# Identify Birds – Smart Bird ID — user reviews > 235 indexed App Store user reviews of Identify Birds by Yellow Cardinal Inc., rated 4.70/5 from 16,721 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/identify-birds-smart-bird-id/id1271449623/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/identify-birds-smart-bird-id/id1271449623.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 13,681 · 4★ 2,031 · 3★ 455 · 2★ 170 · 1★ 384 ## What do users think of Identify Birds? Overall sentiment: positive **Pros** - 🚀 Terrific app for identifying birds - 👍 Helpful for learning about birds - 👍 Easy to use and navigate - 👍 Provides detailed information on birds - 👍 Useful for both beginners and experienced birders - 👍 Responsive and helpful customer support - 👍 Ability to log and track birds seen - 👍 Useful for traveling and seeing new birds **Cons** - 🐛 Occasional bugs and glitches - 💰 Some features locked behind paywall - 🔍 Difficulty isolating bird sounds in noisy environments - 🔍 Inaccurate bird identifications at times **Commonly reported bugs** - Login screen freezes - Playback issues with bird songs - Inconsistent progress tracking in quizzes **Most requested features** - Rarity ratings for birds in user's area - Improved picture-based bird identification - Option to copy/paste bird information - Ability to track multiple birds at once ## Newest reviews (19 of 235) ### 2/5 — Like it Just maybe not all of it *2026-07-07, version 5.0.17* I’m glad everyone else is enjoying this app but One thing this app is great for birding but I didn’t understand all of it. It was kind of hard to play or use after all It was fine. This isn’t my biggest recommendation though. there is other apps that I enjoy more or less sorry if you don’t understand a lot of things or don’t like complex apps don’t use this I don’t think I knew how to play it but still if you don’t like very detailed apps or games for birding don’t use this ### 4/5 — Bird app review *2026-07-03, version 5.0.17* I like it. It hasn’t asked me to subscribe yet so that’s a plus camera works good i would recommend ### 5/5 — Great App, easy to use *2026-06-12, version 5.0.17* My 7 year old Autistic son and I enjoy using this app to find more about Birds. It’s so easy to use, it’s made learning about birds fun. ### 5/5 — Look No Further *2026-06-09, version 5.0.17* For the beginners, pros, and novices, Smart Bird ID app is the only app you need. This app makes birdwatching fun, easy, and a bit competitive- You can earn badges and stickers for each species found! It’s so much fun. The customer service is also incredible. You can tell the creators are open to suggestions and want the best for their fellow bird-watching community. Just do it, you won’t be disappointed! ### 4/5 — Plz make all free *2026-06-07, version 5.0.17* Make sticker packs and bird sounds free 4 stars ### 5/5 — Une application génial *2026-05-26, version 5.0.17* Cette application aide à reconnaître quel est le cri de nos amis les oiseaux c’est aussi un charme de l’utiliser. ### 5/5 — Fun and User Friendly *2026-05-20, version 5.0.16* This app lets me practice identifying birds with games and quizzes. It’s also pretty accurate. Even the free version is very useful. I highly recommend it. ### 5/5 — Would-be bird lovers *2026-05-17, version 5.0.16* Smart Bird ID is a wonderful resource for everyone, whether you are a long time bird watcher or just beginning to realize how interesting and important birds really are. Try it! ### 5/5 — My favorite app *2026-05-17, version 5.0.16* I absolutely adore this app. Being able to find out what bird you are seeing via picture is really convenient, and I adore the being able to hear the different bird sounds! <3 ### 2/5 — Lost its hearing. *2026-05-15, version 5.0.16* My app suddenly cannot hear even the loudest birds. ### 3/5 — Great app! *2026-05-15, version 5.0.16* This is a great app! However, when trying to identify a bird using sound, it doesn’t pick up anything! So Merlin’s kinda better in that situation. But it’s still a great app no adds! I highly recommend this app if you want to learn more about birds. ### 5/5 — Obvious Download *2026-05-15, version 5.0.16* You won’t regret ### 5/5 — Great app *2026-05-11, version 5.0.14* Have been using this app for several years. User interface is intuitive and it has all the features we have looked for, for birding at our camp. Very easy to upload media to, and they seem to be a very responsive dev team. My only complaint would be that it seems to need a data connection to open, so being completely off-grid is a bit tricky, but we use camera/recorder real time, upload and identify later, and Robert’s your uncle. Recommend. ### 5/5 — Best APP to identify birds *2026-05-11, version 5.0.14* I love using this app to identify birds by sound! I even use it with my students. I highly recommend this app! ### 5/5 — Great Birding ID App *2026-05-10, version 5.0.14* My go-to app for identifying birds especially in my yard. Love the listening feature to identify and confirm the birds I’m hearing and seeing. ### 5/5 — Great App *2026-04-30, version 5.0.12* Easy to use, accurate identification. ### 5/5 — User friendly Smart Bird ID *2026-04-27, version 5.0.11* I LOVE this app as it allows me to instantly record the birds I hear and proceed with IDs. I highly recommend this app if you are a first time birder or a seasoned one with questions. ### 5/5 — Built this… but still use it every day *2026-04-23, version 5.0.11* I originally built this app to help myself learn bird songs, but it’s honestly become something I use daily. The sound ID and mnemonics have helped me recognize birds I used to completely miss. Still improving it all the time based on feedback – lots more coming. ### 5/5 — More than an Identifier *2026-04-22, version 5.0.10* I really enjoy this app. A great tool to keep track of the birds you encounter. And for whatever reason, I get a kick out of the sticker feature. If you need help or have input, they are quick to respond and are very helpful. ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — App crashes constantly *2026-04-29, version 5.0.12* I want to love this app but I can’t even use it. Want to identify a bird? Crazy. Upload a video? Crash. Use sound ID? Crash. Change your location of a sighting? Crash. Upload photo? Crash. ### 1/5 — Parents Beware: Disturbing, Violent Ads in App *2025-10-06, version 4.4.8* This app exposed my 6-year-old son to an ad showing graphic images of bloody assault/murder victims, the kind of horrifying content you’d never expect in a birding app. Thankfully I was sitting next to him and shut it off immediately, but he normally uses this app on his own. The ad included shocking visuals and audio about violent crime and victims, and I was so disturbed that I didn’t even register what it was advertising. No parent should have to worry about this kind of content sneaking into a nature quiz app. This is absolutely unacceptable and a total failure of responsibility by the developers and the ad network they’ve chosen. To other parents: do not download this app. Find another birding app, one that won’t traumatize your kids with violent imagery in between quizzes. This was by far the worst experience I’ve ever had with an app. ### 1/5 — Unfortunately after many try’s it’s failing *2025-06-13, version 4.4.4* I actually put in for the bird hoodie something like that contest on the app and I got a response via email from I’m assuming the creator of app? Saying to rate the app. Well nothing has worked on it after the first identification. I was sitting there trying to get an ID on a birds song and it says there’s too much wind background noise. It was sitting there for five minutes. It does this multiple times there’s no wind noise. I’m looking right at the bird. I’m asking this app to identify which I do know what it is and it’s saying something totally off the wall incorrect. Like someone else said it’s great in theory but I’m deleting app since it’s no use to me. But I do appreciate the email from a live person. And good luck with the app. I believe I paid a while back for a year subscription and have since cancelled. Either way it is what it is. ### 1/5 — Not pleased *2025-05-19, version 4.3.9* Terrible app, always says too much background noice even when there is none. Every bird comes back as being a Bluejay, even though the subject bird sounds nothing like a Bluejay. Maybe once you get your checkbook out it suddenly turns into something worthwhile, but I doubt it. ### 1/5 — Yuck *2025-05-16, version 4.3.9* This is the absolute worst app I’ve ever downloaded because I wanted to identify bird sounds. I could identify them better from a book in the library than this thing and it is a junk app. Do not download it and do not buy it. ### 1/5 — Failed Completely *2025-03-22, version 4.3.2* Identified one bird correctly (sparrow) and sent a second picture of a small, black bird in my yard. Gave me the choice of some ducks. When I didn’t take one, the app would not move on. The next day I tried again. It identified one bird. When I tried to do another one, it told me I needed a better version of the app. I’m deleting the app. ### 1/5 — Five Star frustration *2025-02-23, version 4.2.15* I’m deleting this app out of sheer frustration. When I have a bird song to ID, it makes me watch at least two ads before letting me access recording the bird. By the time I do that, the opportunity is missed. I haven’t been able to catch a birdsong in awhile because of this. Shame on you for foisting this on us. ### 1/5 — Caution *2024-08-01* To even begin using this app, I had to jump through all kinds of forced hoops, including the first one which was to give it a five star rating ((before I even used it))! I gave a three star rating because I had never used the app. So the rating system is false. There are many security and privacy tracking that this app wants to push through. Regardless, I did a free trial by subscribing for a month at $4.99 . when I was using the recording feature it guessed that I was listening to a northern flicker? (( clearly it was a cardinal)) the second attempt; it got it cardinal right, but was overlooking much louder Robin and the rooster that was crowing wasn’t even noticed! This was after the recording kept playing and playing trying to pick up these birds?? I’m talking several minutes and I kept getting a message too much background noise- try moving closer! I can’t obviously fly to the top of the tree and the only noise was the birds! it’s 5 o’clock in the morning! I’m not impressed. I stopped the monthly subscription -which (oddly)-immediately ended my free trial??! Which, by the way, if you get the free trial without paying there are so many pop-up ads that you have to watch it’s not worth your time. There was an endless ad on Social Security that I couldn’t end. The only way you’re able to use the free trial is to go to the store and visit there. * Not sure how long you have to linger there because I tried that approach ??- I guessed my only option was to watch irrelevant ads. I honestly wonder if this wasn’t designed just to track and steal personal data?? **Developer response:** I'm really sorry to hear about your experience with the app. We strive to provide a seamless and valuable tool for bird enthusiasts, and it's disappointing to hear that we fell short in your case. It sounds like there were multiple issues affecting your use, from the rating system to the accuracy of the bird identification and ad interruptions. The app should be able to handle background noise to some extent, but if it's not recognizing common birds or handling noise well, that's a problem we need to address. We take privacy and security very seriously, and our goal is not to track or steal personal data. Your feedback is crucial, and we'll use it to improve the app. If you decide to give us another try, please reach out directly through our support channels. We're here to help resolve any issues and ensure you have a better experience. Thank you for your feedback, and we apologize for the inconvenience. ### 1/5 — Too many ads *2024-07-18, version 4.2.2* Free version has too many ads that are too long ### 1/5 — Not accurate at all *2024-07-11, version 4.2.1* Merlin is far superior in identifying the bird calls. I was already using that app first but it doesn’t have the option to make a profile to connect you with other bird watchers so I wanted to try this one too… I love the social opportunities this one provides but it’s simply not accurate so it’s useless to me. I have House Sparrows all over my yard every morning that I feed… Merlin is able to pick up those right away also Cardinals, Starlings, Mourning Doves and BlueJays, which I can literally see with my eyes. This app only shows it’s picking up House Wrens which I do not have. I paid for a years subscription for that and am disappointed. I’ll be sticking with Merlin. ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — This is the best app *2026-08-21, version 5.1* It is awesome ### 5/5 — Makes walks more enjoyable *2026-07-23, version 5.0.17* What a great app! I recently moved to Truckee, CA near Lake Tahoe and see and hear so many beautiful birds around on my walks. Some sounds are so interesting and I was curious as to what these birds are. Being able to identify the birds using this app through pictures and sound recordings have made my walks super interesting and enjoyable. Highly recommended! It’s really turned me into a bird lover! ### 5/5 — If you’re a birder, you want this app *2026-07-14, version 5.0.17* My wife and I both love the app, interface is great, resources are great. Currently using it not only to log sightings, but also to track the growth of two hawk chicks nesting at my camp. Have been taking pics regularly, and uploading each with notes, so there’s a real time record of their development. The app has all the functionality and more. No notes. I usually don’t give 5 star reviews because I once dated a lady who made a living writing paid 5 star reviews, so I don’t trust them, however, THIS is a legit 5. ### 5/5 — Impressive *2026-07-14, version 5.0.17* When I first started using this app, I was instantly impressed by how easy to use and well implemented the identification process is! The app was working very well with little internet connection too, making this a perfect addition to going on hikes. ### 5/5 — Better then Merlin Bird ID *2026-07-13, version 5.0.17* With an audio analyzer as well as an ai that uses a databank of birds, this app is wonderful for birders and even the passing wonder of identifying what the bird you found is. I really enjoy this app. It isn’t perfect and no one claims it is. You have the ability to go through a list of birds manually to help identify the bird you have. Plus, if the app doesn’t have a bird you found, you can message or email the creators and they will add said bird into the app! While it took a while for a response, they were very friendly and interactive. ### 5/5 — So Addicted! *2026-07-10, version 5.0.17* This app is so good and fun to use for bird watching beginners! It’s great at identifying and learning the birds easily! Would recommend it! :) ### 5/5 — This is awesome *2026-07-07, version 5.0.17* This app helps me of hearing birds I herd a boat tailed grackle ### 5/5 — Love it! *2026-06-30, version 5.0.17* I often wake up early or can't sleep and I hear some of the most awesome birds early in the morning and I love using the app to find out what and who I hear! ### 5/5 — LOVE *2026-06-21, version 5.0.17* Absolutely love this app! Knowing the types of birds I have in my backyard is so fun. ### 5/5 — Excellent *2026-06-16, version 5.0.17* Works great, a wonderful resource for mastering the magical world of birds! --- *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 2026-09-03.*