What's new

On its way

BirdScribe 3.6 is on its way. It’s our biggest release yet, and we’ll say more when it’s in your hands. One change we can share now: in 3.6, song identification is retired in favour of Your Call. Record the bird yourself, name it, and your recording is ready to go with your eBird checklist. Watch this space, or sign up below to hear first.

September 2026

21 September 2026, version 3.4 In the App Store. On Google Play first, and released on the App Store on 28 September 2026.

• 3.4Start birding when you are ready. Opening the app no longer starts a trip, and Incidental is there for a bird you spot on the way somewhere.
• 3.4Where did I see it? Search for any bird and see every time you have logged it, on a map.
• 3.4Heard it, then saw it? Merge the two into one sighting. Every bird now shows on the map, even several logged from one spot.
• 3.4Your checklist file stays on your phone. Finishing at a desk? Ask for an emailed link after you export.
• 3.4Edit the checklist comment before your list goes to eBird. Pocket Mode turns off with a swipe, so a bump in your pocket cannot switch it off.

11 September 2026, version 3.3 In the App Store. Released on the App Store and Google Play on 17 September 2026.

• 3.3A check before your list leaves. Press export and see what is about to go to eBird, including anything still waiting on you. When all is well, export is still one tap.
• 3.3Export several trips at once. Tick them on the Trips screen and they go to eBird as one file, each still its own checklist.
• 3.3Add a bird you forgot, even after the trip has ended. It is marked, so you can tell it from the birds you logged in the field.
• 3.3Incidentals. A bird seen away from a proper outing takes one tap to log, and goes to eBird as its own list.
• 3.3A copy of your checklist saves to your phone, ready to pick in eBird’s import, and clearing a trip’s audio is now your choice.

8 September 2026, version 3.2 In the App Store. Released on the App Store and Google Play on 11 September 2026.

• 3.2Pocket Mode reworked. Your phone goes in your pocket and stays there. Press your headset button to log, and a tone and a short buzz tell you it heard you.
• 3.2A simpler log screen. Song, the microphone, Note and Type sit together in one row, and tighter cards fit more of your session on screen.
• 3.2Better with numbers. Say “a hundred and thirty” and the card says 130.
• 3.2Merge all has an undo, and session totals count only the birds you have confirmed.
• 3.2If the microphone cannot start, a banner tells you, rather than silence.

3 to 6 September 2026, version 3.1 In the App Store. Released on the App Store and Google Play on 7 September 2026.

• 3.1BirdScribe learns your names. Teach it your own name for a bird with the lightning bolt, and choose which names log the bird for you. They are all under More, then Learned names, to edit, back up and restore.
• 3.1Say just “magpie” and you get the choices for your region. Traditional names, British ones included, are recognised.
• 3.1Set your birding region yourself, under More, and teach names before you travel. The header tells you when where you are standing does not match it.
• 3.1Complete checklist. A switch on the trip summary for walks where you logged only some of what you saw. A trip that runs past midnight can go as one checklist per day.
• 3.1Heard-only birds stay heard-only all the way to eBird, and spoken counts are heard correctly more often.
• 3.1Share your learned names with birders in your region, anonymously and only if you tick the box. Feedback can carry a trip or your learned names, with no typing needed.

August 2026

August 2026, version 3.0, on the App Store.

• 3.0Bird anywhere in the world. Species suggestions and voice recognition follow where you are standing.
• 3.0Say a count of any size, such as 1,056, and the card keeps it.
• 3.0Common UK mishearings land on the right bird, Chiffchaff and Blackcap among them.
• 3.0A banner lets you know when a newer BirdScribe is on your app store.
• 3.0If feedback fails to send, your words are kept and the app says why.

13 August 2026, version 2.2, on Google Play. The same changes reached iPhone in version 3.0.

• 2.2Finish on a laptop if you like. Send yourself a link to your checklist and import it there.
• 2.2Send feedback from inside the app, with the option to attach a trip.
• 2.2Typing a bird’s name no longer hides behind the keyboard, on any screen.
• 2.2Two trips to the same place on the same day no longer collide when exported.
• 2.2Trip length runs from your first bird to your last, not from when the app was opened.

July 2026

27 July 2026, version 2.0, the first Android release, on Google Play.

• 2.0BirdScribe arrives on Android, with everything from iPhone versions 2.0 and 2.1.
• 2.0The checklist saves to Downloads, and a phone with no speech service says so plainly, while typing and song capture keep working.

24 to 27 July 2026, version 2.1.

• 2.1Add a bird by typing, from the record screen, for when speaking is not practical.
• 2.1Add a comment to any bird by typing or dictation, and it goes into your eBird checklist beside the count.
• 2.1Names eBird will not accept are flagged before your checklist is written, and a merged bird is never exported twice.
• 2.1The privacy page has a Back button and a plain list of what leaves your phone.

July 2026, version 2.0, on the App Store.

• 2.0A new look built for sunlight: warmer colours, one typeface throughout, and icons in place of emoji.
• 2.0A bottom bar on the recording screen for Pocket Mode, Trips, More and Review, with your species count on show.
• 2.0Review is a look, not a commitment. Open it mid-trip and carry on recording.
• 2.0Smaller cards fit four or five to a screen. Merged cards keep every clip, and every card has a Show on map button.
• 2.0Every name you are offered is one eBird accepts, and a card that will not reach eBird says so.

10 to 11 July 2026, version 1.5.

• 1.5Record a sound bite and the card suggests a species for your region. You confirm it; it never goes on the list by itself.
• 1.5If a suggestion is not available, your recording is saved, the sighting is logged, and a Retry button waits for you.
• 1.5Record a sound bite from a button in the header, or by saying “sound bite”.
• 1.5On first run the app asks for the microphone and location when it needs them, and plays you the beeps so you know them by ear.
• 1.5Bigger tap targets, higher-contrast text, and recordings named by species and time, ready to share.

8 to 9 July 2026, version 1.4.

• 1.4Pocket Mode. Arm it and pocket the phone with the screen on. Stray touches are ignored, the screen stays awake, and your headset button does the rest.
• 1.4Record a bird’s song: say “sound bite” and the app records until you tap or say “all done”.
• 1.4A Recordings library lists your clips and the space they take.
• 1.4Heard-only birds keep the count you say: “three kookaburras calling” goes to eBird as 3.
• 1.4Siri understands “Bird Scribe” said as two words as well as one.

3 to 8 July 2026, version 1.3.

• 1.3Stop talking and the recording finishes by itself. A tick tells you the mic is live and a beep tells you the result, so you never need to look at the screen.
• 1.3A headset or AirPods button starts and stops recording, one press each way.
• 1.3On iPhone, “Hey Siri, log a bird in BirdScribe” opens the app and starts recording.
• 1.3Every card has a play button to hear what you said, and the trip map takes you from a card to its pin and back.
• 1.3Offline, a clearly named bird is matched on the spot, and anything else is saved with your recording, ready to finish when you reconnect.

June 2026

June 2026, version 1.2, on the App Store.

• 1.2Species suggestions follow your location anywhere in the world.
• 1.2A searchable region picker lets you choose your region yourself.
• 1.2Ending a trip takes you straight to review, and a Trip saved confirmation shows your observation count.

19 June 2026, version 1.1.

• 1.1Typing a bird’s name keeps the suggestion list clear of the keyboard.
• 1.1A fresh install starts with no saved locations; you add your own.

June 2026, version 1.0, the first App Store release.

• 1.0Tap Record, say what you saw, tap Stop, and a card appears with the species, count and location. Several birds in one breath become several cards.
• 1.0The app suggests and you confirm, or type the name, with suggestions from eBird’s own list even offline.
• 1.0Fix a card by re-recording, typing a name or changing the count, merge two sightings of the same bird, and delete with undo.
• 1.0Field notes by voice or text stay on your phone and never reach eBird. Close the app mid-trip and it offers to pick up where you left off.
• 1.0Export an eBird checklist and a plain-text trip report in your own words. Free, no account, works offline.