Offline plant identification in the wild

[Larry Wolff]

Anybody have a good app suggestion for
offline identification of wild plants?

[Frankie]

On 26/8/2023, Larry Wolff wrote:

> Anybody have a good app suggestion for
> offline identification of wild plants?

I ran a play search for free "plant identification" apps without ads.
These are the only apps that showed up as both free & advertisement free.

1. PlantNet Plant Identification, PlantNet [org.plantnet]
2. Plant App - Plant Identifier, ScaleUp [com.scaleup.plantid]
3. Blossom - Plant Identifier, Conceptiv Apps [com.conceptivapps.blossom]
4. Flora Incognita, Technische Universitat Ilmenau [com.floraincognita.app.floraincognita]
5. Seek by iNaturalist, iNaturalist [org.inaturalist.seek]
6. Google Lens, Google LLC [com.google.ar.lens]

Given the Google Play search filters are generally perfect,
those will likely be the only completely free ad free apps
(which also excludes in-app purchases I think - but am not sure).

I don't know but I doubt any of them will work offline.

[Larry Wolff]

On 8/26/2023 12:49 PM, Frankie wrote:

> 1. PlantNet Plant Identification, PlantNet [org.plantnet]
> 2. Plant App - Plant Identifier, ScaleUp [com.scaleup.plantid]
> 3. Blossom - Plant Identifier, Conceptiv Apps [com.conceptivapps.blossom]
> 4. Flora Incognita, Technische Universitat Ilmenau [com.floraincognita.app.floraincognita]
> 5. Seek by iNaturalist, iNaturalist [org.inaturalist.seek]
> 6. Google Lens, Google LLC [com.google.ar.lens]

Thanks for that short list of suggested ad free plant identification progs.

Only 3 made it past the first cut (before a functional test is started).

Both PlantNet and Flora Incognita easily skip the registration process
without nagging upon each return to the application - and both seem to
allow precise GPS to be disabled (because precise GPS isn't needed).

1. PlantNet Plant Identification, PlantNet
[org.plantnet]

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.plantnet

4. Flora Incognita, Technische Universitat Ilmenau
[com.floraincognita.app.floraincognita]

The iNaturalist app also searches for both plants and animals.

5. Seek by iNaturalist, iNaturalist
[org.inaturalist.seek]

The ScaleUp "Plant App" will skip the trialware nag screens but they come
back every time you start up the app - so that's why it's both nag & trial.

TRIALWARE & NAGWARE

2. Plant App - Plant Identifier, ScaleUp
[com.scaleup.plantid]

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.scaleup.plantid

The "Blossom" app was the only one which didn't allow you to skip the
completely unnecessary step of having to create and maintain an account.

ACCOUNTWARE

3. Blossom - Plant Identifier, Conceptiv Apps
[com.conceptivapps.blossom]

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.conceptivapps.blossom

The Google Lens App wouldn't install due to an outdated Google app.
Since it's from Google, I didn't even bother to try to debug why.
INSTALLATION ISSUES
6. RGoogle Lens, Google LLC
[com.google.ar.lens]
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.ar.lens

That leaves 3 (maybe 4) to test for their ability to identify plants.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.inaturalist.seek
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.floraincognita.app.floraincognita
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.plantnet

And maybe the PlantID skipware app will make the next cut if it's good.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.scaleup.plantid

[The Real Bev]

On 8/27/23 2:49 AM, Larry Wolff wrote:
> On 8/26/2023 12:49 PM, Frankie wrote:
>
>> 1. PlantNet Plant Identification, PlantNet [org.plantnet]
>> 2. Plant App - Plant Identifier, ScaleUp [com.scaleup.plantid]
>> 3. Blossom - Plant Identifier, Conceptiv Apps [com.conceptivapps.blossom]
>> 4. Flora Incognita, Technische Universitat Ilmenau [com.floraincognita.app.floraincognita]
>> 5. Seek by iNaturalist, iNaturalist [org.inaturalist.seek]
>> 6. Google Lens, Google LLC [com.google.ar.lens]
>
> Thanks for that short list of suggested ad free plant identification progs.

...

What does 'offline' mean in this case? I wold think that it meant that
the app contains a huge number of plant photos for comparison...


--
Cheers, Bev
"Tough? We drink our urine and eat our dead!"
-- N. Heilweil

[Larry Wolff]

On 8/27/2023 10:24 AM, The Real Bev wrote:

>> Thanks for that short list of suggested ad free plant identification progs.
> ...
>
> What does 'offline' mean in this case? I wold think that it meant that
> the app contains a huge number of plant photos for comparison...

Good question.

The inherent need for offline is that you may be deep into the fields when
you chance upon an interesting plant you wish to identify on the spot.

At that very moment, deep in the field, a hand-held paper copy of the
Peterson's Guide to Wild Plants, for example, works completely offline.

The entire database would be contained on the phone (perhaps being big!).
Just as a map-routing program works deep in the woods where you need it.

Alas, it seems there are likely no offline plant-identification apps.

Luckily, the camera works offline, where each of these plant-identification
apps seems to start from a photograph of the interesting bits of the plant.

If I'm too deep in the field to be online, I can take pictures of leaves,
stems, petals and branch structure on the spot to look them up later.