Manakin

A field companion app for exploring species phenology — what's active near you, right now.

Available for Android and iOS.

Manakin uses community science data from iNaturalist to show you which species are most likely to be observed in your area this week, when they'll peak, and how their activity changes throughout the year.

Named after the White-throated Manakin because it was the only .png of an animal that I had on my computer that I had made. Also a play on Merlin (the bird ID app), but for all of nature.

• Data packs — download species data for any location and taxonomic group from the iNat API. Combine multiple locations and taxa in one pack.
• Explore — species list sorted by likelihood, with status badges (Peak, Active, Early/Late), rarity dots, mini phenology charts, and activity percentages.
• Targets — starred species, lifer targets, and new-for-area species. Swipe right to star, swipe left to remove.
• iNaturalist integration — connect your username to see which species you've observed. Blue checkmarks on seen species, filter to unseen.
• Trip planning — date picker and date range for future trips. Trip reports with save/load and share.
• Activity timeline — weekly changelog of what entered peak, became active, or went inactive.
• Compare locations — side-by-side view of species unique to each dataset.
• Home screen widget (Android) — configurable: top active species, organism of the day, weekly changes, or targets.
• Notifications — weekly digest of newly active/peak species on configurable days. Daily target species alerts before peak.
• Dataset sharing — export packs as .manakin files or bundles, import from friends.
• Light/dark mode, scientific name toggle, configurable sort and activity threshold.

TODO: Add screenshots

The easiest way to try Manakin on Android:

1. Download the latest APK from the Releases page (or build it yourself — see below)
2. Transfer the APK to your Android device
3. Open it and tap Install (you may need to enable "Install from unknown sources" in Settings)

iOS requires building from source with Xcode (no sideloading like Android):

1. You need a Mac with Xcode installed (free from the App Store)
2. Clone the repo:

   git clone https://github.com/codylimber/manakin.git
   cd manakin/ios

3. Install XcodeGen (if not already installed):

   brew install xcodegen

4. Generate the Xcode project:

   xcodegen generate

5. Open in Xcode:

   open Manakin.xcodeproj

6. In Xcode:
   • Select the Manakin target > Signing & Capabilities
   • Check Automatically manage signing
   • Select your Personal Team (sign in with your Apple ID if needed)
7. Select a destination:
   • Simulator (e.g., iPhone 16 Pro) — works immediately, no device needed
   • Your iPhone — plug in via USB, trust the device
8. Press Cmd+R to build and run

Note: Apps built with a free Apple ID expire after 7 days on a physical device. For longer-term use or sharing via TestFlight, a paid Apple Developer account ($99/year) is needed.

Prerequisites: Android Studio (Ladybug or newer), JDK 21

1. Clone the repo:

   git clone https://github.com/codylimber/manakin.git
   cd manakin

2. Open in Android Studio: File > Open > select the manakin folder
3. Wait for Gradle sync, then click Run (or Shift+F10)

To build an APK:

./gradlew assembleDebug

The APK will be at app/build/outputs/apk/debug/app-debug.apk.

Prerequisites: Mac with Xcode (free), XcodeGen (brew install xcodegen)

cd ios
xcodegen generate
open Manakin.xcodeproj

Then set your signing team and run on a simulator or device (see install instructions above).

The app comes bundled with a Connecticut butterflies dataset so you can explore immediately. Download more packs from within the app (Datasets tab > +).

manakin/
├── app/                              # Android app (Kotlin + Jetpack Compose)
│   └── src/main/java/com/codylimber/fieldphenology/
│       ├── MainActivity.kt
│       ├── data/                     # API client, models, repository, generator
│       ├── notifications/            # Weekly digest worker
│       ├── widget/                   # Home screen widget (Glance)
│       └── ui/                       # Screens, components, theme, navigation
│
├── ios/                              # iOS app (SwiftUI)
│   ├── project.yml                   # XcodeGen project spec
│   └── Manakin/
│       ├── ManakinApp.swift
│       ├── Data/                     # API client, models, repository, generator
│       ├── Notifications/            # Notification manager
│       └── UI/                       # Screens, components, theme, navigation
│
├── README.md
└── LICENSE

• Kotlin + Jetpack Compose (Material 3)
• OkHttp for networking
• kotlinx.serialization for JSON
• Coil 3 for image loading
• WorkManager for background notifications
• Glance for home screen widgets

• Swift + SwiftUI (iOS 17+)
• URLSession for networking
• Codable for JSON
• Swift concurrency (async/await, actors)
• No third-party dependencies

Both platforms use JSON files (no database) and share the same bundled dataset.

All species data comes from iNaturalist, a community science platform. Phenology patterns are based on research-grade observations.

Only Creative Commons licensed photos are used. Individual attributions are displayed on each photo.

Species descriptions are from Wikipedia (CC-BY-SA).

Manakin is not affiliated with or endorsed by iNaturalist.

1. Fork the repo
2. Create a feature branch: git checkout -b my-feature
3. Make your changes
4. Test on a device or emulator
5. Push and open a PR: git push -u origin my-feature

Please test with at least one downloaded dataset before submitting.

MIT License. See LICENSE for details.