While scrolling deep through Unknown in grid view, I often notice the same observation appears multiple times. It seems to happen around where I scroll to the bottom and a new batch of observations is fetched.
ex: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?page=7&place_id=any&subview=grid&iconic_taxa=unknown - scroll down and when new observations appear, you should see a few images that are duplicates. if you hover over them, the URLs are the same. I’m using Chrome.
Bug documented at Github: https://github.com/inaturalist/inaturalist/issues/971
2016 - wow am I late to the party! 
I navigated here from this related (closed) bug report:
https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/duplicate-observations-in-search-results/38552
That bug report was based on Chrome and Firefox. I can recreate it using Safari 14.1.2 on Mac OS 10.14.6 (Mojave).
I have seen this a few times, and it annoyed me. At first I thought the observer had made duplicate observations, but this was not the case. I forgot to post it here, but apparently it is already in the Forum.
i’ve experienced this bug ever since joining iNat 9 years ago. seems like it has received little to no attention since the last activity on the github link, which was in 2019.
For some context, it’s not that the staff are intentionally avoiding fixing this specific bug, it’s that the entire Explore page is going to be redesigned and updated, so they mostly aren’t making any small changes or fixes to the current one.
4 posts were split to a new topic: iPhone App: Obserations displayed multiple times when scrolling in grid view for Explore
I just ran across this again on my own observations. I realize nothing’s going to be done about it at the moment, but just in case more screenshots are helpful, here they are.
Posting what I commented in GitHub:
My guess for the cause would be:
- When entering Explore it loads the
1st,…,Xth most recent obs.- When I scroll down it wants to load the next
X+1th,…,2Xth most recent observations, but by the time you scrolled down already new observations were uploaded and iNat doesn’t countX+1th,…,2Xth relative to loaded observations but relative to the absolute newest.- So if by the time you scrolled down
1new observation has been uploaded, then theX+1th grid observation will be the same as theXth and for3new observations,X+1,X+2,X+3will be the same asX-2,X-1,Xand so on.
While the timeliness of a refresh or scroll can lead to the X+ situation you describe, the duplicated line displays can happen even in the absence of new uploads. I’ve always been told it was an internal browser glitch with Chrome, etc., and I just live with it. Annoying and confusing at times, but just something I’ve gotten used to being aware of and adapting.
I am using Microsoft Edge Version 142.0.3595.53 (Official build) (64-bit).
It is tiring to constantly see repetitious content. It takes the fun out of it and I really don’t spend much time making ID’s now.
It can definitely be annoying. Do you use the Identify page for making IDs? It’s a much more efficient way to add IDs on iNat.
Thanks, that is an improvement. I like the way it locks in needs ID. The only minor thing is the need to click next with a slow response. I am already making ID’s again, thanks!
I recommend learning and using the keyboard shortcuts.
