Orchid Album 4+

Very handy and easy to use

I’ve been using this app for several years in conjunction with the PC version. I find it easier and faster to do the data entry on the PC and then back it up to my iPhone app. It’s very easy to add genera, species and hybrids to the database. Very handy to have at shows to avoid buying duplicates.

I do not use the watering schedule because I have over 800 orchids and a full time job. Plus they are all watered the same so keeping track of this isn’t useful to me anyway. For easy access to your entire collection along with photographs, this app is well worth the very small investment.

Bob Berger

A great phone app for the window hobbiest with a 1/2 dozen plants up to the serious grower with 100’s of orchids. Way too much detail to keep track of for every plant, but just use what features you like. Having up to two photos per plant stored in the app and not cluttering up your phone photo library is a great space saver. I’ve used the app over 5 years now.

Developer Response ,

Thanks, Bob! You can actually have as many photos as your device will hold associated with each orchid. Tap on the orchid from the main list, then tap on the Photos button on the top-right. From there you can add more photos and rearrange them by tapping and holding on the photo, then dragging to the new position. While only the first couple will appear on the main info screen, you can have others appear in those spots by dragging them into the first or second position on the Photos screen. This same approach also works on the Log Info screen.

BEWARE!!! All Data Lost — Backup Doesn’t Work

Orchid Album is the only app on my iPad that has ever lost data. This indicates that it is a problem with the app. My iPad OS automatically updates, so any app problems that occur during a system update are not noticeable until it’s too late, and data is already gone. Apple does not provide customer service for third-party apps with data stored in iCloud.

Considering the amount of information I stored in Orchid Album, I don’t find it reliable enough for an iPad that I use instead of a computer. For a permanent record, use Excel on a laptop — don’t waste time using this unreliable app.

Orchid Album instructions should say ‘Do not use this app as your only record. Neither Apple nor developer support data retrieval in case of app failure.’

Developer Response ,

I'm sorry to hear you have experienced data loss, however the app is enabled for iCloud backup, supports backup via AirDrop to other devices, backup via iTunes file-sharing, and backup over WiFi to Mac and PC. Your assertion that backup does not work is completely false! Of the thousands of installs of Orchid Album, I have not heard of any issues like this. I strongly suggest everyone backup all important data regardless of the app, since data loss due to hardware failure of any computing device is always a possibility!