“PictureThis: Identify Plant, Flower, Weed, and More.”
As an amaeuter naturalist, I am constantly scanning the surrounding area for birds, plants, insects, mushrooms, and more.
For years, I have used the app “PictureThis” to categorize plants as I travel through Asia, Europe, the Levant, and the States. I’ve collected over 800 plants so far, and kept up with the app as they went from free to premium payments to access unlimited IDs.
This is a great intro level app for those looking to identify common plants. The algorhythims do a pretty good job ruling an image down to a few options that you can select based on what you see better with your eyes than the camera. It also helps that you can view dozens of other pictures that others have posted so you can compare different stages of growth and flowering, and account for variations on color that can confuse ana ID.
I like that you can use a map feature to show you what has been observed around you, but more, I like that I can see what observations I’ve made in my neighborhood throughout the year.
Recently, they’ve added a section on care for the plants, which I’ve used at friends’ homes to help them see how to care for a dropping houseplant. Usually, it’s just a problem with placement in the light.
What I don’t like is that it’s difficult to search the plants that I took years ago, requiring me to scroll down with pictures loading slowly or freezing the app altogether.
Overall, easy and effective to use for the plant curious but poor app structure if you’re looking for long term use.
It’s possible to request help for an ID for plants that have no algorhythim match, however, I’ve never received any notifications when one of my requests has been answered (if it’s happened at all). Most of the requests for help come from users posting pictures of very young plants that are impossible to ID anyway. When I know the plant’s name because I have a placard of the name in front of me, it’s possible to suggest the name, but I’ve also never received any feedback that it was accepted. And when I submit a feedback with my email address associated, I’ve never received any confirmation of receipt or action taken.
Waunder 