A LITTLE HELP TO HUNT
Happy hunting.
Everything about finding, scanning and collecting bugs.
Getting started
Open the Scan tab, point the camera at an insect and take the photo. Critterboard identifies it on your phone, adds it to your Dex and gives you XP.
Identification needs a regional pack. Go to Me → Brains, pick your region and tap Get. The pack holds the species list and the BugNet vision model (about 88 MB) and is downloaded once.
Regional packs and the offline map
Only one regional pack is active at a time. It decides which species Critterboard can recognise and which map you see. Right now Central Europe is available; other regions are marked soon.
The offline map comes with the pack (about 56 MB, all of Europe at low detail). The Map tab stays locked until it is downloaded. After that it works without any connection and shows pins where you caught things.
- Download packs on Wi-Fi: the model and the map are tens of megabytes.
- Your location is used only to centre the map and place pins. It is never sent anywhere unless you turn on location sharing.
XP, rarity, quests, badges and streaks
- XP and levels: every new species earns XP. Rarer species (common → uncommon → rare → epic → legendary) earn more.
- Quests: weekly goals such as “Find a Legendary”. Open Me → Quests.
- Badges: start at zero and unlock as you play. Tap one to see how to earn it.
- Species cards: each card shows habitat, size or wingspan, range and diet. Habitat and diet are typical for the species' family; size comes from Wikipedia and range from GBIF records. “Read more on Wikipedia” opens the full article.
- Levels: level 2 takes about 300 XP (around three catches); later levels take longer.
- Streaks: catch something every day. You earn a freeze every 7 days of activity (up to three) and it is spent automatically if you miss a day.
Network, leaderboard and friends
Critterboard works fully offline and the network switch is off by default. Turn it on in Me → Brains only if you want the online features.
- Leaderboard: opt-in. Your name and XP appear only if you switch it on.
- Friends: follow other trainers from the Ranks tab. Friends see your public profile only.
- Share spotting locations: optional. Your catches appear with their exact spot, species and date (never your name) on nearby players' maps; switching it off deletes the locations from the server.
- Show others' sightings: optional. Puts nearby players' shared catches on your map; your location is sent rounded to about 1 km.
- Crash reports: optional and anonymous.
- Delete my online data: in Me → Brains removes your profile, uploaded catches, follows and ranking entry from our server. Switching Network off asks whether to keep your profile (hidden from rankings) or delete it, and switching location sharing off removes the stored locations. Your Dex on the phone is never touched.
- Existing catches: the first time you go online, the app offers to upload catches you made before; Brains shows the progress and a Retry button if something fails.
There are no accounts. Your phone creates a random private key on first use; it is how the server recognises your device. If you reinstall the app or wipe your data you start over as a new trainer.
Chat and the guides
The chat guides (Prof. Larva, Dr. Snail and R.A. Maywind) run on your phone with the Gemma 4 E2B model. It is an optional download (about 3.1 GB, Wi-Fi recommended) in Me → Brains. Without it, chat is off and everything else still works.
Troubleshooting
- No match or low confidence: see the photo tips below, and check that you installed the pack for your region. Scans under the match threshold (33% by default, adjustable in Me → Brains → Match threshold) can't be added to your Dex.
- The Map tab is locked: download the active region in Me → Brains. You need a connection once.
- The map or a download fails: check your connection and try again; interrupted downloads are discarded, never half-installed.
- Location not detected: allow location for Critterboard in iOS or Android Settings, then reopen the Map tab.
- Too much buzzing: Me → Brains → Vibration switches vibration feedback off.
- Change the language: Me → Brains → Language. It changes the app, species names and the guides.
Taking a good photo
Move into the sun or use the flash. Shadow eats detail.
Get within 20 cm and crop tight on the body.
Less foliage clutter helps the model focus.
Wings and legs visible from the side are easiest.
FAQ
Does Critterboard work without internet?
Yes. Vision, chat, and the species database all run on your phone. The only reason to turn on Network access is to share to the leaderboard or post sightings publicly.
Why is my ID confidence low?
Usually one of three things: the photo is blurry, the bug fills less than 1/4 of the frame, or you're outside an installed regional pack. Scans under your match threshold (Brains, 33% by default) can't be added at all. Try a closer crop, brighter light, and a side profile.
How do streak freezes work?
You earn one freeze every 7 days of activity, capped at three banked. If you miss a day, the freeze auto-spends to keep your streak alive. You don't have to do anything.
Can I use Critterboard if I'm colorblind?
Yes. All confidence and rarity cues double-encode with shape and label. There's a high-contrast pass in development; ping us if a specific screen is hurting you.
Where do reference images come from?
iNaturalist (CC-BY-NC) for photos; GBIF for ranges. We don't train on your photos — model updates ship from our side only.
How do I delete my data?
Everything on this phone: scroll down to "Wipe everything". It removes your dex, sightings, settings and on-device models, and deletes your online data first. Online only: Brains has "Delete my online data". There is no undo.
Can I move my data to a new phone?
Yes. Use "Back up my data (file)" here, keep the file in Files or iCloud Drive, then "Restore from a backup" on the new phone (or on the first screen after a reinstall). It adds your dex, catches, quests and settings; photos and chat history aren't included.
Where do habitat, size, range and diet come from?
Habitat and diet are typical for the species' family. Size comes from Wikipedia and range from GBIF records, so a few species show the family instead of a size. "Read more on Wikipedia" opens the full article.
Your data
Everything lives on your phone: your Dex, sightings, photos and settings. There is no account, no ad tracking and no analytics unless you opt into crash reports.
- Export: Me → Help lets you export your Dex (JSON), sightings (CSV), a GBIF-ready occurrence file (Darwin Core) or everything at once.
- Wipe: “Wipe everything” in the same screen removes your Dex, sightings, settings and downloaded models. Followers and leaderboard entries go too. There is no undo.
- Back up and restore: Me → Help can save your Dex, catches, quests and settings to one file (keep it in Files or iCloud Drive) and restore it after a reinstall, or on another phone. Restoring only adds to what is there. Photos, chat history and the downloaded models are not included, and neither are your sharing choices: everything online starts off again.
- Photos and models: reference photos come from iNaturalist and GBIF ranges. We never train on your photos.
Still need a hand?
Tell us your device, operating system and app version, and what happened. Screenshots help. Never send passwords or personal files.