The “unobserved_by=“ tool is a nifty but underused feature on the main site. I was wondering if it could be added in the app so we can use it in the field. Currently I pull unobserved species from the main site and put their coordinates in Google Maps, but it’s a tedious and time consuming process.

There is already the “Missions” feature in Android, but it’s absent in iOS. Even Missions only shows you observations near you, so I could see a case for showing unobserved_by_user_id= in the Explore section too. Do you think it’s important to be able to type in any username? Or should it just be a checkbox that says like “Species not yet observed by me”?

There could be a checkbox so you could see yours, after which you can edit the url to do someone else’s. Either way (checkbox or typing) you would still need to type in a username if it’s for someone else, but a checkbox would get rid of the need to type in your name.

[image] astrobirder: The “unobserved_by=“ tool is a nifty but underused feature on the main site. Where is it, please?

It is simply a parameter you add to an observation search. For example https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?hrank=species&place_id=6883&subview=table&taxon_id=47792&unobserved_by_user_id=cmcheatle&view=species Please note it is not location specific. So that example details species seen in Ontario that I have not seen, my list of observations is not Ontario specific. So if there is a species reported from Ontario that I have only seen outside the province it will not be in that list.

Adding onto this, as I am using the App (Android in my case) in the field, I constantly feel I need that checkbox in the Explore observations filter (next to “Show only my observations”, probably). Knowing what species have been observed before in that area that I have not observed myself yet would provide an improved experience when on a trip or exploring a certain area. As this is is something that’s already a feature, at least on the API, I think this may be considered just an UX App improvement. I realize this is slightly related to older features such as Missions or Checklists, or to gamification in a broad sense.

Note this has been added in iNat Next for iPhone, but still not fully available for Android: [image]Updated “Explore” page in the iNaturalist iPhone app Species you haven’t seen: You can now also search for species you haven’t seen yet in specific places.

Add “unobserved_by_user_id=“ to filters in the apps

Feature Requests

upupa-epops September 30, 2026, 8:35pm 10

Note this has been added in iNat Next for iPhone, but still not fully available for Android:

Topic		Replies	Views
Show me what I haven't seen yet General	22	3796	April 24, 2019
Filter "Unobserved_by_user_id" not working Bug Reports	2	551	June 11, 2020
Create filter option in user interface to exclude species you've observed Feature Requests	1	649	August 14, 2019
Find nearby unobserved species in iNat Next iNaturalist Next Discussion ios-classic-app	3	237	September 24, 2024
Help tweaking search filter: "unobserved_by_user_id" excludes species I’ve seen outside the target place General	4	146	July 14, 2026

Add “unobserved_by_user_id=“ to filters in the apps

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