Australian Fires. Bushfire Map User Reviews

Top reviews

Does it actually ring triple 0 if you press the button?

Could you please move the triple 0 button away from the information, it scare me half to death I’m going to press it. Great app, cheers

Great app!

Honestly, very great app. I would just suggest that if it had like a gps travel mode. Like google maps, but just so if I can see the route I will take will be close to a fire. It doesn’t have to guide me, just show me if there would be a fire along the way.

Lacks information

It’s ok if you’re happy to look at, a drawing of a flame on a map. Lacks relevant/any information. Despite the reply to previous feedback, this app is seriously lacking.
In the past there was another app, that has since vanished. It was far superior. It never let me down. This one is no where near it. Disappointingly.... my wait continues. Where did Emergency Aus go? I’m guessing it was Apple on their throne again. Can’t have the people actually having information.
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Response from developer

Hi Hippapottapudd, in the latest release (1.6) additional details have been added for incidents in QLD, NSW, SA, TAS and NT. I'm currently working towards supporting more information for VIC and WA. Each state has its own unique way of cataloging incidents so creating a consistent way to parse and display that information takes a little bit of time. In future Australian Fires hopes to be able to display the most relevant information for all states.

Good start but needs work

To have an app that covers Aus Fires to the extent this app is great. If all you need is info on city areas this app will be of use. However if you need details on fires in the bush then you may be disappointed since the app uses Apple Maps on my Apple Notebook as well as my phone and iPad. Hence drilling down to certain areas leaves a lot to be desired. Apple maps just is not up to the level of detail in country areas. I hope that someday soon this app could be updated to give the user a choice of which map app to use.
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Grrrr

I was hoping to bring up a map with the Australian fires. So I downloaded and when I clicked on it it came up with my area in New Hampshire, USA. Not good.

Useless for WA

On a day where the biggest state has some form of serious emergency across atleast 60% of the state (bushfires and flooding as well as weather warnings) opening the app and finding that current evacuations are not available, there is absolutely no details about current warnings and advice. Additionally, updates to emergencies that span large areas have just been added to the area, so finding the current warnings is frustrating and time consuming.
Sorry guys, but it's just not an effective app. It's disappointing, given the importance of the information.
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It’s good

This is a good app. It appears to be optimised for use based on your phone’s GPS location, rather than remote searching. You can use it remotely, but it’s not mega easy.

A few suggestions: 1) when searching list the previously searched locations as suggestions 2) default to Australian locations 3) after searching automatically zoom out the map to show the nearest incident 4) on a specific incident’s details, show the distance to the searched location, not just the phone’s GPS location 5) have an option to keep the map centred on the searched location when zooming. 6) notification when a there’s a new incident within a specified distance of a search.

Nice app, thank you.
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Great start to a good app

Hi there. I love that the app consolidates the information from all states and territories. I noticed though that when clicking on a black number consolidation icon that it doesn’t always zoom in and show the individual incidents. However to be a good fire app it would be good to have the following:

- Icon Legend;
- Icons that more closely represent what they stand for;
- More information on the fires like the emergency VIC app shows;
- Show state warning alerts; and
- To be able to draw a personal incident radius to get notified if something happens in that radius.

Keep up the good work!
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Useful but a distance scale would be handy!

I have relatives in Ballarat but map gives no idea of how far away the nearest fires are. Mike S

Essential app, needs fine tuning

This app is a must have for every Australian.

Would suggest some some tuning:

Icons for map need to be rethought. There’s too much going on to get an easy big picture. Perhaps rather than image icons it would be much easier to think about abbreviations. Eg. GF - grass fire, HF - house fire, BF - bush fire etc...

Also it would be helpful if closed events disappeared as to not cause confusion.

Thank you for creating something for the people of Australia!
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Well thought out app

The app looks good and has a lot of useful info. Just a suggestion for the developer, it would be great if a overlay of the wind direction and conditions could be shown over the fire your looking at. Also the road conditions/closure would be helpful. 👍👍

Good but inconsistent display of information

This is generally a good and useful app. However there is a significant issue in inconsistency of presentation of information between states. In NSW, shaded areas represent burned areas. In VIC they clearly mean something else, as currently (29 Nov 2019) VIC is about 3/4 shaded which would imply over 15 million hectares burned if it meant the same thing as shading in NSW. It is a shame that other states have no shading at all.

It would be good to be able to turn off the zoom in that happens whenever you click on an icon on the map.
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Could be better

The idea of having a single app for the whole country is good. Seems to be inconsistent between how it depicts fires between the states. NSW seems right. Victoria shows a fire covering almost the whole state which stops dead on the NSW border, which is useless when you’re trying to work out if a particular town is currently or imminently at risk. It looks like all you have to do is step across the border to NSW to be safe.

Maybe in Victoria they show poor air quality but in NSW they show the fire’s border? I have no idea because the Map Legend doesn’t work. Without a good legend saying what the grey patches mean it’s kind of pointless.

And what’s with the massive triangle of grey starting in NSW and stretching out infinitely across the country? I’m thinking maybe this app just can’t cope with the current fire crisis, maybe a case of TMI?
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Great app

So easy to use love the new update so now you don’t have to scroll through a whole list of fires but shows just the area if the map you are looking at

It’s good, but I have a problem with it.

It’s a good app, does what it says it does, but I don’t like ads, so I was wondering if there was some way to get rid of them, like add a remove the ads for a $1.69 or something like that. That would be quite nice, I picked this app because I liked the look of it.

Response from developer

Hey Dyllan_InfernX, the latest version (2.0) adds in IAPs to remove ads. If you like the latest change then would really appreciate if you could update this review. Cheers!

Can’t figure out how to edit previous rating!

I downloaded again and all loaded just fine. I’m liking the ease of use across states and love the other reviewers’ suggestions. Thanks for responding to my review so promptly, I am looking forward to future updates! Plz let me know how to remove or review my previous rating. ✌🏼

Response from developer

Hi Ktkate85, have got a patch version (1.8) coming through that should be available in the morning. Apologies for this inconvenience. For now, would you mind force killing the app and running it again to see if this resolves your issue?

Wat21

Really like the frequent updates with all the new features, I would really like a “Watch Zone feature to be added” so when a fire is detected in that zone you receive a notification.

Response from developer

Hi 8373jdhdjs, thanks for the suggestion. I know watch zones would be really useful to many people using the app. Currently, figuring out the best solution to implement while continuing to keep Australian Fires free and accessible to everyone. Keep an eye out on the latest release

Great App

Really like this App. Easy to use and well informed updated information. I have been telling everyone I know to use it. After a legend would be great, but I see the developer is working in all aspects that are requested. Well done!!

Response from developer

Hey, Snoopy go home, thank you for your feedback. Legend is coming up very soon!

JohnnoW

This is a very good and highly informative app. Well done to the developers food constantly updating the format. I have had most of the State fires apps for awhile now and each one has different ways of displaying the info, so bringing them all together in the one app is not only a great idea, but is a feat in itself.
A bit more info within the fires descriptions will make this a 5 star app.
OK, I’ve just done the latest update and the app is now 5 stars👍
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Response from developer

Hi Johnno, glad you're enjoying the latest update. Please feel free to email me at ausfireapp@gmail.com if you have any other awesome ideas!

Usefulness constantly growing with regular updates

There is the basis of a good app here. I do like being able to move from State to State without using separate maps.
However I’d like a legend of what all the symbols indicate. I am working many out bit by bit. Perhaps there is already a legend. If so, I haven’t found it yet.
Would like a clear visual indication of area affected too as VicFires has. Would also rather a dropdown with info at the spot on the map, rather than be taken to a new screen. Again VicFires does this well.
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Response from developer

Hi lqt, appreciate the suggestions. Check out the latest version for more information on fires in Victoria including mapping of affected areas, a legend is on its way very soon!