We are pleased to inform you that an UPDATE to the FREE birding App BIRDS of AFRICA is available to download from both the Google Play Store and Apple iStore. The App now includes more than 1,000 bird species on the checklists of Annobon, Benin, Bioko, Burkina Faso, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Nigeria, Sao Tomé and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, The Gambia and Togo.
Our first product, Birds of Mauritius, can be downloaded from the Google Play Store Birds of Mauritius and the Apple Store / iStore Birds of Mauritius. Birds of Mauritius has been downloaded by over 3,000 users and feedback has been very good.
We have tried to make this App as user friendly as possible. Many users who are familiar with a range of smartphone and tablet birding Apps will probably not need to use the help text. However, we have found in usability trials that some features may need further explanation. You can find further details at https://africanbirdclub.org/abc-app-help-text.
The App contain photos, sounds, text and maps for each species. A large part of the work to date has been to develop templates which will define a set of rules for naming and building the content. Detailed information for the providers of App content can be found at https://africanbirdclub.org/abc-app-content-templates. The purpose of this web page is to specify the rules in order that multiple people can develop content to a consistent format and standard. The App will not display content correctly unless these rules are followed.
The ongoing development and maintenance of Birds of Africa by the African Bird Club is a large task which will require significant help from ABC members and others. Some tasks require technical and ornithological skills but others such as proof-reading and publicity do not. If you would like to help with any of this work, please contact us at app@africanbirdclub.org.
John Caddick
Project Manager
