Notification is incorrect: notified of confirming ID, but not its ID remark, when confirming ID notifications are turned off

Bug Reports
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1

Platform: all

App version number, if a mobile app issue: all

Browser, if a website issue: any

URLs (aka web addresses) of any relevant observations or pages: any

Description of problem: Confirming ID notifications are turned off in my account settings. I expect not to receive any notifications of confirming IDs. However, I should receive notification of any comments that might be attached to them.

e.g. for this observation: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/118420760 I received these notifications:

Android:

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iOS:

Screenshot_20250924-124337
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In app notifications, there is no notification that there was a comment attached to the ID. I assume web too but don’t have that notification handy.

I would consider this to be a bug as it is unexpected behavior to receive a notification about just an ID when it is only a confirming ID when you have confirming ID notifications turned off.

I expect instead to receive a notification that says, e.g. :

chase_prairie commented on an observation by you

or if you want to get even more accurate and granular

chase_prairie suggested a confirming ID with a comment on an observation by you

Related: no separate notification or more nuanced notification is made for folks who do have confirming ID notifications turned on, e.g. either

chase_prairie added an identification and comment to an observation by you

or

chase_prairie added an identification to an observation by you
chase_prairie added a comment to an observation by you

Whether or not that’s a “bug” (maybe “notifications were never designed to relay ID comments”) I think the status quo for default notification settings is also unexpected behavior.

5 Likes
2

Could the lack of notification of comments within a disagreeing ID also be considered a bug and logged as such?

3

Thanks for bug reporting, I’ve had the same issue. I’ve also had tons of related (and unrelated) reproducible bugs and crashes for years on Android, but I have been so frustrated with how little help I’ve gotten with bug reports that I’ve stopped filing them for the most part. Not a directed complaint at anyone in particular, but just my experience which I don’t think is likely unique to me.

I wonder if it has something to do with # of IDs or observations or some combination before random bugs start happening, but I’ve noticed that bugs seem to crop up more for people using the app/website more extensively?

4

I’ve also noticed this. Here’s one from just now:

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(from https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/231070603)

But no notification (which would read 12:53am):

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5

Someone wrote a comment last night for me in a confirming ID on someone else’s observation.

I don’t think there was a notification for it.

Is the behaviour originally mentioned by @swampster and logged by @bouteloua restricted to confirming IDs on your own obs too?

6

Technically these are “ID Remarks” and I don’t think the system was ever designed to specify them in notifications. “Comments” are standalone contributions not attached to an identification. In general use we all use “comment” to refer to both comments and ID remarks, but they’re categorized differently in the system. So I don’t think this is a bug. The assumption is that if you turn off confirming IDs, then you’ll know that you won’t get notified about them unless there’s a remark attached, so you’ll know to click on the notification because uninteresting IDs have been weeded out.

It’s not great that we don’t get specifically notified about ID remarks (regardless of our notifications preferences) but I think it would require a fairly significant bit of work that recognizes ID remarks in the notification system and displays a specific notification for them.