How to use the iNaturalist Next Standard Camera

Modified on Mon, 9 Sep at 11:34 AM

In addition to its AI Camera, iNaturalist offers a more traditional camera experience that lets you focus on taking photos and getting an identification later. 


It also allows you to take multiple photos of an organism before making an observation, which is especially helpful because it's often necessary to photograph multiple features of an organism to help with identification, such as both the leaves and flowers of a plant, or both sides of a shell.


  1. If you haven't done so already, go to Settings (in the side menu) and select "All observation options" for the Observation Button.

  2. Tap the Observation Button (which now appears as a + sign) and choose the camera icon.

  3. Take a photo of the subject.

  4. Your photo will appear at the top of the screen. Take more photos of the subject if you like, and each new photo will appear at the top of the screen. All photos will be part of one observation, so just photograph one organism. In this example, two photos of a shell have been taken: one of the top, and one of the underside.


  5. When you've taken all the photos you want, tap on the green checkmark.

  6. You will be presented with a list of identification suggestions. Tap on a checkmark to select that taxon as your observation's identification. Tap on "i" for more information about that taxon, such as its occurrence map or more photos of it, if available. Tap on the search icon (magnifying glass) to search for and select a taxon if none of the suggestions look correct to you. 


  7. Once you have chosen an identification, the next screen displays your observation's details and allows you edit them. The date, time, and location should automatically be filled in. You also have the option to add, rearrange, or remove observation photos, change the observation's geoprivacy setting, mark the organism as captive/cultivated, or write a note about the observation.


  8. Tap either the "Save" or "Upload Now" button. Tapping Save will save the observation so you can manually upload it to iNaturalist when you want to, and tapping Upload Now will attempt to upload the observation immediately, if your internet connection is stable. Once successfully uploaded, your observation will be public for anyone to see, and for anyone on iNaturalist to identify or comment on.

  9. Check the Activity section later to see if anyone has identified or commented on your observation!

Was this article helpful?

That’s Great!

Thank you for your feedback

Sorry! We couldn't be helpful

Thank you for your feedback

Let us know how can we improve this article!

Select at least one of the reasons
CAPTCHA verification is required.

Feedback sent

We appreciate your effort and will try to fix the article