About the Observer smart phone application

The Observer is an application for smart phones that allows you to quickly and efficiently report wild plant occurrences. This application makes it easy for you to report the species name, date, and location of over 10,000 California native and non-native plant taxa. You can also add a photograph to a report, and share it with others later to confirm identification. Your reports are transmitted wirelessly to the Calflora database, where you can edit them and see them on a map.

To use the application, you need to

REGISTER AS A CONTRIBUTOR.

When you upload observations from your phone, they go into the database in an unpublished state. You can use the My Observations application to edit your observations, and when they are ready, publish them so that they are visible to other Calflora users.

The Observer application for Android phones is available from Google Play (search for "Calflora"), or it can be downloaded from this page. The iPhone version is available via iTunes (search for "Calflora"). We need your input on how this application can be improved. We are eager to hear any feedback or comments you may have.

WILL IT WORK ON MY ANDROID PHONE?

This is an excellent question. Due to the nature of the Android system, we are unable to guarantee that it will work on any particular Android phone until we have had the opportunity to test the app on that model. This is because the various manufacturers of Android phones implement features differently, and it is not reliable to predict ahead of time whether the menufacturer's implementation choices are compatible with the way the app is written.

The current version works reliably on the following phones:

Nexus 1
Galaxy Nexus III
Nexus 7 tablet

If you have another phone, please go ahead and try the app, and then write us with your comments about whether it works, including the model of the phone. It is possible for us to get the app working on other Android phones; to do so, we would need to borrow the phone in question for a few hours.

 

INSTALL THE APPLICATION:

1. REGISTER for a Calflora account, if you do not already have one. Be sure to REGISTER AS A CONTRIBUTOR at the same time.

2. Android users: DOWNLOAD THE APPLICATION onto your phone and install it. (See Release Notes for the features and bug fixes of each release.)

• Get the latest release direct from Google Play   (search for "Calflora")

• MOST RECENT RELEASE v. 1.53 (cboB153.apk, March 31, 2013)

   
  

• NEXT MOST RECENT RELEASE v. 1.52 (cboB152.apk, February 2, 2013)

• NEXT MOST RECENT RELEASE v. 1.5 (cboB15.apk, December 10, 2012)

• NEXT MOST RECENT RELEASE v. 1.23 (cbo123x.apk, February 7, 2012)

3. iPhone users:

Get the latest release direct from iTunes (search for "Calflora")

RUN THE APPLICATION:

1. Run the application. LOGIN using the same email address and password you used to register.

2. Go to Utilities / Download Plant Lists and download one or more plant lists. Note that plant list names that begin with "local" (such as "local plants") include only plants that have been observed near your current location. (Make your own plant lists, or look closely at predefined lists, with this application: Plant List Definition)

3. Go to Make Observations / Pick a Plant / change the list and select one of the plant lists you just downloaded. To choose a plant, type in part of the scientific or common name. Or, press pick a plant from the list and scroll through the list. For more details on making observations, see this document.

4. When you are back at a place with a strong WiFi signal, turn your phone's WiFi on, and upload your observations. (It is not recommended to upload observations without a WiFi signal.)

5. Once you have uploaded some observations, go to the My Observations application to edit and publish them.

6. Thank you for helping to test this application. When you find elements that need to be fixed or improved, please write us with your feedback or comments. To make this easier, there is a link on the Utilities screen of the application that will let you send comments from your phone.

iPhone users: See Observer App for iPhone and iPhone Instructions for details about how to use the app.

ABOUT THE PROJECT:

Calflora has developed the Observer smart phone application in collaboration with the California Early Detection Network. The phone app is part of an integrated plant mapping platform that replaces cumbersome hardware/software now used to collect and manage plant mapping data. By removing technological and logistic obstacles and streamlining data collection and management, this innovative system makes it possible for all field personnel to quickly, accurately, and efficiently collect and manage native and invasive plant occurrence data. Here is a short YouTube video that outlines the system.

The Observer application for Android phones was developed by Calflora based on source code for the What's Invasive smart phone application from UCLA's Center for Embedded Network Sensing (CENS). The Android version is now (May, 2011) available on Google Play. CENS engineers have recently released an iPhone version of the Observer application, which is available on iTunes (thanks to funding from partners listed below).

THANK YOU SUPPORTERS:

The project has been possible thanks to the generosity of these visionary supporters:

• Audubon Canyon Ranch
• Bay Area Early Detection Network
• California Early Detection Network
• Center for Embedded Network Sensing, UCLA
• The Bay Institute
• Friends of the San Pablo Bay National Wildlife Refuge
• Marin Audubon
• Pacific Coast Science and Learning Center
• Point Reyes National Seashore Association
• The Rockey Fund of Marin Community Foundation

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Android users: See Release Notes

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