Implement backups or exporting/importing of Seek observations

[drive-c]

Is this an AR camera feature?

No.

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.

Currently, Seek loses all of your data on app uninstall. This is an odd oversight at best and very unpleasant in most circumstances.

Describe the solution you'd like.

There are a few options to reduce data loss:

For iOS, leverage the user iCloud storage to backup the data. (This is my preferred solution.)

• Pros: iNaturalist doesn't have to host the data, automatic backups.
• Cons: Users with base 5GB of iCloud storage may not have space, only works with iOS, may affect privacy and data collection polices.
• Note: Google likely has a similar implementation on Android, but my experience on Android is limited.

Enable third-party cloud storage options (e.g. iCloud, Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, etc.) for syncing and backing up data. (This is a preferred alternative.)

• Pros: Allows a user to choose which service they want to back up to, could be automatic, could allow multi-device syncing.
• Cons: Privacy and data collection policies may not mesh with iNaturalist's, could invoke API fees, requires programming a connection for these services.

Host and sync Seek data with iNaturalist account. (This is the most costly solution, but could be the easiest for users)

• Pros: Easiest for users, drives users to create iNaturalist accounts.
• Cons: Cost and effort required to implement and host/protect customer data,

Allow the user to download a backup of the app's local observation database and allow them to import it.

• Pros: No need to host data, native database should be easier to import, should allow imports to be platform agnostic
• Cons: User is responsible for making and storing their own backups and will likely be missed on app deletion, only compatible with Seek app.

Allow the user to download a CSV version of their data, sans images.

• Pros: Allows user-readable version of data, allows user to add or modify data, user isn't locked into Seek.
• Cons: Allows user to add or modify data, allows user to move out of Seek/iNaturalist ecosystem, user is responsible for their own backups, doesn't support image data.

Describe alternatives you've considered.

I believe that implementing user data backup is crucial. The solutions I recommend above are merely recommendations. I accept that there will be alternatives to these, but the important thing is that user data be backed up.

My experience in app development is mainly in UI/UX and QA testing. I have very limited coding experience. While the Seek and iNaturalist apps today occupy spots 69 and 130 for education on the US iOS app store respectively, iNaturalist is a 503(c)(3) nonprofit and has a very small staff. Hosting, protecting, and syncing data costs money.

Additional context

When I noticed my observations not uploading to iNaturalist, I performed the common troubleshooting step of deleting and reinstalling the Seek app. Since uninstalling happens outside of the Seek app, there was no immediate warning that my observations would not be saved; warnings do appear at different places in the app that deleting the app would delete your observations, but it had been some time since I installed and I had forgotten.

Fortunately, restoring my entire phone from an iCloud backup saved my observation (I used this as an opportunity to test that bug #585 was fixed), but this could be particularly devastating for someone who isn't aware of this quirk of the Seek app.

[cyschneck]

Ran into this exact issue today ☹️

It would be nice to be able to export observations from iNaturalist to Seek to be able to preserve observations

[alexshepard]

Hi,

As we mention in the contributing doc for this project, the right place to make suggestions for the iNat product development team is on the iNat Forum.

Thanks,
alex