# BotaniSense

> BotaniSense is a free, ad-free mobile app for plant lovers on iOS and Android.
> Identify plants from photos, search your plant album privately on-device, read
> care guides assembled from trusted web sources with verifiable links, and plan
> sun and shade in your yard with 3D simulation. 25 languages; core photo tools
> work offline—sun planning, guides, and community need internet.

## Product

- Name: BotaniSense
- Website: https://botanisense.app/
- App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/botanisense-grow-with-ai/id6758401071
- Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.botaniq
- Pricing: Free with no ads. Optional cloud sync; no subscription required for core tools.

## Key features

- Plant identification from photos (multi-plant, context-aware)
- On-device semantic search over your plant photo gallery (works offline)
- Search-grounded care guides: AI gathers live web sources, normalized format with source links (internet)
- Sun and shade yard simulation using SunCalc, 3D map geometry, and ray casting (internet for map tiles)
- Digital plant diary with timeline, photos, and tags (sync optional; online for cloud)
- Plant community with location-aware discussions (internet)
- 25 app languages; core photo album tools offline-capable

## Website pages

- Home (English): https://botanisense.app/index.html
- Watering guide (English): https://botanisense.app/water-guide.html
- Privacy policy: https://botanisense.app/privacy-policy.html
- Terms of service: https://botanisense.app/terms-of-service.html
- Web tools: https://botanisense.app/other.html

Localized home pages use https://botanisense.app/{locale}.html (e.g. /zh_CN.html, /ar.html).
Localized watering guides: https://botanisense.app/{locale}/water-guide.html (21 languages; Arabic, Hebrew, Farsi, and Urdu home only until guide is translated).

## Care guides (how they work)

BotaniSense does not ship static care blurbs for every species. Guides use AI with
search grounding on the live web to collect care information from reputable sources,
then normalize into a consistent format: light and water scores, indoor/outdoor tips,
toxicity, difficulty, and openable source links. Scientific names are matched via
GBIF taxonomy for better regional coverage.

## Sun and shade simulation (how it works)

1. Sun path: astronomical algorithms (SunCalc) from your latitude and longitude.
2. 3D surroundings: photorealistic 3D map tiles and elevation where available.
3. Shadow ray casting: tests sun visibility per map point and timestep for seasonal profiles.

Limitations: weather, clouds, and seasonal leaf cover are not modeled—the analysis
reflects geometry and sun path, not climate.

## Open-source and data references

- SunCalc: https://github.com/mourner/suncalc
- Three.js: https://github.com/mrdoob/three.js
- UltraGlobe: https://github.com/ebeaufay/ultraglobe
- Proj4js: https://github.com/proj4js/proj4js
- Photo Sphere Viewer: https://photo-sphere-viewer.js.org/
- Plotly.js: https://github.com/plotly/plotly.js
- Plant taxonomy: GBIF
- 3D building/terrain: photorealistic 3D map tiles where available

## FAQ

Q: Does BotaniSense work offline?
A: Core photo tools—album gathering, bulk ID, and on-device gallery search—work offline. Sun/shade planning (3D map tiles), web-sourced care guides, community, and optional cloud sync need internet.

Q: Is BotaniSense free?
A: Yes. Free to use with no ads. Optional cloud sync; core plant tools need no subscription.

Q: How do care guides stay accurate?
A: Guides use search grounding on the live web, normalized with source links. Names matched via GBIF.

Q: How does sun/shade simulation work?
A: SunCalc paths + nearby 3D map geometry + ray casting for direct sunlight hours through the year.

## Contact and legal

- Privacy: https://botanisense.app/privacy-policy.html
- Terms: https://botanisense.app/terms-of-service.html