SharkSmart appears to be a legitimate app. The AppsHunter Legitimacy Score for SharkSmart is 85 out of 100 points across 7 verification signals from App Store and developer data.

SharkSmart User Reviews

Name: SharkSmart
Rating: 4.3 (282 reviews)

SharkSmart

NSW Department of Primary Industries

📚 Education

🌟 Lifestyle

Customer Experience

Positive experience26.4% of reviews

Neutral17.6% of reviews

Negative experience56.0% of reviews

~ Based on 91 written reviews from the US App Store.

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

Is SharkSmart Safe?

SharkSmart appears safe based on user ratings. AppsHunter Safety Score for SharkSmart is 85/100.

This assessment is based on 282 user ratings, with an App Store average of 4.3/5.

Safety Analysis

80.5% of ratings point to a safe experience

6.7% of ratings suggest some concerns

12.8% of ratings point to a risky experience

~ Based on 282 App Store ratings for SharkSmart.

Is SharkSmart Legit?

SharkSmart appears to be a legitimate app. AppsHunter Legitimacy Score for SharkSmart is 85/100.

Based on 85 of 100 points across 7 verification signals from App Store and developer data.

Top reviews

Most Recent Highest Rated Lowest 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

Ladhume

14 days ago

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?

Kazza2165

6 months ago

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

Hannah8649

6 months ago

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

GregBBA1977

6 months ago

Excessive notifications

To many notifications up to 300km away

Loong Tao

6 months ago

Annoying

I keep getting push notifications for beaches hundreds of kilometres away, despite having set up notifications for only 9 local beaches.

Annoyedshark2025

6 months ago

Not targeted to location

I have to turn it off as it beeps non stop, not targeted to my actual location which is being tracked by the app

corinnecampbell

6 months ago

Too slow loading

The app is generally great but when you get an alert notification it takes up to 1 minute for the content to load. Barely anyone will wait that long. This need to be fixed.

BenBaa

6 months ago

Response from developer

Thanks for the feedback. We've recently made improvements that should reduce loading times when opening alert notifications. Please make sure you're using the latest version of the app and let us know if you're still experiencing delays. If the issue persists, please contact us through the 'App Support' link within the app with details of your device, OS version, app version, and the alert you were trying to open so we can investigate further.

App half works

Good design simple enough but seems to crash and not load data, too slow

Vicstar100

6 months ago

A Million Alerts

Despite saving settings within ‘Manage My Beaches’ multiple times, I get alerts CONSTANTLY about EVERY beach. This is a repeated complaint it seems, looking at the other reviews - spanning months, so I don’t know why developers have not fixed it. Am now turning off ALL notifications which means the app is useless. Very poor form, considering the Govt is spruiking this app to the country.

LacieHodges

6 months ago

Response from developer

Thanks for the feedback. We understand how important it is for notifications to be relevant to your selected beaches. We're currently working on a new version of the app that will address notification-related issues and improve the overall experience. In the meantime, please ensure you're using the latest version of the app and that your preferred beaches are saved in the 'My Beaches' section.

Flakey- no pun intended.

Opened and found zero shark events ever. Now there are drone and listening stations icon but no detail when you click through. Also some dead ends with no clear exit in the site navigation.

they're dreamin'

6 months ago

Response from developer

Thanks for the feedback. We've released a number of updates since this review, including improvements to event visibility, map interactions, and navigation throughout the app. We also have an upcoming release that addresses many of the UI and UX concerns raised by users, with a focus on improving navigation, reducing confusion, and making key information easier to access. If you're still experiencing issues in the latest version, please contact us through the **App Support** link within the app and let us know the exact steps you're taking so we can investigate further.

Irritating

Far too many icons telling us things we don’t want or need to know. Filtering isn’t by event type but for some reason it’s by notification source instead?? Endless alerts from far flung beaches because filtering doesn’t work. In its current state it’s a liability as it doesn’t do its core job of simply telling us which beaches are currently open and safe.

AndsOff

6 months ago

Response from developer

Thanks for the detailed feedback. We understand your concerns around map clutter, filtering, and the relevance of notifications. We're actively working on an upcoming update that takes this feedback into account, with improvements aimed at making important information easier to find and reducing unnecessary distractions. We appreciate you taking the time to share your experience, as it helps us prioritise future improvements to the app.

Potential

The overall tagging system is to be commended but the app has bugs in filtering, maps and notifications.

Dream6579

6 months ago

Dissapointing

Can’t get my beaches

Dizzylizzysissy

7 months ago

Waste of money

If NSW just managed sharks like QLD we wouldn’t have so many shark attacks.

How many people will die until NSW govt. accepts their new environmental shark policy has failed.. my guess is about 10.

Meanwhile, no shark has attacked a surfer or swimmer in a populated QLD beach since the 1960s..

Canberran Dave