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Audubon Bird Guide App Complaints & User Negative Comments 2024
Audubon Bird Guide app received 38 complaints, negative comments and reviews by users. Have you ever had a bad experience using Audubon Bird Guide? Can you share your negative thoughts about audubon bird guide?
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Audubon Bird Guide for Negative User Reviews
✓ From poor to worse.I was going to delete the previous version due to how poorly some details are thought out. In particular the fact that search criteria is not sticky, is terrible for functionality. Each time you filter a search by location for example, it disappears after every bird looked at. But I thought I’d wait a while and see if an update might not improve this app and today after the latest update - it’s completely unusable unless you create an account. Great step backwards. One can’t even test the app out without being forced to give your data and sign up. That shows a lot about what sort of company this is. I’ll find other options. Besides, Audubon is turning into a ‘sky is always falling’ bunch of activist alarmists, anyways. I just want to enjoy birds - without politics..Version: 5.0.2
✓ You DELETED MY BAD REVIEW??F you guys😡 Turned a once great app into garbage, locked out Canada, made a crashing unstable app, refuse to fix problem bugs, ruined a perfectly good UI with nonsensical crappy one, and then deleted my previous review of this app?! DELETED FROM BOTH platforms of my tablets, AND STOP FLOODING my email inbox with useless emails!!!😡.Version: 5.1.1
✓ Old Version was EasierWhile I have since learned how to navigate this new version, it took my awhile to figure it out. I’m not a fan of the new sighting system that only shows what’s been seen very close to me. I preferred having a larger range so I could see what’s been sighted in a larger area, such as Galveston or Houston. Due to the update, I have to search up specific locations within those areas instead of one big picture which makes it somewhat more complicated than the original app, especially if you’re not familiar with the area you’re searching for. In addition, the app is crashing terribly any time I try to scroll through sightings. Also, it logs me out every time I exit the app which is annoying to have to type my email and password in every single time. I can never finish checking out sightings because of the crashes. As of right now, the app is useless, which is disappointing since I paid a good bit of money on it..Version: 5.0.7
✓ Big improvementNew review: two years ago this was one of the worst examples of how to build a field guide to birds app. Today, with its major make over, its stands out as an big improvement. My main negative comments remain the fact that there only photos (unlike Sibley which uses multiple drawings and iBird which is the only app with both drawings and photos.) Plus the photos can’t be zoomed larger to see more details. Further there are no field mark layers (unlike iBird) and few photos of females and juveniles. On the positive side the content is much deeper and the range maps a big improvement (tho they also can’t be zoomed). Songs are about the same; meaning too few and no details on where they where recorded. Previous review: When the app became free I thought it bring a lot of new features. And with a name like Audubon I had high expectations. But I discovered that the Audubon organization had nothing to do with creating this app. In fact most Audubon members loath it and use iBird or Sibley. Natureserve is way too hard to use. Why won't it find my location? Instead I have to always drag the pin from somewhere back east. This feature could do so much more. But entire interface is just not well designed like National Geo or iBird..Version: 5.0.1
✓ Arg bad updates strike againI can’t tell at all about the quality of the update or if it is better than the old version or not. That’s because I have been too busy trying to find the 60+ birds on my life list the app lost after updating. I went to the NatureShare web-site and still had my list, but entering each bird into the new app is a royal pain in the neck. E.g., if I’m entering in a bird I saw several years ago, I am twirling the “day” wheel for a long time. Then I have to twirl it back when I invariably go too far. Then sometimes forward again. Next, I have to zoom the map out laboriously, then scroll all the way across the country, in some cases, to re-enter where I saw the bird. What a pain in the neck! And I have to search through my life list for each bird to find the ones not included. This app is far from the only one with this type of problem, but come on now: THE DEVELOPERS KNEW THIS WOULD BE A PROBLEM BUT RELEASED A HALF BAKED APP UPDATE ANYWAY..Version: 5.0.2
✓ Ridiculous!I paid for this app and the latest update is with out a doubt the absolute worst update ever! It is the biggest mess ever! Terribly confusing to say the least! Not easy at all to navigate. Had I not paid fir this it would be deleted! I can not believe the powers that be, actually thought this was an improvement! It was so easy before this update! All you had to do was go to the contents/legend and click on what you wanted to find! This new and improved version is just horrible. I seriously doubt I will ever use it again! It would be nice if this app went back to the way it was! If it isn't broken...don't fix it! Maybe just maybe that since this app has to be paid for that a full account of what improvements and changes were to occur, could be sent to all who own this app, asking for opinions on the potential changes and then take a vote if the change us actually needed, or wanted! That would be a common curtesy for the people who paid fir this app!.Version: 5.0.1
✓ Very disappointed in the new app updateThe new app update was a huge disappointment and I will likely stop using the app as a result. I did not previously use Audubon Birds as a field guide. There are better apps out there for that and I prefer a hard copy over digital anyway. The updates to improve the usability of the field guide are of no interest to me and nearly all of the features I have bragged about for years about the old app are now gone. I loved how I could easily track migrations in my area by looking at sightings of all birds in my area within the last 15 days at the touch of a button. You could then see where unique sightings were occurring and possibly have a chance of going and locating the bird for yourself. I also liked the feature where you could select a state and month and then get a list of all the common birds in that area for the time of year as well as all the uncommon birds. It was a great tool when preparing for a trip to a new area. These features are now gone and the app is nothing more than a beginner’s field guide and an opportunity for Audubon to get all their news in front of you. Bring back the old app!.Version: 5.0.1
✓ Mztaylor70I love the app, but after the last update, I lost all of my saved sightings! Everything reset to zero! So bummed 😞.Version: 6.0.7
✓ Great horned owls!Cool app! Just love being able to play the calls and identify my birds that way. I used it to identify a pair of great horned owls in the woods behind my house. Their call is so distinctive I can say with certainty it was a pair without actually sighting them today! (My husband has seen them in daylight several times- always when I’m not there!!).Version: 5.1.6
✓ Went the from OK app to unusable.This was an OK bird app until the recent overhaul. Never my go to app but nice to use for a second review of additional pics and songs. Now it is virtually unusable by a birder. The choices to look up a bird are alphabetical by first word of the name -ridiculous. At least the last app you could choose alphabetical by the last part of the name - much more useful. The alternative is look up by family, with the families being listed in alphabetical order, even more ridiculous. There seems to be no way to look up anything in phylogenetic order - you know, like every other bird guide, checklist, eBird, etc that birders use. Deleting it now. A couple of the other field guides - reptiles and mushrooms, still work but the mammals, insects, and others have not been updated and no longer work. Too bad because these were good guides that don’t exist elsewhere..Version: 5.0.4
✓ CRAPErrrr WHY you need a password for sightings! And it is SUCH a waste off MY time.Version: 4.17
✓ EveApp does not recognize Canadian locations. It gives poor suggestions..Version: 5.2.7
✓ Do not buy, latest version is awfulThe latest update to this app has taken what used to be simple to use and changed it into something that is very confusing and much too complicated to have any real practical use. There are too many layers to go through when trying to do anything regarding identification of a bird. When you finally get to put in a state and time of year, the app crashes! The signing in is a pain. Too much extra information is on the screen that a real birder does not care about when wanting to make a quick ID. The old app was not broken, so somebody decided to fix it, bad move. If this doesn’t get corrected, I will probably delete it and use another app. It is too bad I was forced to give it a star at all!.Version: 5.0.1
✓ Love the App, but it has glitchesI just started using the this app and really like it. I have been collecting my bird sightings for 30 years in a book which I will continue to do, but the app allows me to enter my photos as well. There is a glitch however, when it comes to entering the date; at first it let me enter the date with no problems, but after 30 entries it won’t let me enter any dates. The only dates it shows are for future dates (ie 2021...). So, I started entering the date of my sightings in the notes section, which is useless when it comes to searching. I even tried deleting the app and reloading it and it still doesn’t work, not on my iPhone or iPad. Also, it would be nice if there was a way to enter the data on my computer and have it sync with the app..Version: 5.4.7
✓ Not Canada friendlyEverything is geared towards the US for this app yet the description says it’s for North America. Deleted. Add Canada functionality.Version: 5.1.1
✓ BizzzBirdzI am so very sorry I “updated” to this new version. EVERYTHING I liked and used of the former version is GONE!!!! I used the old app to find new places near me to bird. This was good because it gave sightings within a 30 mile radius of my location. Often these sightings of new birds or migrants were in areas of the region new to me (I.e., fluddle), or some country road intersection. Impossible with the new version, as it “curates” sightings closest to one’s location. I don’t want to know about the Cardinal in the park down the street and miss the Avocet in a spring fluddle in a rural area 10 miles away from me! Also, the former version would give directions to hotspot or sighting locations; unfortunately the current version has removed this feature. I am EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTED with this new version, and will no longer recommend it to my birding friends as a tool to find new and interesting birds as they move through the state on migration..Version: 5.0.4
✓ GarbageSpent a fortune on other Audubon app which was never updated for current ios, now unusable. Then you launch this garbage. I’ll never support you again..Version: 5.1.1
✓ DISAPPOINTED!!! and miss the old versionMissing the Notable and Rare section. Sightings used to be up-to-date to the hour...no longer. Glitzy and techy but not as handy and useful as before..Version: 5.1.6
✓ Did not workThis app does not work in my iPhone (XR). I cannot click any of the options on the top of the screen or the bottom because they appear half cut off the screen and blocked by the WiFi/Data/Battery at the top. Please allow the app to be compatible with the XR model. Also, I liked how the app allowed you to record all the birds you see besides just finding them. I got another app that allows you to show a picture of a bird you saw and the app with identify what bird it was. It worked pretty well after I tested it. I would definitely come back to this app if Audubon adds “Photo ID” and an XR update to the app. 🤗.Version: 5.2.8
✓ Not happy with this update. Big loss!I paid for this application years ago and loved it. It was my ‘go to’ app for bird sounds. Not any more. The sounds are non functional on my iPad, (an iPad Air) and on my husband’s iPad ( an old iPad 2). He is a software developer, so this is not “operator error”. I contacted Audubon and got no helpful response... (I got an email saying it works on the developer’s iPad.... How does that help me?) In addition, the location of the recordings is no longer included, which was useful information. I agree with other reviewers that you now have to go through way too many steps get to the information you want. I want the old app back, or my money back or someone at Audubon to at least correct the problem with the sound. Very, very disappointed. Just in time for Spring Birding... my formerly favorite birding app bites the dust. Bummed!.Version: 5.0.2
✓ Doesn’t workWon’t open, just crashes. iPhone 12 Pro Max.Version: 6.0.4
✓ What happened???I have enjoyed using this app for four years. Today, when I opened the app, all my sightings (hundreds of them!) history was gone. Needless to say, I’m not impressed..Version: 6.0.2
✓ When will you fix this?This app was perfect until you updated it a few years ago. I was probably your best unpaid advertiser, as I told everyone about it. Since that time, you ‘updated’ it, and I’ve been totally unable to use this! No photos, no ease of use, no response when tapping the ‘Go to Settings’ advice (how many thousands of times should a person tap that, I wonder). As there are many others who’ve been complaining about this for at least three years, WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO FIX THIS APP? I know it is doable, because it was already created beautifully—the original app was perfect!! You messed it up, we can’t use it, and you won’t fix it. What is the problem?.Version: 5.4.16
✓ Don't update, NatureShare users!This latest update, late March 2018, removes all the features I loved about my NatureShare app - adding favorites, commenting, exploring the latest posts across the USA - gone without so much as a warning (the blurb says some of the community features have been suspended - read all). To cap it all, my photos have the wrong aspect ratio and cut off the head of the bird - something I can't edit. AND, if I want to edit the location, the app freezes. That, and the fact that I am only allowed to post one photo per sighting, makes this update a terrible mess. So Audubon developers, please hurry up and roll out an update with these fixes. You really shouldn't have offered this update until the app was good and ready. Shame on you! The good news is that I was able to download the Central Park Audubon app which still gives users full access to the NatureShare community and features. I applaud the effort to merge NatureShare with eBird but please enhance the Audubon app to incorporate the wonderful NatureShare community features we know and love. eBird is so dry and dull by comparison..Version: 5.0.1
✓ So why did you change it?Update: 5/4/18 Despite the updates to the major format change, it’s still pretty much unusable. Serious Q; why did you change it? I’m sure many of your long time users would be willing to give you useful feedback. I bought this app a few years ago. As a novice birder, I was taught that in order to identify a bird, it helps to see what birds are in your area at that time. With the previous version of this app, It was so easy to find ‘Birds Near You’ or ‘Notable & Rare’ sightings. It was easy to click on a bird and find ‘descriptions’, ‘sounds’, and ‘sightings’. These are all gone, or at the least VERY hard to locate. If I am able to figure out what I’m possibly seeing, I have to get out of that screen and go find it elsewhere in order to see a picture or hear sound. By then the bird is gone... and oh well, too bad! Basically, it no longer intuitive like it was before. Of ALL the apps I have, this was the one I used the most. Now...well, I’m really sorry to say, it’s the most frustrating..Version: 5.0.4
✓ Terrible interface in every sectionI had to create an account to enter a list. Then it assumed what my current location was and named that “home”, both assumptions were incorrect. There seems to be no way to change them. Why keep track of where my sightings are if it can’t even tell where I am? If I go to “edit” my account info, the cursor shows up on the right edge of the screen. I can enter six characters only. And although there’s a “save” option above, in case one manages to make a change, it’s greyed out and doesn’t work. So I cannot edit my home to appear correctly, although I am working hard to attract more bird species to my feeders. So many elementary problems! The only things that work in a logical manner are the parts about birds themselves. The app is much less useful than a field notebook. If there’s not a big makeover upcoming, I’m deleting it..Version: 5.1.6
✓ Used to be my favorite — no more!I assumed the glitchyness and tendency to crash was the fault of the aging iPod Touch I used it on. I should have read the reviews... I use the app on my iPod so I’m not able to connect with data in the field. I HAVE to be able to download the field guide, or it’s useless! I started the ‘few minutes’ process at 6:05 pm. It was still loading when I returned home over three hours later. In the six weeks since I’ve owned this device (6th gen iPod Touch) I have installed, force-quit, deleted, reinstalled and anything else I could think of, and the app still doesn’t work unless I’m home by my wifi which is hardly optimal birdwatching conditions. I’m disappointed, because this really was my favorite app, especially for bird song. I’ve used it since the days when I had to pay for it! But I’m switching to Merlin for a free app, and buying Sibley. Sorry, it’s been good to know you..Version: 5.0.10
✓ So sad. Please bring back ability to see all nearby observations!!!This update is making bird life miserable for me. I have been using this app for about 10 years. I am an avid birder and rely heavily on it for the bird info where you can search by your location and pull up all the birds in your location that have been reported. Now you can only search by Hotspots and it only shows you daily lists, which are incredibly incomplete. I just went on vacation to Austin, Texas. I have never been there and tried to figure out what birds I had the potential of seeing. This new app version was completely useless. It kind of made me want to cry because I couldn’t figure out what birds were around me. Sooooo frustrating! I went to hotspots and the format for that was nearly useless. Why did you take this feature away after 10 years? Now it’s the beginning of migration season up here in New York and I have no way to know what’s coming in. The hotspots don’t help because they are so specific to that area, it won’t apply to where I live and bird. Please bring that feature back ASAP before it ruins the migration season we wait all year for..Version: 5.0.4
✓ Doesnt workI used to use this all the time. now it insists on me registering an account. it asks for my email address then when i submit it, it opens a blank screen. been trying for a month and same thing. no update on app store. downloaded merlin but would prefer to use audubon again. why force people to enter an email address?? and why let this issue go on for so long without a fix? such a shame..Version: 5.4.15
✓ Demands that you create an accountI used to love this app. But the new version demands that you create an account before you can use it at all. This is ridiculous. Why should I violate my privacy in order to look up a bird? I do realize that companies and organizations need to make money, and that software costs money to develop and maintain. So I suppose it is legitimate to track your users and sell their data if that’s the only way that you can afford to provide a free product. However, it should be possible to opt out of having your data tracked by purchasing the information that an app offers rather than having your every move recorded. This option is not available at all, and as a result, if you wish to protect your privacy, the app is useless. I am deleting it from my phone..Version: 5.0.2
✓ Requires your email address or linkage to your Facebook dataI used this free app for nearly 2 years - suddenly an update required me to establish an ‘account’ with a user name, email address and password in order to keep using it. I did that, and a short time later another update was issued, saying that since so many users complained that they did not want to establish an account to use this free app, this update removes that requirement. I updated the app, re-launched it, and it still requires me to either log in with my password, or log in via my Facebook account (another intrusion). So i deleted this app, rebooted my iphone, re-downloaded and re-installed it, and it still insists on intrusionary login to ‘my account’ with a password, or consenting to Facebook linkage. So, i’m relegating this Audubon app to the trash heap..Version: 5.0.4
✓ I hate new version so much I deletedFunny how so-called improvements are always regressions. After using this app for >1 year, I succumbed to updatitis. Big mistake...I should have known better. Never again. The new version is so bad I have removed it..Version: 5.3.4
✓ More limitedI loved posting sightings on NatureShare. That is migrating to the app but on the app you must select a species in order to post something. Some people need to post without a label so others can help identify or in my case I can post European birds not listed here. There is no good European or in fact global app-based sighting/list app. Please let us post without naming a species from your list.Version: 5.0.4
✓ Ruined Life ListThis app for me is ruined now. Shame on whoever made the decision to mess with the lists and make it impossible to track the birds you’ve seen without reporting the sighting and a location. I don’t need social credit I just want to track my birds. It used to be easy, find bird, click add to list, then it would be added and the bookmark would be highlighted. Yes I am one of the folks that paid $30 for this 10 years ago now it is garbage. The custom lists crash when attempting to open them so my 600 birds I’ve seen are now impossible to easily transfer elsewhere. And yes I’m on 6.0.8 and all permissions granted to this app and yes I’ve deleted and reinstalled and logged out and in. J. U. N. K..Version: 6.0.8
✓ Was...One Of The Best....Naturally. Now, what's happened to it ???Since updating my iPad to ios 9.1, I am having trouble with the photos & sound of the 821 birds. You only seem to get these when the app has access to the Internet ? It wasn't like that when I downloaded in 2014, and what use is a field guide when you need constant Internet access for it to work ? I could have sworn this app was about 800 MB when I originally downloaded it (lots and lots of gorgeous photos of birds will do this ). Now the download has shrunk to around 111 MB, could this be the reason I have no bird photos and sound on demand ??.Version: 3.7
✓ Americans think they are the worldI’m Australian and it only does American birds fu.Version: 5.1.1
✓ Upset about this update...I’ve loved using the Audubon bird app, especially for Natureshare. Despite its bugs and lagginess, I’ve loved the idea of it. Ever since news came out about the Natureshare website being taken down and the app the only way to access Natureshare, I’ve hoped that Audubon would incorporate features on the app that would make it more user friendly. But I did not expect a complete revamp! And the new app is not good. It’s laggy, I don’t even know how to access the Natureshare community, and my sightings aren’t in order of how I’ve seen them, but all jumbled up in a confusing way! Please, Audubon, fix these things so I can access the community! All the app needed was a couple things added and bug fixes!.Version: 5.0.2
✓ Wish I hadn’t updatedThis is my primary bird field guide, and I like it better than iBird which my husband uses. But, I’m really disappointed that I updated to the most recent version. When using the field guide, having the ability to sort on last or first “name” was a really important feature, and I miss it a lot. For example, looking at the Ducks & Geese family, you could sort by last, and all the geese would be together and all the ducks would be together. Unfortunately the app isn’t as functional as a field guide anymore. I would rather browse than search. Also, when you’re exploring sightings they’re no longer linked to the species guide. So if you see that someone saw a Northern Goshawk close to you, and you wanted to learn more about that bird you have to click over to the field guide and navigate to it. Or search for it. Very kludgy..Version: 5.0.4
🙂 Audubon Bird Guide Positive Reviews
Audubon Bird Guide works most of the time. If it is not working for you, we recommend you excersise some patience and retry later or contact Audubon Bird Guide.
⛔ Audubon Bird Guide Problems
