Seek app vs. iNaturalist

Hi, I did a search and couldn’t find an answer.

What is the difference between the iNaturalist app and the Seek app? Do I need both?

They seem like they overlap. Or am I using them both wrong?

Thanks.

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Hi @mdezrin and welcome to iNaturalist and to the Forum :)

Both iNaturalist and Seek are created by the same team, and they share a number of features, as you may have noticed.
Seek provides AI suggested IDs of live video footage. It is designed for those who want a quicker answer, or don’t want to make an account, or want something good for kids. Or who just like the live ID feature. Stuff you find in Seek may optionally be uploaded to iNaturalist’s database.
iNaturalist is more complicated. It has both an app and a website. The app is more simplified, and is focused on adding new observations to the iNat database. The website has a plethora of features.

However, you can use either platform however you want provided you follow the community guidelines.

Happy to answer any additional questions you have :)

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Maybe you should start with writing where you want to use the app for. If you think the apps overlap I expect you should use the iNaturalist app…

Also if you don’t synchronize Seek obs with iNat they will stay on your phone only, iNat obs are seen and ided by other users, can be used by scientists and if you use one of open licenses they’re translated to GBIF.

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Here’s a breakdown from the Seek User Guide:

Seek by iNaturalist iNaturalist
Seek allows curious naturalists of all ages to earn badges and participate in challenges to observe organisms with on-screen identification using computer vision for identifications based on data from iNaturalist. iNaturalist is an online community that allows you to share observations to discuss, identify, and create researchquality citizen science data for science and conservation.
Best choice if you do not want to create an account or share data, or are just getting started exploring nature Best choice if you want to connect with others, share data, and are interested in natural history and contributing to citizen science
No login or account required, kidsafe. Users aged 13+ or with parent’s permission can optionally log in with their iNaturalist account and post observations to iNaturalist thorugh Seek Users must be 13 or older to make an account
Seek’s identification model provides an identification in real-time on screen iNaturalist’s identification model provides initial suggestions, but other people in the iNaturalist community help you identify and confirm your observations
This identification does not leave your device or require an internet connection to work Records observations as biodiversity data that contribute to citizen science
No personally identifiable information is collected from users who do not log in with their iNaturalist account Photo, location, and time are recorded with each of your observations in the iNaturalist database
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