How to sign up for an account with the iNaturalist iPhone App

If you're totally new to iNaturalist you'll want to set up an account so you can share your observations, get identification help, and interact with other members of the iNaturalist community. iNaturalist accounts are completely free.

Here's how to sign up for an account:

1. Tap on the "Log in to iNaturalist" button in the side menu.
   
   
2. Tap on "Don't have an account? Sign up" at the bottom of the next screen.
   
   
3. You're now on the first account creation screen, which asks you to enter your email address.
   
   
4. Once you submit your email address, iNaturalist will make sure it's not linked to any existing iNaturalist account. 
   
   
5. If the email address is accepted you will be asked to enter a username and a password and check the agreement box for the iNaturalist Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, and Community Guidelines. Then tap on Create an Account.
   
   
6. iNaturalist will send you a confirmation email with a link to click on. Click on that link to confirm your email address and unlock all interaction features of iNaturalist.

• Email address: this must be a valid email address (e.g. in the format email@domain.com) and cannot be currently linked to an existing iNaturalist account. Your email address is what you will use if you need to reset your password, so it's best to choose an email address you check regularly and will not potentially lose access to (such as a school or employer email account).
  
  
• Username: sometimes called a "screen name", this is the unique handle linked to your account, and what your public content such as observations and identifications will be credited to. Your username does not have to contain your actual name. A username must be unique, begin with a letter, contain no spaces, and use only letters, numbers, dashes, and underscores.
  
  
• Password: passwords must contain at least six characters, but we recommend using a strong password and a password manager if possible.