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What is Pocket Wild?

A pocket-sized field journal for real species. You log what you find outside; the app names each creature, captures the moment, and adds it to your collection. There are 228 American species in the Registry and an unlimited Field Log for everything else.

Does Pocket Wild cost money?

No. It's free, with no ads, no subscription, and nothing to buy inside it. Your journal is yours.

How does the app identify species?

Pocket Wild sends your photo to iNaturalist's computer vision, the community-built platform naturalists everywhere contribute to, and shows you its best guesses. You pick the one that looks right. It's often correct and sometimes not, so treat it as a good first guess rather than a final answer.

Why do my sightings have names?

Every creature deserves a name. Pocket Wild gives one automatically from a curated list (Clover, Wee Biscuit, Down, and others). You can rename any sighting yourself by tapping the entry and editing the name.

What's the difference between the Registry and the Field Log?

The Registry holds 228 essential American species across eight categories: birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, insects, plants, trees, fungi. The Field Log catches everything else, sorted into families and groups, so a sighting outside the Registry still has a place to live.

What are traits?

Each sighting rolls a few personality traits (Curious, Bold, Fierce, and others). Doubles upgrade to "Super." Triples upgrade to "Extremely." Trait combinations affect rarity, so no two sightings are the same.

Who's Aldo?

Aldo is a frog who lives in the app. He notices what's around and points things out — what's in season, what's nesting, what to look for today. He's named after the American naturalist Aldo Leopold.

Does Pocket Wild track me?

Pocket Wild stores your sightings on your device. We don't sell or share your data. Location data is used only to enrich your journal entries and is never shared.

I found a bug. I have an idea. I want to say hi.

Email hello@pocketwild.app. We read everything.

A note on iNaturalist

Species identification uses iNaturalist's computer vision, the open, community-built platform that naturalists everywhere contribute to. When you identify a sighting, its photo is sent there to suggest what it is, without your name or location. Pocket Wild is an independent project, not an iNaturalist product, and we're grateful for their work.

It won't always be right. Small brown birds and look-alike mushrooms are genuinely hard, even for people who've studied them for years. Treat a suggestion as somewhere to start, and never as grounds for eating, handling, or moving anything.