New iPhone app

[Pete Eeles]

A version of Adrian Riley's book. See:

http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/british- ... 31398?mt=8

If anyone would like to review this app, or the app from BirdGuides, I'd be very happy for them to do so. Unfortunately, I can't due to a conflict of interest (I supplied a lot of the photos for the BirdGuides app).

Cheers,

- Pete

[Rogerdodge]

Well
This is exactly as described. Virtually the whole book in your pocket.
I have compared it side by side with the other App I mentioned here, briefly, a few weeks ago.
This scores heavily over the other App (Butterflies of Britain & Ireland v 1.0.2.15 by Birdguides) in having a LOT more information in text form, and also covers the regional species/sub-species in some detail.
It falls down in not having phenograms or distribtion maps. The mention of sites and detailing with OS references is excellent, but a trick is missed (i am sure that future revisions will sort this) in being able to open the destination in GPS or other mapping Apps.
The photographs are excellent, but the Birdguides App scores here with far more, and comprehensive illustrations of male and female upper and undersides in all cases. Also, and this is very personal, I prefer illustrations to photographs for ID purposes.
In conclusion - both are really good Apps and it is great to have a field guide in your pocket.
The Riley one is great value for money, and has a wealth of written information. As a field guide the Birdguides version wins hands down (despite being nearly twice the price of the Riley version).
However, if you need something to while away a long flight or train journey then I would go for Riley.
I now have both on my Iphone, and they will stay there, and get used.
I would like to hear other peoples opinions.

[Padfield]

Brilliant! It's great to have these two guides on the iPhone. They have complementary strengths and I imagine will support each other rather than compete.

On my copy, the white admiral obliterae picture is simply a duplicate of the underside picture above it. The beauty of e-books and apps is that errors like can be swiftly corrected with updates, at no real cost to anyone at all. Surely this is the future of field guides...

Guy

[Rogerdodge]

Guy
I do agree with you. These are complimentary apps.
I have never carried a Field Guide with me (relying on memory and photos to clear up ID problems), but yesterday I actually used the BirdGuides App to demonstrate the sexual dimorphism in Large Blue to someone I met at Collard Hill. Very handy.
As you say, Apps are constantly being updated, and I am sure we will see some clever functionality added to these apps in time.
For people of my generation (I touched a computer keyboard for the very first time when I was 28 years old!) these technological advances are amazing, and I just wonder where they will end. Someone on the radio yesterday suggested that we will be able to download our brains to a hard-drive, and upload to another brain (presumably in another body) at will - spooky but what potential for good (and ill I suppose!)

[Trev Sawyer]

Rog,
Aah... I think I must already have downloaded my brain to a hard-drive somewhere, but once I had done that, I couldn't remember where I had put it!

Trev