Chirp! Europe v3

The latest update for Chirp! Europe is now available in the AppStore! The main additions are two new features - a simple search, and a way of listing favourites, both features that have become more and more necessary as the list of birds continues to increase. In order to add these features, other changes were necessary - for example, the various option buttons needed more room, so they have been moved off-screen. This has the advantage of making the screen look less cluttered, and the buttons can be larger, but the downside is that two taps are now needed in order to change the sorting method. Sorting is now alphabetical by default, and there have also been changes to the database to make it easier to add new languages in future.

These changes will be included in the next update to Chirp! USA (unless I get a lot of negative feedback!).

Another new year!

Happy New Year to all Chirp! fans!

We are still working hard on the next update. I hope all the problems will be fixed soon, so we can get it out and get on with the next update, but we are still seeing an occasional mystery crash (or two). As soon as these are fixed it will be off to Apple, and we can move on to the next update and also carry on with the Bird Guide.

Here's to great things in 2010!

Ring-necked Parakeets (in Britain)

Researchers at Imperial College are starting a study into Ring-necked Parakeets in Britain. They are first compiling a list of roosts and would especially like to hear from you if you know of any roosts, and they are also looking for volunteers to take part in a Parakeet count on 3rd January. If you can't make that date, maybe you'd like to be involved in a count later in the year. I've pasted the details of Project Parakeet below, and you'll find a contact email address at the end.

Parakeet Population Census : Call for volunteers

We are a research group at the Biology Department of Imperial College London. We have recently begun a four year study into the effects of the ring-necked parakeet on native bird species in the UK. As part of this work it is essential for us to have accurate estimates of the current population size of the ring-necked parakeet in the UK, and its growth rate. The last census was carried out in 2001/2, and current estimates of population size are based on this data and the growth rates that they estimated at the time. This gives a current estimate of 20,000-50,000 individuals.

In order to estimate the current population size we intend to co-ordinate a large scale roost count. The first count will take place on Sunday 3rd January 2010, and will be simultaneous across as many known roosts as possible, using the same methods at all sites. If the count is successful we intend to repeat the count every three months to enable us to estimate the population growth rate and any changes in roost usage. We are now seeking volunteers who would be willing to assist with two elements of this project:

1) Compiling a list of all known roost sites

2) Assisting with the first roost count on Sunday 3rd January 2010.

Counts will begin two hours before sunset (14:04 on Jan 3rd) and will continue for half an hour after sunset (16:34) to allow for any individuals arriving in the residual light of dusk. The intention is to have several people counting at each site in order to control for individual error and allow us to cover all entry routes into the roost. No experience is necessary to assist with the count as we will provide a full, clear protocol to follow, along with data collection sheets. The data that we collect during these counts will be prepared for publication in relevant journals and will be widely publicised.

If you know of any roost locations or are interested in assisting with the count on Jan 3rd (or for any future counts), please contact us at: parakeet@imperial.ac.uk.

Chirp! is one year old!

Exactly one year ago Chirp! was released into the AppStore! It's been a very exciting year - things move at breakneck speed in the iPhone app world and for much of the year things have rushed past in a blur. Chirp! became Chirp! Europe, Chirp! USA was released, various Lite versions have come and gone, new features have been added, and many extra birds have been added. But Chirp! still isn't nearly at the place I want it to be - so many features I still want to add, so many birds that can be added. So many other countries that could be covered!

Highlights of the year include:
* Reaching #1 in the Education section in Switzerland shortly after launch, and staying there for ages. The Swiss were our first big fans, giving us our first taste of success.
* Discovering that my favourite radio presenter, Simon Mayo, is a fan. I listen to his show every afternoon so it was so exciting when he asked for the Bittern to be added. (Was that Chirp! I heard when he played a Magpie sound to a guest last week?)
* Good sales throughout the summer in Europe and the US, staying in the top 20 in most of the countries that Chirp! covers.
* Getting into the top 100 of all apps in the Netherlands, and the top 50 of all apps in Switzerland.
* The most recent highlight, is seeing Chirp! Europe featured on the Apple website in Britain, France and Germany.
* And finally, throughout the year, meeting so any nice people - through email, Twitter and Facebook - thank you all for the encouragment, the excellent suggestions and general feedback. It really is due to you all that we have worked so hard at improving Chirp!

What a great year for a simple bird song app!

Latest news

It's been very quiet here on the blog recently, as well as on Twitter and Facebook. This is because we have been working flat out on our ambitious new project - a bird guide for Britain. For a long time I wasn't sure if this bird guide would ever become a reality, but I realised today that it won't be much longer before it will be ready for release! There are already a few bird guides available for the UK, but most are rather small and none make use of the iPhone's features, so we hope that ours will be a success.

I'll be glad when it is released and we can get back to working full-time on Chirp! There are so many new features we want to add! Now that the number of birds in each app has increased so much, we really need to add a search feature, and we've also been asked for a way of marking favourites. We also have a exciting new feature halfway done, but it isn't quite right yet - I am really looking forward to adding this feature as I think it will be great for the dark winter days when birds are silent..... ;).

New updates are due out for Chirp any time now - they are with Apple and we are just waiting for them to be released. The Chirp! USA update is a Thanksgiving special, so I hope it is released in time!

Simon Mayo and the Bittern

As I have mentioned before I am a huge fan of Simon Mayo, the BBC radio presenter, and am thrilled that he is a fan of Chirp! So when he requested the Bittern as an addition, I rushed to the sound files (and the translators) to add it straight away. It is a great sound and a fascinating bird, but what I hadn't taken into account is that because the Bittern's call is so low in frequency, it is very hard to hear it through the small speakers of the iPhone or iPod. The deep booming call, that can carry for half a mile or more in the wild, sounds great on the computer but when I added it into Chirp and tried it out on the iPod it was completely inaudible, and if I increased the volume it simply distorted. Ho hum. After much experimentation I think I have an acceptable sound and it is in the latest update of Chirp! Europe. But you may just need to turn the volume up.....

Current state of play

Rather alarmingly, the summer is almost over and I'm reviewing how much we've achieved. Updates have been very slow over the past couple of months - Apple are routinely taking longer than they used to, so the days of the weekly updates are over, and on top of that we had all the problems with the Wikipedia link.

But we have managed to get some new features and new birds in. I'm pleased to say that the Corncrake has now been added to the European version - what a great sound. The US version now includes 110 birds, and the next update will add a new feature - sorting by song style. This groups the sounds into categories such as Hoots and Coos, High Pitched, or Long and tuneful. This will be coming to the European version soon.

Don't forget to let us know what you think of the new features and continue to ask for new birds!