Using the Lookalikes Guide

One of the most helpful features in the app is our “Lookalikes Guide”. Here, you’ll be able to clearly see the important lookalikes for each species in the app as well as how to tell them apart.

Finding the Guide

If we have lookalikes defined for a species, you’ll be able to find them from the Details page in the lookalike section. You can either scroll to it or use the category bar to find and click the lookalikes category to be brought straight to it.

In the lookalikes section, you’ll see a list of other species that are lookalikes to the one you’re on the details page for. Each section has a button that will take you to the details page for the lookalike, followed by an overview of why that species is a lookalike, and finally, the most important button, which takes you to the lookalike comparison page! It will read “Compare with Species X”.

What if there is no lookalikes section?

If you don’t see the lookalikes section, that means that we either don’t have any lookalikes defined for that species or that there aren’t any lookalikes that grow in your range.

You still may find other species that are similar, not listed.

It is difficult for us to fully predict all the species that a person may confuse with another. We do our best to ensure our lists are as complete as possible, with a particular focus on dangerous lookalikes.

If you believe that we are missing a lookalike for a species, please let us know! You can do so by clicking the “Feedback” button in the top right of the details page.

(At launch, we did not include many non-dangerous lookalike relationships, e.g., American Plum vs Mexican Plum, but we are working to add them as well.)

Lookalikes Comparison Page

Here is where you can learn the actual details that distinguish two species that look similar.

The comparison page is arranged so you can view one distinguishing feature at a time. We focus on showing binary differences that are easy to see (like having hairs or not having them).

Each detail card will have a high-level overview in bold as well as a further explanation beneath it, followed by a photo of that characteristic on the right.
(Some characteristics, like odor or timing, may not have a photo as it wouldn’t be applicable)

You can swipe left and right to scroll through the different distinguishing details.

You can also tap an image on either of the details cards to view them in a focused comparison view, which just shows the photos in a larger form, along with the names of each species.

On this page, you can independently pinch to zoom on the photos, allowing you to see small details more easily!

(If you see a photo missing for a detail, that means we may be missing a photo for that species and that particular feature. We work hard to ensure that our photos are comprehensive for all features needed in the lookalike guide, so if you find one missing, please let us know!)

Our lookalikes guide is one of our favorite features about Gather. We hope you find it as helpful as we have!