GLOBE Observer is a citizen science app for iOS and Android that enables users to submit environmental observations to NASA research programs.
Product velocity
Dormant
Daily rank 🇺🇸
—
Education
Sentiment
3.4
1k reviews
Nemesis
iNaturalist Classic
The App DNA
What makes this app unique?
The app removes the barrier to professional-grade data collection for non-experts, allowing users to contribute to Earth system models that satellites cannot capture alone.
For Students, educators, and citizen scientists interested in environmental monitoring and contributing to NASA research.
What does it look like?
Key features
Users record observations of clouds, mosquito habitats, land cover, and trees via device camera and manual entry.
Users compare ground-level cloud observations with NASA satellite data to refine atmospheric models.
Users earn badges for reaching specific observation counts per protocol to encourage repeat usage.
How much does it cost?
The app is a non-profit scientific tool provided by NASA with no monetization or paid tiers.
Velocity
Dormant developmentinternationalizationplatformShow more...
Development has stalled, with no new feature builds or updates released in over a year. The app has been effectively dormant for 504 days, indicating a lack of active maintenance or support. The last update focused on internationalization and platform compatibility, but no further activity has been recorded since.
Who built it?
NASA
13+ apps tracked · Education
NASA
NASA Visualization Explorer
NASA NeMO-Net
NASA SAFE
Ascent: Commemorating Shuttle
NASA's First Woman
NASA Science: Plant Growth
Rocket Science: Ride 2 Station
Space Station Research Xplorer
NASA HIAD
Space365
NASA Science: Humans in SpaceUser Sentiment
What do users think recently?
Review voice lately leans upset. Users appreciate scientific observation tools provide meaningful engagement for users interested in environmental and atmospheric data collection, but report perpetual update loops prevent users from accessing the interface or participating in observation activities.
How are ratings & reviews evolving?
What users say, by theme
- Scientific observation tools provide meaningful engagement for users interested in environmental and atmospheric data collection
- Perpetual update loops prevent users from accessing the interface or participating in observation activities
50 of 50 recent reviews analyzed · high confidence · Upset overall
Read the full review analysisUnlock 2 more frustration themes and 1 user request, each backed by review evidence.
Access the full report for freeCompetition
Competitive landscape for GLOBE Observer
How's the Education market?
GLOBE Observer holds a niche position in the Education category, with a rating of 3.09/5.0 across 50 analyzed reviews. The lack of recent feature updates over the last 16 months signals a maintenance-mode posture that leaves it exposed to more active biodiversity rivals.
Read the market outlookThe rivals identified
By iNaturalist
iNaturalist is the primary competitor in the citizen science space, directly overlapping with GLOBE Observer’s mission to crowdsource environmental data and species observations.
- Massive global community network creates a powerful data flywheel that GLOBE currently lacks
- Advanced AI-driven species identification provides immediate user gratification that encourages repeat participation
- Research-grade data validation processes establish the platform as a standard for professional scientific study
Unlock the head-to-head verdict: where this rival wins, and where it loses.
Access the full report for freeThe Analyst's Read
Key takeaways for GLOBE Observer
Where is it heading?
The citizen science market is consolidating around platforms that offer immediate, AI-driven gratification. GLOBE Observer's maintenance-mode posture and critical technical barriers leave it exposed to further churn as users migrate to more stable, feature-rich alternatives.
- Persistent update loops in the latest version prevent user access, which erodes the daily active habit and compounds existing rating drag.
- The 16-month silence on feature development leaves the app vulnerable to rivals with active live-ops and AI-driven identification tools.
The SWOT
- NASA-backed institutional credibility establishes the app as a primary tool for verified scientific data collection
- Integrating automated identification tools could reduce user friction and increase participation rates
Next best moves
Rebuild onboarding flow because account registration failures block new users from participating in research → reduce churn
+ 1 more prioritized moveThe counter-intuitive read
The app's lack of gamified social features is…
Read the full takeFeature gaps
Automated AI-driven species identification (available in iNaturalist but missing here) +1
Since the last report: Development activity has stalled completely, with the app entering a zombie state after 504 days of inactivity. Technical stability has further eroded, as new reports of battery drain and hardware-specific crashes have surfaced alongside existing onboarding failures.
Bottom line
The app's scientific mission remains a strong differentiator, but technical instability renders the tool unusable for a significant portion of the audience. Resolving the update-loop and registration failures would unlock the existing user base and restore the app's utility to NASA research.
Unlock 1 critical friction, 1 market threat, 1 more prioritized move and the analyst’s take.
Access the full report for freeFAQ
Is GLOBE Observer suitable for casual users?
How does GLOBE Observer compare to iNaturalist?
Does the app work offline?
What are some free alternatives for environmental monitoring?
Sources
Report last updated