Learn Bird Watching vs BeeMachine
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Learn Bird Watching
Learn to identify birds by sound and sight with a game-based system. This app offers audio and visual courses created by experts to improve your birding skills, suitable for beginners and advanced enthusiasts alike.
- Game-based learning system
- Identify birds by sound
- Identify birds by sight
- Expert-created courses
- Suitable for all skill levels
- Master birding by ear
Read full descriptionHide full description
BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA Learn birds the fun way! Learn to identify the birds that you're seeing and hearing. Take birding and birdwatching to a new level! Larkwire is a complete, game-based system for learning. Great for beginners and still challenging for advanced birders. Audio courses teach you to identify bird sounds and visual courses teach plumage. All courses are created by world class experts in field identification. This is the app used by professionals to master birding by ear. ***** "Best thing I’ve ever bought on the App Store." (Shopetastic review, 04/16/2020) ***** "Uniformly excellent" (Cornell Lab of Ornithology) ***** "A Rosetta Stone for birdsong." (Birding Magazine) ***** "This is a really cool tool!" (BirdChick) ***** "Really fun!" (Wildlife South) ********************************************** "Larkwire is already helping immensely with my ability to bird in the field. And my 7-year-old daughter is asking for 'that bird song game on the computer.'—I guess you have THREE of us hooked!" (Courtenay Schurman, Mountaineering Trainer) ********************************************** ********************************************** "It's like having a personal teacher who can pinpoint my weaknesses and make me work on them as I play. By far the best value for your money when you think about buying an avian audio guide." (Alain Clavette, aka @Acadian_Birder) ********************************************** ********************************************** "A fantastic tool for learning and reviewing birdsong. ... What I can vouch for, as a teacher, is the solid learning theory behind the software—this program is sure to improve the speed and accuracy with which you identify birds by ear." (David Pugh, Calgary Birder) ********************************************** SUPPORT For questions or support, email: support@larkwire.com EULA - Apple standard End User License Agreement: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
BeeMachine
Identify bee species using AI-powered computer vision. This free app allows you to log your sightings, map them, and contribute to scientific research on bee populations. It's a fun way to learn about local pollinators and their diversity.
- AI-powered bee identification
- Log and map bee sightings
- Learn about bee species
- Contribute to scientific research
- Explore bee diversity
Read full descriptionHide full description
Identify bee species using computer vision. BeeMachine is a free community science app and a fun way to learn about the different bee species in your neighborhood or anywhere your adventures take you. Save your sightings, map them, and explore the diversity of bees. BeeMachine was developed by a small team of scientists and enthusiasts to provide expert-level identification skills for all. Your sightings will help scientists understand trends in bee populations and help us conserve these essential pollinators. Privacy Policy: https://beemachine.ai/page/privacy-policy Terms of Service: https://dev.beemachine.ai/page/terms-of-use
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: BeeMachine at none against Learn Bird Watching's 10. BeeMachine also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 91%). Learn Bird Watching's advantage is update cadence (every 9 days vs every 2 months) and ratings volume (1.3K vs 9). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Learn Bird Watching sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $24.99 per year. BeeMachine asks for nothing beyond the download.
Learn Bird Watching holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Learn Bird Watching has 1.3K ratings behind it against 9, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 91% of Learn Bird Watching's written reviews are positive against 100% of BeeMachine's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Learn Bird Watching ships an update every 9 days, BeeMachine every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 21, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Learn Bird Watching | BeeMachine |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (1.3K ratings) — better | 4.6 (9 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 90.8% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 1.3K — better | 9 |
| Update frequency | Every 9 days — better | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 | 15.1 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 66 MB | 62 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Larkwire | Brian Spiesman |
Customer experience
Learn Bird Watching
BeeMachine
Bugs and requests
Learn Bird Watching
Reported bugs
3 issues- Unable to download sample content
- Repeating the same bird songs in succession
- Inconsistent progress tracking
Requested features
4 requests- Add bird song playback when selecting bird images
- Implement voice recognition for answering questions
- Include spectrograms for better visual learning
- Expand coverage to birds in other regions
BeeMachine
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Learn Bird Watching
- Single Course Annual7 Days trial$24.991 Year
- All Courses Annual7 Days trial$44.991 Year
- All Courses Annual (Family)7 Days trial$64.991 Year
- Bird Songs Core West (N. Am)$9.99
- Bird Songs Core East (N. Am)$9.99
- Waterbirds Core (N. Am)$9.99
Show 4 moreShow fewer
- Bird Songs Pro East (N. Am)$24.99
- Bird Songs Pro West (N. Am)$24.99
- Waterbirds songs/calls (N. Am)$24.99
- Breeding Plumage East (N.Am.)$24.99
BeeMachine
No in-app purchases








