Edits to Observation Field values do not save in iOS Classic app

[alanaedwards]

Platform: iOS Classic App

App version number, if a mobile app issue: 3.3.8

URLs (aka web addresses) of any relevant observations or pages: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/304542913

Screenshots of what you are seeing:

Screen recording of steps 1 & 2

Screen recording of step 3

Description of problem:

Step 1: I click Edit > Projects to edit the observation fields for one of my own observations that was already added to a traditional project.

Step 2: I select a different value for an observation field, then save the edits. When I reopen the Edit > Projects page, I can see my edits are reflected.

Step 3: I close and reopen the iNat Classic app. I reopen the observation I just edited, and navigate to Edits > Projects, and the observation field I previously edited has reverted to its original value. The edits made in-app are never reflected when viewing the same observation on the iNaturalist website.

At least two other members of the project are having the same issue. I am meeting with the project members tomorrow, and I will get a better sense of how widespread the issue is. My fear is that many users have edited their observations without realizing they did not save properly. This was my attempt to recreate the problem.

[alanaedwards]

I’ve done some more testing on this. The issue persists, but there is a workaround.

The issue is specific to the allowed values/dropdown menu observation fields. No edits to these fields are saved in the app. Edits to simple text-entry fields w/o allowed values save without a problem. Adding an existing observation to the project for the first time and completing observation fields also seems to work fine.

The only way I have found that I can change existing values for dropdown observation fields is to remove and re-add an observation to the project. This resets all observation field values, so I have to start from scratch, but the values I enter when I do this are saved. I can tell when an observation saves because I will see the green upload bar when I exit the observation.

No green upload bar is shown when I simply try to edit the field values.