# BugJug: Bug Pets in a Jar — Snap a bug, meet your new pet

> Snap a bug, meet your new pet (iPhone/iPad app by Timothy Crosley.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/bugjug-bug-pets-in-a-jar/id6823671330 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Timothy Crosley](https://appshunter.io/developer/6823671332)
- Category: Education, Games, Family
- Price: Free with in-app purchases
- Rating: 5.00/5 from 1 App Store ratings
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 17.0 · 158 MB
- Languages: American English
- Released: 2026-10-30
- Data updated: 2026-11-06

## What is BugJug?

Every bug has a story. BugJug helps you find it.

Take a photo of a bug, and BugJug works out what it is right on your phone, with no internet  needed. It knows more than 8,000 kinds of insects, spiders, snails and other creepy-crawlies. Then it turns your find into a cute, hand-drawn pet with its own name, personality and colors taken from the real bug, and puts it in a glass jar on your bookshelf.

CATCH
• Point the camera at a bug and watch BugJug lock on and name it as you get closer.
• Auto Catch for bugs that won't sit still: tap once and BugJug watches for up to 10 seconds,
  picks the sharpest moment and catches the bug for you.
• Meet your bug: its name, how rare it is, and a "Did you know?" fact.
• Fill your Bugdex and see how many kinds you can find.

CARE
• Pat your bugs, feed them and give them toys. They get lonely, hungry and bored, but nothing bad
  ever happens. They're just happy to see you.
• Dress them up in hats, celebrate their birthdays and grow your friendship one heart at a time.
• Raise a caterpillar into a butterfly on a real timeline: it hangs in a J, spends over a week in
  its chrysalis, then unfolds as a surprise grown-up. Ladybird larvae, cicadas and moths grow up too.
• Several bugs of the same kind share a jar, and every original photo is kept in their field notes.

SHARE
• Give a bug to a friend: show them a code, their BugJug scans it, and a copy of your bug moves
  onto their shelf. It works face to face, with no internet and no accounts.
• Gifts get a present on the shelf, so you always know who came from a friend.

PLAY
• Let a bug out into your room through the camera and take a photo together.
• Play fetch, feather and bubbles.
• Make scenes on mountains, beaches and starry skies, or on your own photos.
• Explore: hunt bugs with a net in 19 places around the world, from the Smoky Mountains to
  Antarctica, and collect the ones that really live there.

SAFE AND PRIVATE
• Everything happens on your phone, even in airplane mode. No accounts, no ads, no tracking,
  and photos never leave your device.
• Backups and purchases are behind a grown-ups check.
• Gentle reminders to look, not touch: identifications can be wrong, so never use BugJug to decide
  whether a bug is safe to handle.

Free to download with five bugs and one place to explore. A single purchase unlocks everything, for keeps, with no subscriptions.

## Pricing and in-app purchases

Base price: Free.

**One-time purchases**

| Purchase | Price | Type |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Unlock Everything | $4.99 | one-time |


## Is BugJug safe?

Not enough ratings yet to assess BugJug.

## Is BugJug legit?

BugJug: Bug Pets in a Jar has limited verification signals. The AppsHunter Legitimacy Score for BugJug is 58 out of 100 points across 7 verification signals from App Store and developer data.


## Version history (last 1 release)

### 1.0 — 2026-10-30

No release notes.

## Related topics

[firefly catching](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/firefly-catching) · [bug game for kids](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/bug-game-for-kids) · [bug hunter momo](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/bug-hunter-momo)

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*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-11-06.*