Identify all kinds of everything with iNaturalist’s massive database of plants, animals, insects and birds. Simply point your iPhone or iPad camera at the plant or creature you want to identify and the app will do the rest. You can also share your spots with scientists to help their research.

What we love: One of the most fascinating things in the iNaturalist app is its Explore tab, where you can see a map showing observations recorded near you. We’ve discovered that some of our near-neighbours have some really exotic plants in their gardens and others are really interested in identifying birds.

Quick tip: iNaturalist can travel in time; in addition to using the live camera view, you can also use the app to identify and record sightings based on photos you’ve already taken. If you photographed them with your iPhone or iPad the app will also bring in their location data.

Meet the creator: iNaturalist began as a university project by Ken-ichi Ueda, Nate Agrin and Jessica Kline to record and identify species in the wild. Today, it’s a non-profit organisation that’s worked with the California Academy of Sciences, the National Geographic Society and many more affiliated scientific, conservation and educational organisations.