Change log

TrapScan 2.0 makes it easier to record trapping activity in the field and understand how your project is doing. This ground-up rebuild, developed over ten months, adds offline recording, public dashboards and new tools for trappers and project managers, with a pricing model to support ongoing development.

Dashboards and reporting

• Public Dashboards give every project an interactive view of its traps, checks, catches and activity, including historical records imported from Trap.nz. Explore catch heatmaps, checks and catches over time with species breakdowns, trap-nights, catches per 100 trap-nights, traps deployed by type, a trap leaderboard sortable by most checked or most catches, and recent checks. Filter the results by year or view all-time activity.
• National Trapping Network brings every TrapScan project together in a public dashboard for the whole country. See where projects are located, contributor numbers, traps deployed by type, catches by species, activity over time and recent checks. Filter by year or all time, browse projects and open their individual dashboards.
• Trap Network Health helps project managers identify traps that may need attention. The Traps tab also includes a customisable trap table with advanced statistics, sorting and filtering. Learn more: Understanding Trap Network Health
• Weekly summary email brings project activity together in one weekly email, replacing the individual notifications previously sent for every trap check. Each project manager can choose whether to receive it from the project's Managers tab.

Checking traps

• Offline mode lets you scan a card and record checks without mobile reception. There's no need to preload map tiles or trap data. Checks are saved on your phone and upload automatically when you're back online and logged in, with the work credited to the account used for the upload. Learn more: How Offline Mode Works
• Recording without a card lets you find a trap by name or ID in Trap Lookup, or use Nearby traps to find one around you. You can record checks before your cards arrive, and open nearby traps directly from the check screen. Cards still make checking quicker and support offline trap creation and Card Login. Learn more: Recording Trap Checks
• New species illustrations replace the five cartoon-style images from v1 with eight anatomically accurate illustrations, making catches easier to identify and recognise in check records and dashboards.

Projects and pricing

• Contributors replace project membership. TrapScan counts participation from recorded checks, giving project managers an up-to-date view of activity without asking trappers to join the project. The count updates as checks are recorded rather than relying on a membership list that can become outdated. Trappers don't need to do anything extra. Learn more: How Contributors Are Counted
• Annual project pricing replaces optional Project Manager subscriptions. Projects now pay $108 per year to help fund TrapScan's running costs and future development. New projects receive their first pack of 25 cards with their first year's subscription. Learn more: Pricing
• Lower card prices reduce the cost of TrapScan Cards from $2 to $1 each. With project subscriptions helping to cover running costs, there's less need to rely on card sales. Cards are sold in packs of 25 for $25 plus postage. Learn more: Ordering TrapScan Cards
• Direct project setup replaces creating projects inside the app. Setup includes creating a Trap.nz project if you don't already have one. Apply through Register project.

Added

• Card Login lets you log in by entering your email address and scanning your TrapScan Card, without typing a password. Learn more: Card Login
• Built-in documentation replaces the old Notion help site. Articles now load faster within TrapScan, explaining how features work and what the numbers mean without sending you to another website.
• Desktop layout gives TrapScan a dedicated interface for larger screens instead of stretching the phone layout across them.
• Installation guide explains how to add TrapScan to your device with its own app icon and window. Installation was possible in v1, but the app didn't explain how to do it.

Changed

• The You page now brings your projects, traps, checks and personal statistics together in separate tabs.
• Checks now reach Trap.nz within minutes. Project and trap data sync every hour during the day instead of once a day. Learn more: Trap.nz Integration
• Email me a login code now sends a code you enter on the existing login screen, replacing the email link used previously.
• TrapScan now requires at least iOS 15.4 on iPhone, or Chrome 94, Samsung Internet 18 or Firefox 115 on Android. Some older phones that ran v1 can no longer run 2.0. The iPhone 6s, iPhone 7 and first-generation iPhone SE can run it once updated to iOS 15.8. Learn more: What is TrapScan?

Removed

• Individual check-notification emails, replaced by the Weekly summary email.
• Joining a project, replaced by Contributors, which counts participation automatically from recorded checks.
• Creating projects inside the app, replaced by direct setup through Register project.
• Managing Project Manager subscriptions inside the app, following the move to annual project pricing.
• Google, Facebook and Apple login. If you used one of these methods in v1, select Email me a login code and use the same email address. Your account is unchanged.
• Dark mode. TrapScan 2.0 currently uses a light theme only.
• Spreadsheet exports from TrapScan. Trapping records are also held in Trap.nz, where export tools are available.
• Creating traps outside a project. Every trap must now belong to a project, replacing the standalone-trap option in v1.

Fixed

• Failed writes to Trap.nz now retry automatically instead of being dropped.
• Moving a trap more than 10m in Trap.nz causes Trap.nz to replace its record with a new one. The card moves to the replacement record, so scanning it continues to open the correct trap.

Development paused after this release. Grant funding and donations hadn't been enough to sustain ongoing work, and the war in Ukraine prevented the developer from continuing.

Added

• Map location picker lets you choose a trap's location on a map when creating a trap or editing an existing one.

Fixed

• Changing the date of a scan before submitting it now saves the selected date correctly.

With grant funding exhausted, development continued using personal funds.

Added

• Anonymous scanning lets anyone scan a trap and record a check without logging in. Records upload to Trap.nz, making it easier for backyard trappers to contribute.
• Project Manager subscriptions were introduced to help fund development without relying entirely on grants.
• Project Managers can now see who created a trap in their project.
• Project Managers can request to join other projects.
• Your catches and personal traps are now visible in your profile under the Me menu.
• Project Managers can change or cancel their subscriptions from their profile.

Changed

• The logged-out landing page now introduces TrapScan and lets visitors start scanning immediately instead of showing only a login screen.
• Project graphs now place their X-axis numbers on the right, making the current level of the line charts easier to read.
• The project page now has a larger View All Traps button, replacing the small "xxx more →" link.
• Increased the text size on the email login screen.
• Renamed the About menu item to Info, with links to the TrapScan website, user guides and documentation.

Trap.nz released its API, allowing TrapScan to replace the scraping workarounds previously used to exchange data. A donation from a project manager using TrapScan funded this round of development.

Added

• Traps created in TrapScan can now be created in Trap.nz too. New trappers can receive a QR card, take it home, scan it and add their trap to the Trap.nz project.
• Project trap lists can now be sorted by catch count, making it easier to review traplines and identify traps that may need moving.

Changed

• Scans now upload to Trap.nz through its API, making uploads more reliable than the previous scraping workaround.
• New traps are imported from Trap.nz through the API rather than the previous workaround.
• Deleting a trap with a linked QR card now identifies the card and warns that deleting the trap will make the card available for reuse.

Additional funding from the Clare Foundation allowed development to continue.

Added

• Projects can now be created within TrapScan without already having a Trap.nz project.
• Project insights show charts and totals for scans, catches and traps, filtered by week, month, quarter, year or all time.
• Trap owners and Project Managers can now add traps to, or remove traps from, projects.
• Project pages now list all the project's scans and traps.
• The Create Trap flow now suggests a project based on the project for which the QR card was purchased.
• The Create Trap flow now asks users to hold their phone against the trap when saving its location and explains that altitude is recorded as well.
• Logged-out QR scan pages now include a Log in link at the top.

Changed

• Project exports now include Condition and Notes, with more descriptive filenames.
• Project chart and totals filter buttons are taller, with Show Scans selected by default.
• Improved text readability and dark-mode colours on the project page.
• Edit Trap location instructions now match the Create Trap flow.
• Increased the trap-name character limit from 20 to 25 characters.
• Clarified that "link to an existing trap" in the QR installation flow means a trap already recorded in TrapScan.
• The first-time QR landing page now gives logged-out users more information.
• The first scan of a trap now says "you are the first person to check this trap" instead of "last checked by you 0 seconds ago".
• Increased the scan-success timer from five to ten seconds to give people more time to read the screen.
• Updated icons in the Something's wrong flow.
• Catch-notification emails now include the trap name and clearer wording.

Fixed

• Fixed an issue caused by Trap.nz changes that prevented project IDs from importing.
• Fixed the back and cancel icons when creating a trap.

Added

• Traps can now be created directly in TrapScan instead of only imported from Trap.nz. People who create their own traps can also remove the QR card from them.
• Administrators can now remove QR cards from traps that don't belong to a project.
• The Scan Success screen now closes automatically after five seconds, removing the need to select Finish after every scan.
• Project scan history can now be exported as an XLSX spreadsheet.

Changed

• Redesigned the project page.
• The Add notes screen now always appears in the Something's wrong flow.
• Renamed the relevant button from "Inspection" to "Scan".
• Enlarged the scan icon in scan history and improved the surrounding text.
• Updated the icon for the Just letting you know option in the scan form.

Fixed

• Fixed an issue that required anonymous users to log in after selecting Report a catch.
• Fixed the Add notes screen's dark-mode colours.
• Darkened the orange tag colour in light mode for better visibility.

Added

• Scan History lets you see all the scans you've recorded and open any entry for full details, including catches, bait and other recorded information.

Seed funding from Wellington City Council and Predator Free Wellington made it possible to expand TrapScan. The release introduced new branding, a redesigned interface and a rebuilt application developed with a new developer in Ukraine. This was effectively TrapScan's beta release.

Added

• Stats page and Today's Catches provide new views of activity and catch information.
• Passwordless login lets you log in through a link sent by email.
• A dedicated project overview page provides project information.
• Added a Data Policy and Privacy Policy.

Changed

• Redesigned the interface to make TrapScan clearer and easier to use.

TrapScan began as a Google Form and laminated paper QR codes tested on my own trapline. I designed the first application and found a volunteer developer to build it. The resulting alpha release was piloted with trapping projects.

Added

• First-time onboarding with information and guidance for new users.
• Email login.
• QR code scanner.
• A step-by-step trap check form.
• Email alerts for project coordinators.
• A QR installation flow for linking QR codes to trap codes during physical installation.
• Automatic upload of trapping records to Trap.nz through a scraping workaround, before its API was available.