iObs vs Beach Explorer
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
iObs
Record and submit observations of wildlife, including birds, mammals, and plants, directly from the field. Utilize real-time location and time, with offline capabilities. Upload your data to participating online portals when connected.
- Record observations in the field
- Use current time and location
- Offline mode available
- Upload data to online portals
- Supports birds, mammals, plants, etc.
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iObs is an application that can be used worldwide for entering and uploading observations of birds, mammals, plants, etc. directly from the field. You can use current time and location. You can use the app in off-line mode. When on-line, you can upload all data to your personal account on participating portal sites. Currently these are waarneming.nl, waarnemingen.be and observation.org.
Beach Explorer
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Amber, sunfish, message in a bottle... Many interesting things are washed upon the Northsea shores. But hardly anyone has recorded so far what is being stranded. Using the Beachxplorer-app you can identify more than 2000 different finds directly on the beach. You can report all these finds to the BeachExplorer database. In case of species that are rare or difficult to identify a proof picture is requested. This allows verification of the determination and serves as proof if you collect observation scores as "species hunter". If you are interested in marine protection you are invited to find additional informations in our web portal www.beachexplorer.org
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: iObs at monthly against Beach Explorer's every 3 months. Beach Explorer's advantage is iOS requirement (11.0 vs 15.1). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
iObs ships an update monthly, Beach Explorer every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 10, 2026 and October 7, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | iObs | Beach Explorer |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 2.3 (3 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 75.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 3 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Monthly — better | Every 3 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 | 11.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 13 MB | 127 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Observation International | Code for Nature |
In-app purchases
iObs
No in-app purchases
Beach Explorer
No in-app purchases
