iRecord App vs Bugs Matter
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side โ with what reviewers say about each.
iRecord App
Contribute species sightings with GPS data and descriptions to aid scientific research and nature conservation. Your observations help gather vital biodiversity information, supporting conservation efforts, planning, research, and education.
- Record species sightings with GPS
- Offline functionality
- Supports all UK species
- Automatic data checks
- Expert review of sightings
- Share sightings with community
- Contribute to science and conservation
Read full descriptionHide full description
iRecord App enables you to get involved with biological recording. Contribute your species sightings with GPS acquired coordinates, descriptions and other information, thus providing scientists with important new biodiversity information that contributes to nature conservation, planning, research and education. Your data will be kept secure and will be regularly backed up. Automatic checks will be applied to your observations to help spot potential errors, and experts can review your sightings. All wildlife sightings for non-sensitive species are shared with other users and will be made available to National Recording Schemes, Local Record Centres and Vice County Recorders (VCRs). โข Works fully offline โข Record all the wildlife you see - supports all UK species โข Add new records with minimal effort โข Benefit from automatic data checks and review by experts โข Share your sightings with the recording community โข Contribute to science and conservation
Bugs Matter
Contribute to critical biodiversity monitoring by recording insect counts and journey routes. Your data helps scientists understand insect decline for conservation and education efforts. Anyone with a phone and vehicle access can participate easily.
- Record insect counts
- Log vehicle journey routes
- Contribute to biodiversity monitoring
- Provide vehicle details for analysis
- Easy data submission without specialist knowledge
Read full descriptionHide full description
The number of insects has been falling at an alarming rate for many years. It's no exaggeration to say that unless something is done to halt the decline, our own future could be at risk. Patterns and trends in insect numbers are nuanced, however, and we still don't have that much information on the relative rate of decline over time, and there are too few studies looking at this problem. The Bugs Matter app is an application that enables you to get involved in this critical biodiversity monitoring. Splatted insects are an unfortunate by-product of our habitual use of vehicles, but also presents us with a prime way of monitoring them. With Bugs Matter you can contribute counts of insects and other โbugsโ, along with the route of the journey you make in a vehicle. You can also provide details about the vehicle used (needed for data analysis) by entering the registration number. This will provide scientists with important new information that will contribute to conservation, evidence, planning, and education. Anyone with a phone and use of a vehicle can get involved with recording insect counts. It is very easy and quick to submit useful data without specialist knowledge. You do not need to be the driver of the vehicle in which you make a journey. Take action for insects and help us to study this important subject!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: iRecord App at 93% against Bugs Matter's 41%. iRecord App also leads on update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 2 months). Bugs Matter's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
iRecord App ships an update every 3 weeks, Bugs Matter every 2 months. Both last shipped on October 24, 2026.
| Parameter | iRecord App | Bugs Matter |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Positive reviews | 93.4% of reviews โ better | 41.2% of reviews |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks โ better | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 13.0 โ better |
| Further details โ not scored | ||
| Size | 30 MB | 28 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Centre for Ecology and Hydrology | Natural Apptitude |
Customer experience
iRecord App
Bugs Matter
Bugs and requests
iRecord App
Reported bugs
12 issues- Records vanish
- Observations have vanished
- Unable to login since iOS upgrade
- Edit function on website freezes
- Map disappears on edit page
Show 7 moreShow fewer
- Submit button dead on edit page
- Wrong date/name shown in app after editing
- Clunky and unwieldy website for editing/deleting entries
- Past records lost after logging in again
- Records buffered when submitting for a week
- Records don't transfer over when updating phones
- Logging out of the app deletes all records
Requested features
10 requests- Add short videos
- Add an explore function to view nearby records
- Add species profile for comparison
- Link across devices/sync records
- Allow downloading from camera without re-downloading library
Show 5 moreShow fewer
- Option to go back to previous sites
- Add video clips for extra ID material
- Add dark mode option
- Add species profile to compare what you think the species is to the actual species data
- Allow editing submitted records from within the app
Bugs Matter
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
iRecord App
No in-app purchases
Bugs Matter
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is iRecord App free?
Is Bugs Matter free?
Do iRecord App or Bugs Matter have ads?
Which is updated more often, iRecord App or Bugs Matter?
Other comparisons















