I like it a lot!
It is amazing, but I think that there should be more/different birds depending on your general location. But it’s still pretty amazing regardless.
I love this app!
I have learned so much from this app. I’m not usually a game person, or an app person, but I get so much out of Larkwire! I highly recommend it for anyone who wants to learn about birds, or even just find another alternative to doomscrolling!
Please add overwintering water bird plumage!
I love this app and use it all the time!! It helped me learn the birds really quickly when I moved to California from the UK. I wish it included overwintering water bird plumage (e.g. ducks and grebes would be especially useful!) Thank you!
Highly recommend!
Amazing. For all levels. Even advanced can improve their skills massively! 100% worth the highest subscription
6 stars!!
So helpful in learning bird by sound and sight. There’s also a new topography course also. I use it almost daily, and it has increased by ability to identify birds exponentially. Even better on an iPad with bigger bird photos. I’d give it six stars if I could.
Excellent
I use this app almost everyday!
Update: The new bird topography course is fantastic! I’ve been struggling trying to differentiate the different covert feathers. The ability to practice on photos of real birds is a game changer. It takes you from beginner to advanced at your own pace. I’ve had the app for almost two years, and I still love it.
Update: The new bird topography course is fantastic! I’ve been struggling trying to differentiate the different covert feathers. The ability to practice on photos of real birds is a game changer. It takes you from beginner to advanced at your own pace. I’ve had the app for almost two years, and I still love it.
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Subscription is not worth it
Very good for learning bird songs. But there is no reason the packs should have a per year subscription fee rather than a one time purchase.
great app, great dev team
i can’t figure out how to edit my previous review, but i submitted a bug report and it was fixed very quickly. thanks for the quick response!
Excellent
I use this app almost everyday!
Yes Larkwire!
The most accessible way to lean bird calls!
Great app, worth the price, hope other regions will be added
This app has helped me a lot, definitely worth paying for the extra packs. I hope one day birds from other countries and regions will be added.
Great way to practice hearing birds
Separates the birds by habitat: Urban, forest, field l, backyard. That’s very helpful
narrowing down when you’ll hear the bird.
Also listening to four distinct birds at one time is just the right amount to practice hearing their special songs and separating the birds from one another.
narrowing down when you’ll hear the bird.
Also listening to four distinct birds at one time is just the right amount to practice hearing their special songs and separating the birds from one another.
The app that finally taught me bird song
I’d always struggled to learn bird song and this app with it’s gamified learning finally did the trick and I enjoyed the learning.
Makes learning & reviewing bird songs/calls fun!
I purchased Larkwire many years ago and thoroughly enjoy it. Within each module (e.g., landbirds of different regions and water birds…), birds are presented into groups of four similar sounding songs at a time. You match the song/call to the correct bird, while the songs are randomly played on repeat for five cycles each. There can be variation in the clips played for each bird to keep you on your toes and learn vocal variation. There is a lot of opportunity for customization. Intuitive design.
If you are returning to Larkwire after a long break, like me, be aware that app has been updated and improved. If you don’t have access to a module that you previously purchased, they will honor your purchase by providing a coupon code. The customer service is outstanding.
If you are returning to Larkwire after a long break, like me, be aware that app has been updated and improved. If you don’t have access to a module that you previously purchased, they will honor your purchase by providing a coupon code. The customer service is outstanding.
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!Larkwire for breakfast!
All winter long during breakfast I practice listening to my local bird calls and by the Springtime I’m a master!
It’s so satisfying, and so easy to drop in for a 15 minute learning session each morning.
It’s so satisfying, and so easy to drop in for a 15 minute learning session each morning.
Back to its former glory!
While I still view the original apps as superior, that’s because the screen was uncluttered. One may argue, you can now change through groups while playing more easily. This puts the group lists on the left 1/3 of the screen when in landscape mode (a settings feature), instead of that being taken up in full by the game in progress.
But the functionality is back and I’m not sure if there was an update restoring functionality, or if it just was not functioning on my iPhone 11 (since I recently upgraded to a 15 and tried the app again). I quickly progressed to the intermediate level of the Eastern Region birds, passing the spot I was stuck at in the previous review.
After reviewing the app again, I’d say you can actually learn the birds by sight using this version of the app too, just perhaps not as quickly.
There’s simply no other app like it out there, which means the app wouldn’t have to be as great as it is to gain sales, but the app developer cares about his app.
******
(Older review - oct23)
When this app was two apps for 2.99 each, it was actually worth the $45. Now, not so much. Its just not functioning (besides the fact that the design and usability was far better before). For one, it has four buttons to progress: ‘wrong’, ‘too’, ‘hard, ‘good’, and ‘too easy’. So, you have to look at the buttons, instead of the bird picture as its revealed in field view. So you used to be able to visually memorize the bird with repetition and without even trying. While youd think four buttons means better accuracy with the spaced repetition and thus better efficiency, the opposite is true. The original apps were more efficient and with only two buttons, you could not focus on the bird pictures and not the buttons. Secondly, you used to play a round in gallery which means youre choosing between four bird pictures and sounds. Then youd progress to field view for those same birds which means it would play a sound without a picture and after you hit ‘not sure’ or ‘know,’ it would reveal the bird. Then you could learn another set of gallery view. It doesnt do this anymore. It goes from gallery to gallery which means you dont learn as well because by the time you enter a field game, youve semi-learned twenty or more birds in gallery. (You dont learn as well in gallery because youre always choosing from an unchanging group of four at a time with pictures, instead of four, then 8, then 12, then 16, etc without a picture). Third, when learning at a level (beginner, intermediate, advanced, master), you progress through green, blue, and yellow progress circles, but in the ‘backyard bird’ category in the beginner level, you stall out at yellow 3/4 circle. I played twenty times with a near perfect score and never won. Thats twenty birds with a near perfect game twenty times. But in ‘landbird eastern/central america’, it wont allow me to play field view with the whole set of three bird groups (the first three groups in the beginner level for that category). It keeps showing me the american robin, house wren, and song sparrow. Over and over and over again. Thats out of 13 birds. Even if the app functioned, I’d be disappointed with usability and design compared to the two original, flawless apps. But it just doesnt function right now, and I tried emailing support just to get an optimistic, but dismissive response.
But the functionality is back and I’m not sure if there was an update restoring functionality, or if it just was not functioning on my iPhone 11 (since I recently upgraded to a 15 and tried the app again). I quickly progressed to the intermediate level of the Eastern Region birds, passing the spot I was stuck at in the previous review.
After reviewing the app again, I’d say you can actually learn the birds by sight using this version of the app too, just perhaps not as quickly.
There’s simply no other app like it out there, which means the app wouldn’t have to be as great as it is to gain sales, but the app developer cares about his app.
******
(Older review - oct23)
When this app was two apps for 2.99 each, it was actually worth the $45. Now, not so much. Its just not functioning (besides the fact that the design and usability was far better before). For one, it has four buttons to progress: ‘wrong’, ‘too’, ‘hard, ‘good’, and ‘too easy’. So, you have to look at the buttons, instead of the bird picture as its revealed in field view. So you used to be able to visually memorize the bird with repetition and without even trying. While youd think four buttons means better accuracy with the spaced repetition and thus better efficiency, the opposite is true. The original apps were more efficient and with only two buttons, you could not focus on the bird pictures and not the buttons. Secondly, you used to play a round in gallery which means youre choosing between four bird pictures and sounds. Then youd progress to field view for those same birds which means it would play a sound without a picture and after you hit ‘not sure’ or ‘know,’ it would reveal the bird. Then you could learn another set of gallery view. It doesnt do this anymore. It goes from gallery to gallery which means you dont learn as well because by the time you enter a field game, youve semi-learned twenty or more birds in gallery. (You dont learn as well in gallery because youre always choosing from an unchanging group of four at a time with pictures, instead of four, then 8, then 12, then 16, etc without a picture). Third, when learning at a level (beginner, intermediate, advanced, master), you progress through green, blue, and yellow progress circles, but in the ‘backyard bird’ category in the beginner level, you stall out at yellow 3/4 circle. I played twenty times with a near perfect score and never won. Thats twenty birds with a near perfect game twenty times. But in ‘landbird eastern/central america’, it wont allow me to play field view with the whole set of three bird groups (the first three groups in the beginner level for that category). It keeps showing me the american robin, house wren, and song sparrow. Over and over and over again. Thats out of 13 birds. Even if the app functioned, I’d be disappointed with usability and design compared to the two original, flawless apps. But it just doesnt function right now, and I tried emailing support just to get an optimistic, but dismissive response.
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Great Teaching Tool
Very effective at cementing the birds in your brain. Using the extra practice feature helps. It is best not to do too much in one session or you can get frustrated. I like the Daily Bird.
Best thing ever!!!!!!!!
It has so many fun games to play. It grate for beginners like me at bird and it even good for little kid as well.
Outstanding!
Thank God a group of birders that are aware of the latest neuroscience developed this app!
I have been using the app for less then a week and the results are incredible!
After I read the book fluent forever about language acquisition, I had been wishing for the ability to apply it to bird language. I have no programming skills and was trying to us chat gpt to make something that would have been of far far inferior quality.
The gross repetition of the gallery option helps you be able to differentiate and hear sounds that you have never heard before. The constant instant feed back of right or wrong next to similar sounding birds helps your brain differentiate the sounds.
Then you use spaced repetition to help absorb the call deep into your memory. It works by playing you bird calls over spaced intervals right at about the time you would forget them. That time when you are about to forget, Neuroscientists have discoverd, is when your brain is most able to absorb the memory more deeply.
I am so excited to walk outside in the spring and know who is singing!
I have been using the app for less then a week and the results are incredible!
After I read the book fluent forever about language acquisition, I had been wishing for the ability to apply it to bird language. I have no programming skills and was trying to us chat gpt to make something that would have been of far far inferior quality.
The gross repetition of the gallery option helps you be able to differentiate and hear sounds that you have never heard before. The constant instant feed back of right or wrong next to similar sounding birds helps your brain differentiate the sounds.
Then you use spaced repetition to help absorb the call deep into your memory. It works by playing you bird calls over spaced intervals right at about the time you would forget them. That time when you are about to forget, Neuroscientists have discoverd, is when your brain is most able to absorb the memory more deeply.
I am so excited to walk outside in the spring and know who is singing!
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Response from developer
Thanks so much for the awesome review! Your explanation of the two stages of learning (perceptual discrimination, followed by spaced repetition) completely nails it and really brought a smile to my face!
Indispensable
To my knowledge the absolute best resource for learning bird calls. The most powerful tool is the ability to make your own playlists of similar calls. The program will than quiz you by playing them in random order.
