Life list add-on in the works for iBird Explorer

iBird Explorer Plus has already gotten high marks—and an App Gem Award from Macworld—as a comprehensive reference guide for bird watchers. So what does developer Mitch Waite Group do for an encore?

The answer, I learned from Nigel Hall of Mitch Waite Group when I spoke to him at last week’s Macworld Expo, is to fulfill a frequent request from iBird users. The developer is working on a separate application that can be bolted onto iBird that will let users compile “life” lists—that’s a list of all the different species that birders have spotted during their lifetimes. The bolt-on application will let users track other lists as well, such as birds they’ve spotted in their yard or while on vacation. Hall expects the application to be ready toward the end of March or beginning of April.

Mitch Waite Group is also working on a version of the app for Android smartphones. And it’s developing a UK-specific version that could be ready in the April-May timeframe. And the developer is always listening to user feedback for future releases.

“If people request it from us, we’ll evaluate it,” Hall said. “If it makes sense to us, we’ll do it.”