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SharkSmart

SharkSmart

by NSW Department of Primary Industries

282 ratings
91 reviews
📚 Education
🌟 Lifestyle
Free

Details

  • Released
  • Updated

Features

Developer

NSW Department of Primary Industries
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About

Stay informed about shark activity in NSW before you swim. Get real-time alerts on tagged shark detections and drone sightings. Understand shark behavior and assess your personal risk for a safer beach experience.

✓Real-time shark alerts
✓Drone and tagged shark detections
✓Interactive risk assessment
✓Shark and marine animal identification
✓Beach mitigation gear locations
✓Smartwatch compatibility
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What users say

Summarized from real user reviews of SharkSmart. Based on 282 reviews and a 4.3/5 average, it highlights the 7 positives and 10 negatives reviewers mention most about this Education app.

Positive things

  • 📍Real-time shark detection and tracking
  • 🎯Valuable safety information for ocean users
  • 📊Comprehensive shark tagging data
  • 🏖️Helpful for swimmers and surfers
  • 👍Good app concept and design
  • 🔧Responsive developer support when issues reported
  • 📱Easy to navigate interface

Negative things

  • 🐛Frequent app crashes and freezing
  • 📬Excessive notifications from distant locations
  • ⚙️Notification settings not persisting
  • 🐢Slow loading times
  • 🚫Unable to add/save favorite beaches
  • 📍Notifications ignore location settings
  • 🔔Alerts arrive too late to be useful
  • ⏰Notifications ignore Do Not Disturb settings
  • 🗺️Map data inconsistent with alert list
  • ❌Limited beach coverage and receiver stations
See all reviews
+1

What's New in SharkSmart

4.0.5

August 6, 2026

This update focuses on improving reliability by fixing minor bugs, resolving crashes, and enhancing overall performance.

User reviews

Most RecentHighest RatedLowest Rated

What’s happened?

I used to be able to access sharks along the East Coast of the US . Now all I hear about is Australia and there’s no way I can see to fix this
LadhumeLadhume

Response from developer

Thanks for your feedback. SharkSmart focuses only on **NSW, Australia**, as it is the official NSW Government shark information app. The app does not provide shark alerts for the US East Coast or other regions. We appreciate your feedback and hope this clarifies the app's coverage.

Good app but …

I think the app is a great idea however, I have saved my beaches in the first set up process they aren’t listed on the bottom my beach tab and I am being notified about all beaches in NSW. I just want to be notified about the ones I frequent. Can I fix this?
Kazza2165Kazza2165

Response from developer

Thanks for getting in touch. Please make sure you're on the latest version of the app and try adding your beaches again in the 'My Beaches' section. Notifications for favourite beaches are based on the beaches saved there. Some users have reported receiving notifications for beaches outside their selected 'My Beaches' locations, and we're currently investigating this. We're also working on improvements to the notification experience in future updates. If the issue continues after updating and re-adding your beaches, please contact us through the 'App Support' link within the app. This will allow us to look at the exact behaviour you're experiencing and work through it with you directly. Thanks again for your feedback.

Recent updates have improved usability

Very helpful- would love a feature to be able to set a name for local sharks. I’m starting to recognise their tag numbers but naming them would be fun and would help to alleviate some of the anxiety if you knew it was just Becky swimming by for the 5th time this hour lol
Hannah8649Hannah8649

Response from developer

Thanks for the feedback. We'll review this suggestion and take it into consideration for future updates. We appreciate you taking the time to share your ideas with us.

No data other than beaches

Needs to be able to report up stream in rivers and harbours as well
GregBBA1977GregBBA1977

Excessive notifications

To many notifications up to 300km away
Loong TaoLoong Tao
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User experience

🐞

Reported Bugs

10 issues

App crashes on startup or when opening alerts

Bug

Favorite beaches not saving or reverting to all beaches

Bug

Search function not listing available beaches

Bug

Map hanging when opening away from beaches

Bug

Notifications not respecting location radius settings

Bug

Inconsistent data between map view and list view

Bug

Add beach feature not working on iOS

Bug

Settings menu freezing with spinning wheel

Bug

Notifications continuing after app deletion

Bug

Gallery tab crashing on iPhone 12

Bug
✨

Requested Features

11 requests

Ability to name individual tracked sharks

Feature

Shark size and weight information at tagging

Feature

Historical shark movement patterns and migration data

Feature

Deep links from notifications to specific beaches

Feature

Time-series reporting for shark activity

Feature

Apple Watch app improvements and alerts

Feature

Expand coverage to rivers and harbors

Feature

Better filtering by event type instead of notification source

Feature

Expand geographic coverage beyond NSW

Feature

More receiver stations in underserved areas

Feature

Clearer messaging about beaches without receivers

Feature

FAQ

What does the SharkSmart app do?

The SharkSmart app provides information and resources to help beachgoers in NSW reduce the chance of a close encounter with a shark. It offers real-time alerts on tagged shark detections and drone sightings, maps of shark mitigation gear, and educational information about sharks and marine animals.

What are the key features of the SharkSmart app?

Key features include real-time shark alerts, maps showing shark mitigation gear and incident locations, a species identification guide for marine animals, and an interactive 'My Risk' feature that assesses personal behavior risk when in the water. It also offers smartwatch compatibility for alerts.

Is the SharkSmart app free to use?

Yes, the SharkSmart app is free to download and use. The provided data indicates it is 'free with in-app purchases', suggesting some optional content or features might be available for purchase, though core safety information is likely free.

What kind of information is available about sharks?

The app provides images of dangerous and non-dangerous sharks and other marine animals for educational purposes. It also details the NSW Shark Meshing (Bather Protection) Program and offers insights into shark behavior to enhance user awareness.

How does the 'My Risk' feature work?

The 'My Risk' feature is an interactive tool that creates a personal risk assessment profile. By inputting factors that affect shark bite risk, such as swimming at dawn or dusk, it allocates a 'risky' or 'safer' behavior rating. Adjusting risky behaviors can lower the risk level.