked her, but I’m not sure. The app has become more annoying than helpful.
It’s a fun app, helps to identify mysterious things in the yard. But something odd has happened to it in the last year or so: I now seem to get email notifications of observations from just one user. Hundreds of notifications. Many per week. And nothing from anyone else. Nothing! I think I’ve now blocked her, but I’m not sure. The app has become more annoying than helpful.
2026-07-23	tu*****	My account got suspended, reason? I don’t know maybe because the app development is really bad and everyone complaining about the same things ? Maybe Please fix this app
My account got suspended, reason? I don’t know maybe because the app development is really bad and everyone complaining about the same things ? Maybe Please fix this app
2026-07-10	He*****	If you want a fun free app that makes a difference this is it. Pictures of anything g from animals, to bugs, to plants. The program is user friendly and very efficient.
If you want a fun free app that makes a difference this is it. Pictures of anything g from animals, to bugs, to plants. The program is user friendly and very efficient.
2026-07-10	Sh*****	I can’t image anyone would want your new app with new ai features. It destroys the authentic meaning of iNaturalist. It can’t even get anything right anymore. It keeps telling me my bioluminescent mushrooms are common mushrooms and shows me 30 different pictures of each one of those pictures all being different species 💀💀 it’s not even just that it’s trees to flowers etc 😭 How ridiculous. Never use this bs app only use the old app and if the devs choose to have spite and try in anyway remove the old app to force us into this Ai garbage I already saved the source code and bundle for the old app and will host it server side on a tor server to get the data and put the app for all devices on my GitHub without any restrictions or data collection. Even better I will just launch my own at that point but leave it a option (or added into mine) to keep using the old app if it ever becomes a issue. Hope the devs read this review and 1 not pay for fake reviews like everyone else does to cover this up and 2 actual make a change for the better. It’s a shame real research gets thrown away with horrible America language models that deceive the public every single day (Ai). At least use a Russian or Chinese language model that isn’t built for deception and mass surveillance and control by our tyrant country and build off it yourself with open source software on your own infrastructure it’s not that hard and it’s not expensive (unless your a complete idiot only using Ai to build and code 💀💀) then you could actual make this bs app work somewhat decent but that’s a long shot! Looks like I’m gonna use the old app and use alternatives the old school way and focus on my project that is built for the people without Ai The new app layout is nice for a standard Ai template 😂 but it’s still garbage. Use real human code and you’ll be respected more in the community and not get dogged. Hope change comes so I don’t gotta be the one to spend weeks reverse engineering your garbage and building something better. I don’t say any of this with hate I say it with disappointment and truth. Do better.
I can’t image anyone would want your new app with new ai features. It destroys the authentic meaning of iNaturalist. It can’t even get anything right anymore. It keeps telling me my bioluminescent mushrooms are common mushrooms and shows me 30 different pictures of each one of those pictures all being different species 💀💀 it’s not even just that it’s trees to flowers etc 😭 How ridiculous. Never use this bs app only use the old app and if the devs choose to have spite and try in anyway remove the old app to force us into this Ai garbage I already saved the source code and bundle for the old app and will host it server side on a tor server to get the data and put the app for all devices on my GitHub without any restrictions or data collection. Even better I will just launch my own at that point but leave it a option (or added into mine) to keep using the old app if it ever becomes a issue. Hope the devs read this review and 1 not pay for fake reviews like everyone else does to cover this up and 2 actual make a change for the better. It’s a shame real research gets thrown away with horrible America language models that deceive the public every single day (Ai). At least use a Russian or Chinese language model that isn’t built for deception and mass surveillance and control by our tyrant country and build off it yourself with open source software on your own infrastructure it’s not that hard and it’s not expensive (unless your a complete idiot only using Ai to build and code 💀💀) then you could actual make this bs app work somewhat decent but that’s a long shot! Looks like I’m gonna use the old app and use alternatives the old school way and focus on my project that is built for the people without Ai The new app layout is nice for a standard Ai template 😂 but it’s still garbage. Use real human code and you’ll be respected more in the community and not get dogged. Hope change comes so I don’t gotta be the one to spend weeks reverse engineering your garbage and building something better. I don’t say any of this with hate I say it with disappointment and truth. Do better.