Biosphere 2

Several members of my family had problems with videos freezing. It seems that video files we had downloaded using cellular had been corrupted. We were able to fix the problem by reinstalling the app using WiFi at the facility. Suggestion to developers: please consider validating the integrity of your media files as they are downloaded.

For whatever reason, the app gets unloaded by the OS very quickly after losing focus, for example, when briefly switching to the Camera app to snap a photo. This wouldn't be a problem if the app saved your place in the tour, but the best it offers you with the location services it requests is a map of all the checkpoints with your current location marked, which takes three taps to reach from the home screen. This is a tedious & repetitive process that detracts from the intended tour experience. This problem is at least countered by some smart design choices, like being able to easily preload all the video content in advance, which barely took a minute over the lobby WiFi.

This app is a great concept. However, even though I fully downloaded the tour, and my iPhone has plenty of excess memory, all of the videos would freeze after 30-60 seconds. If this bug could be worked out, it would be a 5-star app!

I’m the burgeoning fields of astrophysics and biology outside our planet, projects like Biosphere2 are extremely inspiring to learn about. Thank you devs for making a fun and interactive way to explore what goes into projects such as this!