FeatherDex and Your Privacy
Your photos, your library, your call
Table of Contents
Bird ID Happens on Your Phone
Finding the birds in a photo and suggesting a species both run on your iPhone. FeatherDex’s bird ID is powered by AVES. For each bird it looks at the bird itself plus the photo’s date and location, which helps narrow down what’s likely where and when.
FeatherQuest maintains its own AVES fork to handle regional species splits, like Yellow Warbler.
The FQ Rating that sorts your best shots is worked out on your phone too.
Where Your Photos Come From
FeatherDex works with the photos you point it to:
- Apple Photos: FeatherDex reads your library on the phone. If you use iCloud Photos and a full-size original is stored only in iCloud, it’s downloaded so FeatherDex can look at it.
- Google Photos and Google Drive: when you connect them as a source, FeatherDex downloads the photos you’ve chosen to your phone to look at them there.
- Files: photos in a folder you pick, or a one-time Add Photos import, which copies them into FeatherDex.
In each case photos come to your phone. They aren’t sent anywhere for identification.
Your Originals Stay Untouched
FeatherDex never modifies your original photos or their metadata. When iOS asks for Photos access, you can allow your whole library or only selected photos, and FeatherDex makes no changes in Apple Photos either way.
Species, badges, ratings, stacks, and location fixes live in FeatherDex’s own library. If a photo already has a star rating from your camera or editor, FeatherDex can use it as a starting point, but it never writes ratings back.
Your FeatherDex Library
Your collection is stored on your iPhone, in FeatherDex’s own database. In the beta there’s no cloud sync.
Planned, not in the beta yet:
- iCloud backup of your collection
- Exporting a backup to your files and restoring from it (in the works)
- Managing your collection across devices
We’ll say so here when any of these ship.
When FeatherDex Uses the Internet
Identification doesn’t need a connection, but some things do. The main ones:
- Downloading photos stored in iCloud, Google Photos, or Google Drive
- Showing maps and place names, and searching for a place. These use Apple’s map services, which receive the location or search text.
- Opening View in Merlin or View on eBird, which takes you to their apps or websites
- Sending a problem report, when you choose to
Bug Reports Are Up to You
FeatherDex has no automated crash reporting of its own. Report a problem in Settings → Support emails support@featherquest.com with your note and an optional diagnostic file. The diagnostic file leaves out photos, filenames, album names, and precise locations, and you see what you’re sending before it goes.
The beta runs through Apple’s TestFlight, which has its own feedback tools. Depending on your iPhone’s settings, Apple may share crash reports from beta apps with developers. See Apple’s TestFlight privacy details for how that works.
Explore FeatherDex
FeatherDex Home
The short tour: what FeatherDex is and how it works.
Features
Badges, ratings, stacks, search and filters, your life list, locations, and photo credits.
Getting Started
Connect your photos, let FeatherDex find the birds, and review each ID.
eBird Import
Bring your eBird life list in, step by step, and review it before it’s saved.
FAQ
Answers about photos, identification, eBird, and the beta.
Help Shape FeatherDex
We’re inviting bird photographers and birders to test FeatherDex on iPhone. Explore your collection, find the rough edges, and help us make something worth using every day.
Joining puts you on the FeatherDex beta waitlist. It isn’t instant access: when we’re ready for you, we’ll email you an invitation to install the beta with TestFlight, Apple’s app for testing new iPhone apps. Sign-up uses the FeatherQuest email list, so you may also hear about new Quests and Guides. Unsubscribe anytime.
Questions or ideas? We’d love to hear them. Contact us.