Tree ID - TreeID with Fall Foliage app good for
Awesome!
Love the various ways of narrowing the search parameters. Im not an arborist, nor do I particularly need to know the information, but I really enjoyed using this app. I cant tell if it needs a WiFi connection or not to operate. If all the info is in hand, or on Phone as it were, this is a truly useful tool in the field, or on the mountain, or in the forest....
As a Scout leader of some 20 years, I am impressed by this app. It does exactly what it claims and it does it well and for an excellent price (compare to the Birding apps, for example). I can easily find trees based on an extensive selection of different ways of looking things up. I can also give it a name (such as "Jack") and it returns "Scrub (Jack) Pine" contrary to what was reported in an earlier review. Indeed, its completeness is its one drawback: You have to play with it a bit to understand what the various options mean. The good news is that if you only have a very basic understanding of trees and leaves, thats OK too.
In future releases I would appreciate seeing three modest improvements:
1/ Help text to explain how and when to use some of the less well understood categories (e.g., Leaf Lobe).
2/ The ability to set a DEFAULT geographic filter as opposed to selecting it each time.
3/ A "best fit" approximation: When you specify 5 categories but nothing matches exactly, show things that match just 4 of the categories. (For now, if you get too few results, simply turn off some of the less clear cut criteria such as bark texture.)
All in all, a very valuable tool.
Tree guides on the iPhone and iPod touch just havent come as far along as the bird guides. Some of the best bird guides I have ever seen are apps. They have every imaginable species, advanced search features, gorgeous photos and illustrations, life lists, etc.
This app is the best tree guide in the store, but it still cant compare to the traditional book versions. It has a fairly good amount of species, but still not enough. I know all the basic species in my area, so whenever I find something Im stuck on, I have to take a leaf home and look it up in my big Trees of Canada book because it isnt in here.
However, this app would be perfect for beginners, or for those who are more experienced but are traveling to a new ecozone where theyre not familiar with the species. I will be glued to this app when I travel.
The features and interface are nowhere as nice as the bird guides, but still decent.
EDIT: The iOS4 update deserves an additional star. Lots more trees have been added, at this rate the comprehensiveness will catch up to paper tree guides after a few more updates. It now includes almost all the trees in my area! The pictures have also been sharpened and are now very useful. Definitely the best tree app in the store, and worth the $4 several times over.
Easy to use. Excellent pictures of leaves summer and fall. Very helpful pictures of fruit as well. Does exactly as advertised and the price is right too!
Go ahead: make fun of me for REALLY wanting a tree identification app. I downloaded this one when it was still free, but Id probably pay for it. There is a ton here!
I believe this is truly one of the best apps Ive bought, but it could be a little bit cheaper.
Some bad moments
I could accept this app as a light (ie free version), but it is not worth the price as it now stands. Some glaring omissions:
No photos of the actual trees (although cartoon like sketches provided in other tree apps are thankfully lacking as well). The photos provided of fruit and leaves are oftem morphed to fit into the photo frame and shot from different angles making idenification difficult.
The "Search by Characteristics" is pretty basic and is even missing a "leaf type" selection.
You cannot search by latin name nor alternative names.
Some trees are missing eg the Jack Pine.
Tree descriptions are pretty sketchy.
You cannot scroll through leaf, bark or fruit photos. You have to go back to the main menu to see individual photos one at a time.
All this said, TreeID is on the right track but needs a lot more work before deserving a shellout of $3.99.
Good idea but not very useful. The interface is awkward, the images are mostly distorted. A more intuitive interface and search would help.
Some picture are so out of focus That
I dont no what I am lookink at ?
This app needs much more development as it lacks a huge number of common trees. Also, the tree id function is not very user friendly - I tried numerous times on several trees, but this app returned no results. The hand sketches are pretty mickey mouse. Not worth the time even if it were free.
This program concept is good however this program is poorly done. The "ID A Tree" feature definitely needs work! In a one of the ID catagories the Help does NOT match the items for selection (Leaf Base)! I did find it interesting that there were many aspects to a leaf that I was not aware of, however after spending considerable time plugging in all these values I had No Results for what I think is a fairly common tree in the south eastern US. The program should give you some feedback here!!!....such as a list of possible trees listed in order by the number of positive "hits"! It does give possible results sometimes, if only a few categories are entered. Since entering all these catagory (or ID selections) can take a fair bit of time, it should at least automatically save this effort and give you the option to clear or restore on returning to that program feature (also if you accidently leave the feature or you answer a PHONE CALL all is lost !!!!) . Go to Airplane mode if you use Tree ID!!!
Why am I being asked to pay for this application. I already purchased it once? Doesnt make any sense!
