Photos taken for an observation are not uploading properly and causing additional observations to be recorded

A little more data on the problem. Experimented with it in the field today.
You can use the phone either in landscape mode or in portrait mode, but you cannot switch the mode (i.e. rotate the camera) during the record process. If you rotate the camera (from portrait to landscape or vice versa) while a record is being made, the error described above occurs.

However, if you start the record in landscape mode (i.e. rotate to landscape mode, then press the + sign to add a new record), you can complete the record with no problem as long as you stay in landscape mode the whole time (while starting the record, while taking the photo, and while finishing the record by letting the GPS find your location, adding an ID, etc.). Once you are finished you tap the checkmark at the bottom of the page and the record is saved without problem. Same is true in portrait mode.

But if you rotate the phone at any point in the record saving process, either before or after capturing the photo, you get this error described in this thread (multiple records, one with photo but no GPS/date/time, another with GPS/date/time but no photo) and it goes right back to the phone application and creates another one after every photo attempt.

I couldnā€™t figure out how to download the log file though??

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The latest beta version (1.26.2 - 532) fixes this issue, as far as I can tell, so the next public release will have the fix. I canā€™t say when that update will come out, though.

If anyoen wants to test, you can become a beta tester here: https://play.google.com/apps/testing/org.inaturalist.android

I was doing an observation today with my mobile phone which I havenā€™t done for ages and realised that the issues I was having before is still occurring.
I started the observation & took a photo and I couldnā€™t get back to the observation to do anything, not take more photos etc.
Before I knew it, 3 entries were made. None included a photo and they were all missing locationā€¦

I will try be a beta tester and hopefully it solves the problem.

1st observation Something by Kerry + Darren Ā· iNaturalist Australia (ala.org.au)
2nd Something observed by kezzza4 Ā· iNaturalist Australia (ala.org.au)
Something observed by kezzza4 Ā· iNaturalist Australia (ala.org.au)

All observations generated by doing a new observation of which I took 1 photo.

Yes I noticed the ob that recorded 3 times yesterday also showed ā€œ3wā€ old.

I updated iNat app and it appeared that the update was successful initially.

I have had mixed results today with my observations. Some worked perfectly others not so much.

The app shut down on several occasions when I was still wanting to take more photos or at least make an IDā€¦

I was a little bit remote on occasions and perhaps it was a network issue rather than a fault with the app? I donā€™t know.

At least I could take photos and at least record the observation even if not 100% successful.

Observations done today with most recent listed first.

Something by Kerry + Darren Ā· iNaturalist Australia (ala.org.au)
Genus Callistemon from Plantagenet, AU-WA, AU on January 30, 2022 at 04:58 PM by Kerry + Darren Ā· iNaturalist Australia (ala.org.au)
Fanflower Family (Goodeniaceae) observed by kezzza4 on Jan 30, 2022 Ā· iNaturalist Australia (ala.org.au)
Something observed by kezzza4 Ā· iNaturalist Australia (ala.org.au)
Flowering Plants (Angiospermae) observed by kezzza4 on Jan 30, 2022 Ā· iNaturalist Australia (ala.org.au)
Something observed by kezzza4 Ā· iNaturalist Australia (ala.org.au)
Hakea ceratophylla observed by kezzza4 on Jan 30, 2022 Ā· iNaturalist Australia (ala.org.au)
Christmas Jewel Spider (Austracantha minax) observed by kezzza4 on Jan 30, 2022 Ā· iNaturalist Australia (ala.org.au)
Triggerplants (Stylidium) observed by kezzza4 on Jan 30, 2022 Ā· iNaturalist Australia (ala.org.au)

Giant Banksia (Banksia grandis) observed by kezzza4 Ā· iNaturalist Australia (ala.org.au)

This one went through before I had a chance to even ID and exited the app by itself. No date or location recorded.

Something observed by kezzza4 Ā· iNaturalist Australia (ala.org.au)

This one exited after taking 1 photo. No date, location.

What version of the app do you have?

1.26.2 (532)

This version has now been publicly released, so this bug should be fixed. Iā€™m marking it as solved now but will leave the bug report open for a day or two in case anyone is still experiencing it after updating.

Fingers crossed it works.

I still experience the same issue.
App version 1.26.3 (533)

And youā€™re changing the orientation of the phone when taking a photo?

Yes. The bug occurs if you change from vertical to horizontal. The other way around its fine. It also happens if youre in landscape mode from the beginning and remain. It now doesnt produce an endless amount of observations, but it still crashes and creates one empty observation with wrong date.

Iā€™m not able to replicate this on my device when running 1.26.3 (533) it works fine in both of the situations you describe, if Iā€™m understanding them correctly. If possible can you please send log files and a screen recording to help@inaturalist.org so I can try to replicate it? Perhaps thereā€™s a small detail Iā€™m missing.

Heres the screen recording: https://youtu.be/Vbjfcu1lNRo

I noticed a little detail which could be crucial for understanding the bug: If you turn on auto-rotation in your phones settings, the bug doesnt happen.

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Interesting. I canā€™t replicate, but it could be related to the auto rotate setting on your device. In my phone, if I turn off auto rotate and rotate the device when the camera is open, the cameraā€™s orientation doesnā€™t change, which seems to be different from how your device works. Iā€™ll send you log files and the screen recording to our Android developer.

@tiwane Any update on this? Unfortunately the issue still exists for me in version 1.27.9 (551)