Platform(s), such as mobile, website, API, other: Desktop, any browser URLs (aka web addresses) of any pages, if relevant: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/identify Description of need: Adding an ability for identifiers to rotate an image on-the-fly (without actually modifying the image),…

Great idea. iNat regularly rotates images incorrectly when uploading them. They appear correctly rotated on my phone and computer but iNat decides to turn them seemingly at random regardless. I am sure many others encounter this and have given up manually rotating the images as they upload observati…

I would like this so I don’t have to turn my head sideways :)

¡ǝɯosǝʍɐ 'ʇuǝɯɯoɔ uʍop-ǝpᴉsdn ǝʌɐǝl oʇ pǝǝu oN

I like this idea. I started seeing this more often within the last year and I think I read that the latest OS for Android was the problem, so having this ability on iNat would solve this now and if it occurs again in the future.

The current rotation issue so far seems to have stemmed from the way some newer Samsung devices (or newer Samsung operating systems) store metadata. The next Android release should fix this. I agree that looking at these improperly-rotated photos is frustrating when identifying, but if that fix basi…

I think it’s worthwhile because 1. not everyone will update their software to get rid of the bug (esp since I most frequently see it in what seems to be new users taking photos of cultivated plants) and 2. a similar bug may arise in the future, so I don’t like the idea of leaving no resiliency here

For me, yes. I like to look at grasses and those tend to get uploaded in all sorts of funny ways. Some people take “upside down” shots looking down at the panicle, or intentional sideways shots to show the length along their arm - I’ve done both of these myself because sometimes that’s the easiest w…

Examining this with further thought, after letting it sit - still I land on “yes.” The photo that I used as an example here is not one that was rotated due to a phone bug - but rather, one where the plant is at an awkward angle and the ground slightly rotated. Running through IDs recently, I have …

Add a way for identifiers to rotate images to make identification easier when images are sideways

Feature Requests

sessilefielder February 12, 2026, 12:04am 4

I can look into adding rotate buttons to the Crop feature of my Chrome extension. Seems like a natural fit.

iNaturalist Enhancement Suite Chrome extension (by @sessilefielder)

Topic		Replies	Views
Rotate Right and Rotate Left Not Working on iNaturalist Website Bug Reports web	16	921	March 5, 2023
Zoom In on Identify Turns Image Sideways Bug Reports	15	766	October 2, 2023
Inat turning photos 90 degrees counterclockwise on upload Bug Reports android-app	3	176	September 3, 2024
Images uploading rotated 90 degrees Bug Reports	5	255	November 4, 2025
Rotate external photos Feature Requests	7	454	September 8, 2019

Add a way for identifiers to rotate images to make identification easier when images are sideways

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