« Previous topic | Next topic »  
Reply to topic  
 First unread post  | 20 posts | 
by James Vellozzi on Thu Oct 19, 2017 2:48 pm
User avatar
James Vellozzi
Forum Contributor
Posts: 6299
Joined: 20 Feb 2007
Location: Hudson Valley, New York State
Hi,
My iphone , apple just updated its operating system on my phone without my authority and now my bird song app, Birdjam, which I relied on for 75% of my bird images no longer will function. My phone gives the message this app needs to be updated in order to work with IOS -11.
Birdjam no longer is around and there is no updates for this software.. hence I am without bird song. This was by far the best app since it had both eastern and western birds of North America.

Can anyone think of any solutions for me? Do you know of any good comprehensive apps for bird songs of North America?

any help or solutions to this issue would be greatly appreciated..

thanks so much

James Vellozzi
James Vellozzi
www.jamesvellozzi.com
 

by Ed1946 on Thu Oct 19, 2017 3:07 pm
Ed1946
Forum Contributor
Posts: 66
Joined: 8 Oct 2013
Location: Canyon Lake, Texas
Same thing happened to me.  I enjoy birding and photography.  I have several I-phone birding apps and the one I find that I consistently use most frequently  is called "iBird Pro-North America".   This application has photos, range maps as well as several calls for most species.  I don't recall the price but I belief it is around $15 on the Apple Apps store.   There are some others but this is the one I favor.  I had Bird Jam for a long time and found that i used it less and less and deleted it.

Ed H
 

by Andrew_5488 on Thu Oct 19, 2017 3:31 pm
Andrew_5488
Forum Contributor
Posts: 390
Joined: 15 Feb 2012
Location: NY
Instead of using recordings to lure birds for 75% of your shots how about learning about birds,habitat,etc and using that knowledge
to your advantage.
Just a thought.
 

by E.J. Peiker on Thu Oct 19, 2017 3:32 pm
User avatar
E.J. Peiker
Senior Technical Editor
Posts: 86761
Joined: 16 Aug 2003
Location: Arizona
Member #:00002
Bird Songs USA is what most everyone is switching to for a low overhead bird call app...
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/bird-so ... 18764?mt=8
 

by E.J. Peiker on Thu Oct 19, 2017 3:35 pm
User avatar
E.J. Peiker
Senior Technical Editor
Posts: 86761
Joined: 16 Aug 2003
Location: Arizona
Member #:00002
While my phone was happy with IOS 11.0.2, it automatically updated itself despite me having that function turned off to 11.0.3 yesterday and there are some huge problems that are being documented well on the Internet.  The big problem is that it destroys battery capacity due to a bug that causes it to constantly be communicating with something - the gears spin constantly even with no apps open.  The way to stop it is to invoke the siri button for about 10 seconds and then asking a random question.  You will need to do this everytime you see your hears spinning for no reason.  My battery life dropped to 1/3 of what it was on 11.0.2.  Apple is just a disaster on the SW front these days across all platforms and programs that it writes code for.  Software quality control is completely a thing of the past in the post Jobs era...

Here is one article on the subject:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/gordonkell ... 5a0020e336

If you can avoid it DO NOT update to 11.0.3 - wait for a fix.
 

by baldsparrow on Thu Oct 19, 2017 4:06 pm
User avatar
baldsparrow
Forum Contributor
Posts: 415
Joined: 23 Jun 2005
James Vellozzi wrote:
Can anyone think of any solutions for me? Do you know of any good comprehensive apps for bird songs of North America?

any help or solutions to this issue would be greatly appreciated..

There are a wide range of excellent birding field guide apps available, pretty well all with sound files included. I recommend Sibley and iBird Pro
 

by ChrisRoss on Thu Oct 19, 2017 8:16 pm
ChrisRoss
Forum Contributor
Posts: 13182
Joined: 7 Sep 2005
Location: Sydney, Australia
Software QC is bad but so are policies like for example I had an app I quite liked, but for some reason it disappeared off the Australian App store, so the phone deleted it during an update - very annoying!
Chris Ross
Sydney
Australia
http://www.aus-natural.com   Instagram: @ausnaturalimages  Now offering Fine Art printing Services
 

by E.J. Peiker on Fri Oct 20, 2017 8:00 am
User avatar
E.J. Peiker
Senior Technical Editor
Posts: 86761
Joined: 16 Aug 2003
Location: Arizona
Member #:00002
ChrisRoss wrote:Software QC is bad but so are policies like for example I had an app I quite liked, but for some reason it disappeared off the Australian App store, so the phone deleted it during an update - very annoying!
Yup, there are a lot of older apps that are not compatible and if the developer doesn't update them, they go poof.
 

by pablo on Sat Oct 21, 2017 4:30 pm
pablo
Forum Contributor
Posts: 133
Joined: 16 Dec 2009
I have at least seven useful apps that no longer work. In addition to BirdTunes (which I love) there are three camera apps -all better than the Apple image editor- and three photo editing apps. All are very good. BirdTunes is the one I would miss, but I won't because it is also on my little-used iTouch. I'll just keep it as is and continue to enjoy BirdTunes. It is so small that it adds little bulk. I reviewed the alternatives listed above for bird ID and recordings. None are as useful and the cost is escalating. So, if you have a favorite app on an old device, it could be the answer.

Oh, and the "update" has two bugs that force me to reboot. One locks the screen and the other drops my icons down to hide the lower row. Nothing brings them up again except a reboot. This is another really poor update. I am a candidate for Android in the distant future if this continues.
 

by Paul Fusco on Thu Oct 26, 2017 11:14 am
Paul Fusco
Forum Contributor
Posts: 4504
Joined: 22 Aug 2003
Location: CT
And, Apple is losing market share since the new $1000 iPhone came out recently.
They may have priced themselves out of the market.

P
[b]Paul J. Fusco
NSN 0120[/b]

NSN Portfolio
http://www.naturescapes.net/portfolios/portfolio.php?cat=10317
 

by Tim Zurowski on Thu Oct 26, 2017 4:31 pm
User avatar
Tim Zurowski
Forum Contributor
Posts: 18881
Joined: 4 Apr 2006
Location: Victoria BC, Canada
James, I can't speak for birds in the east, but here in the west (from Arizona to BC) I have found Sibley's to be the "best" for calling birds in. Me and a few other bird photographers have used most of the apps (never have used Birdjam though), and in most cases, Sibley's will have a call that they respond to more often than the other apps. on my phone I have iBird Pro and Sibleys, and rarely end up using iBird, even though I like the app itself better. Sibley's also has voice recognition for finding species.
 

by OntPhoto on Thu Oct 26, 2017 6:20 pm
User avatar
OntPhoto
Forum Contributor
Posts: 7039
Joined: 9 Dec 2006
Location: Ottawa, Ontario. Canada.
Wow, too bad. I see Bird Jam is no more.
https://www.birdjam.com/

I really liked Bird Jam. I also have Sibley. I could be wrong but seem to recall Bird Jam had more calls? Look at the American Kestrel calls on Sibley. Captive is one of the calls.

The Bird Jam calls from the CD's are still on my iPhone but are in my Music Playlists. I can play them without the voice introductions but the calls for a bird is not separated. Meaning one call plays after one another without any description that this is the 'alarm call' and this is a 'begging call' etc.

I have the BirdJam app on the phone but no calls are connected to them. I still have an early iPod Touch but the drains fast.
 

by Alan Murphy on Fri Oct 27, 2017 7:29 am
User avatar
Alan Murphy
Lifetime Member
Posts: 27330
Joined: 20 Aug 2003
Location: Houston, Texas
Member #:00014
Here's how I have dealt with the problem.

I use an old iphone that has BirdTunes on it for playing calls (Birdtunes will continue to play as long as I dont do any updates to the phone) I have another iphone for calls etc.

Cornell Lab of ornithology has a "Master Collection" of North American bird calls ($50) with over 4500 calls on it. Works on all new phones. Call are downloaded to Itunes then on to your phone.

I use Nat Geo's app for birds call in the Western USA

Bird Songs USA is another App I use.

Ibird Pro is also good. All these are on a dedicated older version of an Iphone that I basically use as an Ipod or MP3 player.
Alan Murphy
NSN 0014
www.alanmurphyphotography.com
 

by Ron Day on Sun Feb 11, 2018 1:42 pm
User avatar
Ron Day
Lifetime Member
Posts: 17817
Joined: 5 Sep 2003
Member #:00819
James Vellozzi wrote:Hi,
My iphone , apple just updated its operating system on my phone without my authority and now my bird song app, Birdjam, which I relied on for 75% of my bird images no longer will function. My phone gives the message this app needs to be updated in order to work with IOS -11.
Birdjam no longer is around and there is no updates for this software.. hence I am without bird song. This was by far the best app since it had both eastern and western birds of North America.

Can anyone think of any solutions for me? Do you know of any good comprehensive apps for bird songs of North America?

any help or solutions to this issue would be greatly appreciated..

thanks so much

James Vellozzi
James, buy a second hand iPod (3rd Generation) and run BirdJam on it. Mine is still going strong. 
 

by Gary Irwin on Sun Feb 11, 2018 5:28 pm
Gary Irwin
Forum Contributor
Posts: 594
Joined: 17 Sep 2008
Location: Ontario, Canada
Ron Day wrote:
James Vellozzi wrote:Hi,
My iphone , apple just updated its operating system on my phone without my authority and now my bird song app, Birdjam, which I relied on for 75% of my bird images no longer will function. My phone gives the message this app needs to be updated in order to work with IOS -11.
Birdjam no longer is around and there is no updates for this software.. hence I am without bird song. This was by far the best app since it had both eastern and western birds of North America.

Can anyone think of any solutions for me? Do you know of any good comprehensive apps for bird songs of North America?

any help or solutions to this issue would be greatly appreciated..

thanks so much

James Vellozzi
James, buy a second hand iPod (3rd Generation) and run BirdJam on it. Mine is still going strong. 
Can you buy Birdjam any more? I appreciate the tip and will really miss Birdjam (I especially like its ability to cataloge favorites) but at some point we all have to acknowledge it’s time to move on.
Gary Likes Nature.
 

by Ron Day on Sun Feb 11, 2018 6:03 pm
User avatar
Ron Day
Lifetime Member
Posts: 17817
Joined: 5 Sep 2003
Member #:00819
Gary Irwin wrote:
Ron Day wrote:
James Vellozzi wrote:Hi,
My iphone , apple just updated its operating system on my phone without my authority and now my bird song app, Birdjam, which I relied on for 75% of my bird images no longer will function. My phone gives the message this app needs to be updated in order to work with IOS -11.
Birdjam no longer is around and there is no updates for this software.. hence I am without bird song. This was by far the best app since it had both eastern and western birds of North America.

Can anyone think of any solutions for me? Do you know of any good comprehensive apps for bird songs of North America?

any help or solutions to this issue would be greatly appreciated..

thanks so much

James Vellozzi
James, buy a second hand iPod (3rd Generation) and run BirdJam on it. Mine is still going strong. 
Can you buy Birdjam any more? I appreciate the tip and will really miss Birdjam (I especially like its ability to cataloge favorites) but at some point we all have to acknowledge it’s time to move on.
Gary, the company is no longer producing it, but you might find a used version for sale on Amazon or eBay.
 

by Brian E. Small on Wed Feb 21, 2018 8:14 pm
User avatar
Brian E. Small
Forum Contributor
Posts: 2808
Joined: 20 Aug 2003
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Member #:00479
I can't say too much here..................but it's possible BirdTunes may not be dead in the future.
 

by Paul Fusco on Fri Feb 23, 2018 12:17 pm
Paul Fusco
Forum Contributor
Posts: 4504
Joined: 22 Aug 2003
Location: CT
Brian E. Small wrote:I can't say too much here..................but it's possible BirdTunes may not be dead in the future.
A resurrection would be great!!!
Paul
[b]Paul J. Fusco
NSN 0120[/b]

NSN Portfolio
http://www.naturescapes.net/portfolios/portfolio.php?cat=10317
 

by Gary Irwin on Fri Feb 23, 2018 6:34 pm
Gary Irwin
Forum Contributor
Posts: 594
Joined: 17 Sep 2008
Location: Ontario, Canada
Brian E. Small wrote:I can't say too much here..................but it's possible BirdTunes may not be dead in the future.

Yes, as soon as you can please let us know...I'd be quite prepared to pay for an upgrade. The one thing BirdTunes has that none of the others do(?) is allow you to catalogue a custom list of favourites so I don't have to scroll through gazillions of choices every time I want to play a tune.
Gary Likes Nature.
 

by Brian E. Small on Sat Feb 24, 2018 2:17 am
User avatar
Brian E. Small
Forum Contributor
Posts: 2808
Joined: 20 Aug 2003
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Member #:00479
Gary Irwin wrote:
Brian E. Small wrote:I can't say too much here..................but it's possible BirdTunes may not be dead in the future.

Yes, as soon as you can please let us know...I'd be quite prepared to pay for an upgrade. The one thing BirdTunes has that none of the others do(?) is allow you to catalogue a custom list of favourites so I don't have to scroll through gazillions of choices every time I want to play a tune.

If/when I have any concrete info I'll be sure to post it here first.
 

Display posts from previous:  Sort by:  
20 posts | 
  

Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group