There’s still something wrong with the maps in the new app. Some locations just will not be found in-app, even though they can be found in Apple Maps and google maps. This was true in the old version of the app, too, but I had a workaround where I could search for street names near the location (south waterfowl way, in this case), but now that doesn’t work either.
Not sure what I’m doing wrong, but since I can’t search for it, I just have to manually find it on the map every time I want to post an observation from certain locations
This is something we discussed this week and you’re correct - it currently only searches iNaturalist Places. We want to add more search options liek getting locations from Apple/Google Maps and allowing coordinates to be entered.
Curious, what’s your use case here? When making new observations, or using the Explore screen, or for something else?
I cannot find locations via search on mobile. It works on desktop. I reported this before and the answer was “we only search inaturalist places”
I’m wondering what you expect the workaround to be here? If I cannot search for the location, how am I supposed to add the observation? I can scroll and find it manually (which means sort of guessing and getting lucky) but this is extremely tedious for every single photo.
This one issue makes the app extremely difficult to use and I can’t believe I am the only one that has an issue with this
if you’re creating observations while you’re at the location of the observation, the easiest way to get a location is to make sure location services are turned on on your device, and let the app figure out the location, rather than trying to manually place the observation on a map.
if you can’t or won’t create observations while you’re on site for some reason, an alternative option is to have your camera app capture the location in the image itself, or use some other method to geotag your photos. then when you get around to creating observations based on those photos, you’ll get locations from the photo metadata.
if you must set locations manually for some reason, you could pin a location so that it can be reused. alternatively, if you must search for a place for some reason, you could search for a nearby place (ex. Salt Lake).. or if you must search for this particular place, you could add that place into the system.
that said, there’s not a bug here. if you need more help with one of the workflows above though, feel free to ask for for more help.
I can’t attach a video but here’s a YouTube. This is what it’s like for every single image. I’m hoping I’m doing something super dumb and there’s a much easier way
I know that using gps on my device is the best option. However, Sony cameras are not great at this. They don’t have built in gps, you have to connect it to your phone. This is not a reliable connection and you must reconnect it every time. It also drains the battery a lot more than not using it.
I would pin the location but as far as I can tell, there’s no way to do this. I cannot pin a location and return to it - there is no pin option
So it sounds like your workflow is to take photos without geotags in the field with a Sony camera, then come home and upload them using the iPhone app?
Is there a reason you’re using the iPhone app rather than the web uploader?
i don’t have an iPhone to see how the app functions, but if the option to pin a locaton doesn’t exist in the iOS app, then search for some place nearby (ex. Salt Lake). that will get you in the general area, and then you can place the final pin wherever you like.
This is a workflow that sorta worked on the old iOS app, and worked perfectly on the old android app. It works on the web, why can it not work on the mobile app? Why is this not seen as a bug?
If you must know, I don’t always edit my photos on a desktop. Sometimes I use my iPad or my phone to edit. My main motivation here is photography. I upload photos to inaturalist because it helps inaturalist, but it’s become so frustrating that I’ve been skipping that part all together.
I suppose I’ll check back then, but for now, if I’m going to upload 30+ images, I’m going to have to manually find the same location 30+ times by just scrolling across Utah. It’s taking way too much time and I’ll skip it for now.
just based on your comments so far, i’ll assume you’re not interested in creating your place in the system.
so then the last approach if pinned locations aren’t available in the app is to create an observation that is just a shell with a location that is either determined on site or by setting it manually on the map. duplicate that shell as your starting point for observations at that location, and then add your pictures to the duplicates.
or alternatively, any time you take a photo that you think you want to add as an observation, create an observation in your app which gets the location and time. then go back afterward and add your photos to those observations.
or instead of creating observations on site, snap a geotagged photo from your phone at each location you want to memorialize. load that photo as the basis for setting your location in any given observation, and just remember to delete that photo from the observation after, if it doesn’t actually contain the subject organism.
I get that you’re trying to help here, but I’m trying to reduce the tedium, not just create a different type of tedium.
Any photographer who uses a camera with similar gps functionality is going to be in the same position I am. They will be taking many photos in many locations and batch uploading them all at once. Having to manually doctor each one or duplicate it or any of that is just too cumbersome. Imagine uploading 5, 10, 50 or more photos this way.
imho, this is a bug because it is a regression from both the old app and the web version. Is inaturalist trying to force usage of places always? Will that be the direction that everyone will eventually need to use, or is it a necessity simply because the new app lacks the ability to search for arbitrary locations?
I’m going to check in a few months from now and if my workflow is less tedious at that point, I will start contributing again. For now the time it takes is not worth it to me
photographers who really care about GPS coordinates will always find a way to get their photos geotagged. even if the app from the camera manufacturer doesn’t work for them for whatever reason, there are other means for keeping track of locations in the background and using that record to geotag photos in bulk afterward. that’s really the best solution to the problem.
