Cicada Safari Negative Reviews

Cicada Safari App Complaints & User Negative Comments 2024

Cicada Safari app received 38 complaints, negative comments and reviews by users. Have you ever had a bad experience using Cicada Safari? Can you share your negative thoughts about cicada safari?

Cicada Safari for Negative User Reviews

✓ Pending Approval - For Days!I have been snapping away AND getting messages that my photos have been approved but they don’t appear on the map add still say, “Pending Approval.” I sent an email and still nothing. It’s been over 5 days since a photo was actually approved and on the map. I’m assuming millions of cicadas makes for a long approval process but a quick glance should take about 3 minutes to get through the 100 pics. The app is fun. Just wish it worked..JaylakatanuVersion: 1.7.4

✓ Good Idea, But Needs Several FixesI like being able to take pictures that help with the university’s research, but whenever my photo is approved or declined, it sends me around three of the same notifications per photo. Also, many of my photos that obviously have cicadas in them were declined..137930683Version: 1.7.5

✓ Don’t force me to sign up before letting me explore the appDon’t force me to sign up before letting me explore the app..DesignZakVersion: 1.7.4

✓ Signed up. Can’t access on main screenI signed up this morning. Found my tree with five cicada skins. My local news said that no one has sighted any so far in my town. I can’t access. The main page the button to hit after logo ing in my information is too small and can’t move the screen to login. I deleted the app and reinstalled made new password w same email. I can’t hit the button again to sign up..T south bend inVersion: 1.7.4

✓ Great idea but lousy implementationCan’t get a new password because the procedure locks up safari. Why do I need to log in just to view the map? Why does it force portrait orientation?.RufovillosumVersion: 1.7.5

✓ Interesting to look at but can’t contributeLooking at the photos and map was great- now they have finally started to emerge here and I excitedly took photos yesterday on a walk… unfortunately it won’t let me contribute because it says my photos aren’t geotagged. And they absolutely ARE. I have location settings turned on for my phone, for my camera, and for the app. A lot of folks have mentioned this- it’s clearly an issue with the app. Really disappointed I can’t play along ☹️.MdbrinkVersion: 1.6.8

✓ SLOW, and must be in app to use.This app is nearly unusable because it is so slow. You also have to take photos and videos on-site and through the app. I took both with my regular phone camera, not knowing about the app. Was hoping I could upload them later when I found out about the app but that is not the case. I hope I can find a different way to report the cicadas I found, since I will not be back in the area again..AndrealenaVersion: 1.7.5

✓ Communicate with your users!The app needs to tell people their photos won’t be approved anytime soon due to the large volume of pics being submitted right now during the emergence. After 4 frustrating days of wondering why mine were continuously “Pending Approval,” and no communication from Cicada Safari, I had to come here to the App Store to read reviews (and the App developer’s replies) as to why pics weren’t being approved quickly. Apparently it’s the sheer volume of photos being submitted right now and each one has to be looked at by an actual person. Ok, fine, now I get it. But while that’s understandable, do you think the app could COMMUNICATE with people when they submit pics, or a message popping up when it’s opened, that there will be major delays right now due to so many photos being submitted at once. It wouldn’t be hard to do that. Please communicate with the users about this, as all it’s doing is annoying everyone and turning people off. Thanks..Bob the Bobbity BobVersion: 1.7.5

✓ UselessAs other users have mentioned, the sign up process gets hung up on the birthdate field. The field does have instructions (i.e., Enter a combination of letters, numbers, and symbols.); however, the only keyboard that displays for the field contains only numbers and a “.” No option to enter letters is offered. As another user stated, why are you requiring this information? I suspect because of this glitch and your requiring this datum, you are significantly impacting the amount of data you collect. In the future, I would recommend testing your app prior to releasing it and performing follow up testing to detect these types of issues. With Brood X emerging any day now, your app is going to garner a lot of attention and excitement, but it will sadly leave many disappointed..Bdr33333333Version: 1.6.0

✓ Can’t even add a photoI was super excited to track brood x this year. Finally cicadas emerged, only the app claims the event is over and there is no way to add a photos to prove otherwise! No way to contact or resolve the issue either..Unhappybrood19Version: 1.7.5

✓ Wasted opportunityThis app goes against intuition / UX standards, puts multiple unfortunate and really odd barriers in place, and does a really poor job of explaining its use which should be obvious. The concept was good, the execution was terrible. Really wanted to like it and use it, been waiting to upload pics / share for weeks. Now that it’s time it’s too frustrating to try to use. It’s no surprise IT peeps get primary creative credit — IT doesn’t understand how to blend people with tech, and disregards user experience as superfluous. This is like a WIN95 nightmare. What a shame. Happens once every 17 years … deserved far better..GamebeanVersion: 1.7.4

✓ Time is running outThis app is severely janky right now. Even just opening the app reveals poor design on a modern iPhone 12 Pro, with icons smooshed to the very bottom of the screen. Uploading photos from the app seems broken. I attempted to upload one just this evening and couldn’t. It just spun and spun. Not sure what the process looks like after that. Can I tag the photos? Add metadata like notes, date, time, and location? I don’t know because I can’t get past photo uploads. I’m very excited to start seeing more photos and info pop up over this spring and summer, but it makes me sad to think of how many people aren’t going to use this app after running into such a subpar experience on their first attempt. Hopefully it gets better over the next few weeks because time is running out. I’ve already started to see cicada holes appearing everywhere..AndrewCyVersion: 1.6.0

✓ Wonderful idea but terrible appThis is a wonderful idea to use an app to take photos and report sightings of cicadas. It adds lot of fun to the event, and kids love it. However, the app is a terrible user experience. For one, it is super slow. It takes minutes to show map, summary of photos on map, and list of photos. Opening photos is slow too. For two, the app layout does not fit modern phones, including iPhone XR and 12 we are using. Finally, the camera freezes every time I try to take photos or upload photos. It took me a lot of patience to upload two photos. After that, think I should spend more time enjoying the outdoor than staring at the frozen app..YanchunfuVersion: 1.6.8

✓ Super disappointingFun idea! Downloaded this app last weekend to help track the cicadas in my neighborhood. However, none of the photos I took have made it past “pending approval”, so I will be deleting this app. Bummer..AcearunieVersion: 1.7.5

✓ Great idea, not so great executionThis is a great idea to track the cicadas and crowd source data for research. However, the execution is not user friendly. You have to take photos through the app which, in my opinion, doesn’t seem to be great photo quality. When I try to upload from my camera roll for better picture quality, it says there is no Geotag. Once you finally get a good shot, it seems the photos sit for awhile in “pending approval” status which doesn’t make it much fun for the user. Perhaps they have “favorite” scouts because if you look at the leaderboard, there are folks with thousands of approved photos and I can’t even get a few through. Oh well. I’m still enjoying the cicadas on my own....Tethys.13Version: 1.7.4

✓ GREAT idea, I’m guessing they are massively understaffed thoughThis idea is excellent: a user-driven, real-time map view of the great 2021 cicada invasion. However, they obviously can’t keep up with the sheer volume of submissions. I have several pictures and videos that never made it out of “pending approval”, and by the sound of other reviews, this is the norm. To be fair, who would have thought that watching bugs would be so popular?.Cruisrr101Version: 1.7.5

✓ Ok app with useless mapThe app is ok to use. I submitted a number of photos and videos without issue. However, the use of “marker clustering” for the map makes it completely useless. Impossible to tell where the cicadas are being reported..Avocet32Version: 1.7.5

✓ ChangesChanges from day to day.Another school parentVersion: 1.7.5

✓ Buggy App!All of my pictures were rejected thus making this app useless and unappealing. I *may* try again but that’s seventeen years ahead..YrrrryVersion: 1.7.5

✓ UnusableThe app provides useful information about cicadas, but the workflow of using it is unclear. I cannot figure out how to submit photos, or maybe I did submit photos…I don’t know..WalkFarVersion: 1.7.5

✓ CicadaI think this app should allow pictures and videos of the annual cicadas as well. Yeah the invasion is cool and everyone wants to see it but what about the annuals too? I think any cicada should be approved..JSimpson2001Version: 1.7.5

✓ Great Idea - Terrible UsabilityI downloaded this app thinking that it would actually work, be user friendly, so on and so forth. Rarely do I take the time to give any app a review unless it blows my mind in either direction. Obviously I’m not happy with its performance hence the 2 star rating and my review ( if one wants to call it that). So anyway, even with 4GLTE, the app is sluggish and very time consuming to even complete the simplest tasks such as pinpointing my location to share where the critters have been sighted and sharing my photos of them. If things on here happen to improve where an amended review would be warranted, I’ll be sure to take the time to do so, otherwise I’ll let it stand as written and carry on. Thank you to all involved and have a wonderful day! Quote of the day - “It’s definitely better to burn out than fade away”..LouisvillePatriotVersion: 1.7.5

✓ Please helpThis app worked fine until the recent update. I have reset my password 3 times and it never works. I can’t log in..KRISTiiiVersion: 1.7.4

✓ JunkI guess their all gone. Thing never worked and now there are no more sightings on map😡.PennRichVersion: 1.7.5

✓ Science!I understand photosvideos take forever to get approved, but mine never popped up on the map, not even within the 48 hour window after approval, which was disappointing. I hope my photos can be used for study, but the execution of this app quickly made me lose interest. So, although my property is deafening right now with Cicada screams, I will not be submitting anything else..CrazyfawkesVersion: 1.7.5

✓ Wouldn’t let me use iPhoto’sGlitchy as can be. Couldn’t event use my iPhotos..Rmm1111111Version: 1.7.4

✓ Could be better!Definitely not as informative as I thought the app would be. I have submitted several pics and video at least a week ago and they are still pending approval. Maybe they are overwhelmed, not sure but how can we track if they aren’t approving the images. This app could use some work!.RaesopinionVersion: 1.7.5

✓ Everything vanishedNot only did the original account that I created disappear, all the photos I took vanished and were never approved. I re-signed up and those photos vanished also..LlaaaaVersion: 1.7.5

✓ Does not work.Just spins and spins and spins....GordoonVersion: 1.6.8

✓ Cool idea, lackluster designI have submitted over 50 photos and 10 videos and only show that 11 photos have been approved. The approval lag time is quite abysmal and a turn off in continuing to help document this awesome event..Twelve981Version: 1.7.5

✓ Useless?I’m sorry, I know a lot of work has gone into this app, but it’s just simply unusable… the map only loads with reported sittings on launch, and once you try to pan-zoom-adjust it goes blank. I know it’s not my data connection because all other sites, including maps, work as they should. I want to know where these bugs are! I want to see them. Yet, haven’t seen one this season. I’ll try to find a better tool to direct me. Maybe I’ve missed the point of this app..JeeleezeeVersion: 1.7.5

✓ WorthlessTried to post pics and they just say pending approval. Wonder how many others are missing, so I’m sure the data is completely inaccurate. Too bad, as I was excited to participate, maybe 17 years from now they’ll figure it out..MonnieB1974Version: 1.7.4

✓ For science!That is easy to use and awesome that we can help collect data for the cicadas. Knocked off two stars because of the following: It looks as though you can take your own video and upload it (which is different than taking video within the app) but so far I have not been able to successfully upload videos. I have run out of data this month submitting photos and video to Cicada Safari (I am in the top 200 on the leaderboard), so to continue to contribute I have been taking photos and video and then once I am home uploading them. The photos upload fine, and it appears as though the videos upload. But when I go to check under the user tab, the videos I uploaded are just blank. They appear as still photos which is frustrating because the videos have sound files that are useful to the researchers. I also got some great videos of adult cicadas feeding on a persimmon tree, but I can’t seem to upload them. Would be great if this was fixed (or let us know if we are doing it incorrectly)..AllGoodUserNamesAreTakenVersion: 1.7.5

✓ Very glitchyThis app never responds. It doesn’t show the cicadas you have put on there. It also is shut down for the year and they just started coming out here in Blanchester Ohio. Good idea very poor execution..Jap333Version: 1.7.5

✓ Hangs after clicking a cicadaClick the cicada icon on the map. view the picture. cannot return to the app. the back button, top left, does nothing. shutdown the app. uninstalled..CardoTheCatVersion: 1.7.5

✓ Started off greatStarted off great, then all the sudden stoped showing where the cicadas were being reported. Only very few reports are showing now where as initially there were way more. Would be nice if they got it fixed before the end of the hatch..Cadet-yoVersion: 1.7.5

✓ The App is.... BuggyOkay, I had to do it. Lots of fun, but the app keeps crashing. It also only seems to work immediately after download for some reason. Open from Home Screen? Nothing. Delete, re-download, then open from App Store? Slow, but functional... until a few photos later: crash. Until the 17-year, screaming, earth-nachos get all eaten up, I will probably keep playing. It’s like Pokémon Go, but with actual insects..But hurVersion: 1.6.8

✓ Mapping questionsHi,I was wondering why my pics haven’t been added to the map. We have A large population of cicadas in my area and just wanted to make sure we weren’t missed. Thanks, SD.SteveduudeVersion: 1.7.4

Cicada Safari works most of the time. If it is not working for you, we recommend you excersise some patience and retry later or contact Cicada Safari.