spore — mushroom identifier & field guide
spore support
contact support
Email us with your question, your iPhone model and iOS version. If an identification looks wrong, tell us the species Spore suggested and, if you're comfortable, attach the photo — that's usually enough for us to understand what happened.
Email Spore SupportSupport email: tinkersmithstudio@gmail.com
In an emergency — if someone may have eaten a poisonous mushroom — don't email us. Call your local emergency number or poison centre now, and keep any remaining mushroom for identification.
taking a photo spore can read
- Use daylight and fill the frame with the mushroom, not the forest.
- Shoot three angles: the top of the cap, the underside (gills, ridges or pores) and the stem down to its base.
- Brush away leaves, but don't pick a mushroom you can't identify just to photograph it.
- Use “Add angle” on a result to add another photo and run it again.
what the confidence means
The percentage is how strongly your photos match that species, weighed against close alternatives. A strong match still isn't proof — some species can only be separated by smell, spore print or a microscope. When Spore shows several possible matches or low confidence, treat the mushroom as unknown and potentially toxic.
look-alikes
Every result lists the species it could be confused with, especially toxic ones, and how to tell them apart. If a dangerous look-alike is possible, Spore says so — even when it's unlikely.
“no mushroom found” or a failed identification
This usually means the photo is too dark, blurry or distant, or the connection dropped. Your photos stay on screen; try again on a better connection or retake the shot closer up.
field-guide photos
Spore shows community photographs only when their licence allows reuse. When none is available you'll see an illustration, clearly labelled as artwork rather than a photo of the species.
free use & spore premium
Free use includes a few identifications and expert questions each day; the counter resets daily. Spore Premium (monthly or yearly) removes those limits. Subscriptions are billed and managed by Apple:
- Restore: open the paywall in Spore and tap “Restore”, signed in with the Apple Account you used to subscribe.
- Cancel: Settings → your name → Subscriptions → Spore, or apps.apple.com/account/subscriptions.
- Refunds: request them from Apple at reportaproblem.apple.com.
your data
Your field book lives on your device — there's no account and no cloud copy, so we can't restore it if your phone is lost or erased. Your iCloud device backup may include it. To erase everything, use Settings → Erase all data in the app. Full details are in the Privacy Policy.
accessibility
Spore supports VoiceOver, larger text and Reduce Motion; the scan animation becomes a calm cross-fade when Reduce Motion is on. Tell us if anything is hard to use.