Not sure if this fits in here or in a broader category for the whole platform requests but for me, I find it frustrating when I want to narrow down observations to a specific area like a city or a park such as a beach even but the location filter only does states or regions that are much broader than what I wanted. This is the one of the only reasons why I prefer and keeping the older iNaturalist app compared to the new iNat Next app. I am still going to keep Seek and both of the old and new iNaturalist apps. I like each app for different reasons and more than others.
First I would like to emphasize how much I want the location filter not to change unless I change it. Currently it seems to revert to world
Also the next easiest location setting is nearby, but how do I know how close nearby is?
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On the broad Explore tab, we toggled the icon in the bottom right to binoculars (observations) and chose the map icon on the bottom left. Choose nearby. It still showed a map of most of the western hemisphere, but the observations were clustered in the largest metropolitan area that encompasses our location.
For the tab that Explores our observations, the nearby map view is smaller but like 8 miles north of our home, 12 miles south, and about 6 miles east and about 6 miles west
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I clicked on speedwells in my observation and then chose nearby. Then I clicked on binoculars and chose species and then on the filters to click needs ID. Very cool! The little green checks seem to be the species that I have already observed, is that true?
Clicked on speedwells in my observation. Hit the explore and chose nearby. In this case the area has a diameter of maybe 60-80 miles? It’s very reasonable selection. I chose observations this time, and again filtered by needs ID. Beautiful! See below.
I can click on a very local observation to add an ID! HOWEVER, after clicking on an observation it seems like there is no easy way back to the same map to choose another observation. The back button brings we all the way back to my observation and then I need to redo everything to pick a new local observation. Could that be changed, as well as the option to default to local instead of world?
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In the view above there is an icon on the top for nearby, could there also be an icon for the filters needs ID or research grade on the same line?
If that is doable, maybe a few other standard filters could have their own icons too.
Also I complained above that the back button brought me all the way back to my observation instead back the map that I was exploring.
This is only true when I started from one of my observations and then hit the species name and then hit explore.
If I started with the explore button at the bottom and then searched on the species name, I could get the same map and apply the same filters. This time, however, the back button brought me back to the map as I wanted after I clicked on a spot to check out a local observation. I could then check out a different observation without regenerating the map.
So the two explore button work a bit differently, that takes a bit to sort out.
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Yes that is correct, I’m a big fan of that feature
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That’s a bug, I don’t think it should behave like that.
I don’t know if that would be the better option, they both have their plusses and minuses. There are multliple reasons you’d tap on Explore when on a taxon page. You might be identifying observations worldwide, for example.
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Could my default be an option in settings?
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But on balance, are iNatters not going to prefer - like me
Give me local and let me choose The World, when I want it.
Instead of - give me the world, and make me zoom back in to where I want to be.
A sticky setting?
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