# SharkSmart — user reviews > 91 indexed App Store user reviews of SharkSmart by NSW Department of Primary Industries, rated 4.30/5 from 282 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/sharksmart/id915621811/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/sharksmart/id915621811.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 204 · 4★ 23 · 3★ 19 · 2★ 10 · 1★ 26 ## What do users think of SharkSmart? Overall sentiment: mixed **Pros** - 📍 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 **Cons** - 🐛 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 **Commonly reported bugs** - App crashes on startup or when opening alerts - Favorite beaches not saving or reverting to all beaches - Search function not listing available beaches - Map hanging when opening away from beaches - Notifications not respecting location radius settings - Inconsistent data between map view and list view - Add beach feature not working on iOS - Settings menu freezing with spinning wheel - Notifications continuing after app deletion - Gallery tab crashing on iPhone 12 **Most requested features** - Ability to name individual tracked sharks - Shark size and weight information at tagging - Historical shark movement patterns and migration data - Deep links from notifications to specific beaches - Time-series reporting for shark activity - Apple Watch app improvements and alerts - Expand coverage to rivers and harbors - Better filtering by event type instead of notification source - Expand geographic coverage beyond NSW - More receiver stations in underserved areas - Clearer messaging about beaches without receivers ## Newest reviews (14 of 91) ### 4/5 — Good app but … *2026-02-10* 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? **Developer response:** 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. ### 4/5 — Recent updates have improved usability *2026-02-06* 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 **Developer response:** 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. ### 2/5 — Excessive notifications *2026-01-31, version 3.27* To many notifications up to 300km away ### 2/5 — Annoying *2026-01-31, version 3.27* I keep getting push notifications for beaches hundreds of kilometres away, despite having set up notifications for only 9 local beaches. ### 3/5 — Too slow loading *2026-01-30* 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. **Developer response:** 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. ### 3/5 — App half works *2026-01-30, version 3.27* Good design simple enough but seems to crash and not load data, too slow ### 2/5 — Irritating *2026-01-28* 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. **Developer response:** 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. ### 3/5 — Potential *2026-01-23, version 3.26* The overall tagging system is to be commended but the app has bugs in filtering, maps and notifications. ### 2/5 — Please fix the issues *2026-01-21, version 3.26* Won’t load. Have the most up to date version of the app. ### 3/5 — Add a beach isn’t working *2025-09-10, version 3.22* Add a beach isn’t working on my iOS iPhone 15. ### 3/5 — It’s okay, but clunky and glitchy to use. *2025-09-09* A good start, but it needs a lot of work. When typing in ‘your beach’ you can only select the beaches that have receivers. This is fine, but initially, I was confused as to why my local beach wouldn’t show up. A message informing you that the beach you searched for doesn’t have a receiver would be good and then suggested beaches that are close to the one you searched for would be helpful. I was getting notifications of tagged sharks at a beach, but then when I went to the ‘map view’ the information wasn’t current. There is a difference between the ‘list’ and the map’s information. The list has the most updated information, but you have to scroll to find it. I was also getting notifications for beaches very far away from my location. So that wasn’t relevant. Would be good to have the shark’s size when it was caught and tagged. I know they grow, but if you saw it was a 2 metre one that was tagged a year ago, compared to a 4 metre one tagged a year ago you’d know there would be a significant difference. This part is not a criticism of the app, it the program in general… There aren’t enough receivers for this to be an effective way to reduce shark encounters. They only have 2 in my local council area on the Illawarra, which is massive. So I can’t get information relevant to me. **Developer response:** Thanks for taking the time to outline your experience. We’ve made a number of improvements in the recent updates that address several of the points you raised, including better handling of beach selection and more consistent alignment between the list and the map data. We’re also working on clearer messaging when a searched beach doesn’t have a receiver, along with smarter suggestions for nearby monitored locations. Notification relevance is another area we’re tuning so alerts line up more closely with the user’s location and interests. Your suggestion about showing the size recorded at capture is as you note a matter for the overarching NSW Shark Management Program. You can provide feedback on the Program to nsw.sharkprogram@dpird.nsw.gov.au. Appreciate you sharing such detailed feedback. It helps guide the work we’re doing to make the experience smoother and more reliable. Stay SharkSmart. ### 2/5 — My Beaches not working *2025-09-08, version 3.22* Search does not list any beaches to select. ### 1/5 — Siting in port Jefferson harbor? *2025-08-01* Don’t understand ur sittings report **Developer response:** Thank your for getting in touch about the NSW Government’s SharkSmart app that provides alerts to users about the distribution of tagged sharks on the NSW coast, shark incidents, the tagging and release of target sharks (white, tiger and bull sharks), sharks detected by our drones, and other NSW beach safety information. We are not fully sure which part of the report isn’t clear, so if you can please share a bit more detail through the App Support link within the app, our team can look into it straight away. Stay #SharkSmart. ### 3/5 — Shark stalking *2025-03-02* It’s hard not to get obsessed with stalking the movement of sharks between the ping stations, referencing when and where individual sharks were caught, tagged, released and where they are located in current time. I haven’t been able to ‘add my beaches’…a possible glitch in the software but I often wonder “what the sharks are doing now?” This app gives me some insights. **Developer response:** Hello there Sorry to hear you are having issues. Please ensure you have the last app version installed. There are 2 tabs on the bottom "Alerts" and "My Beaches". The "My Beaches" feature is where you can search, select and save beaches you want to be alerted for. As always, there is a "App feedback" under the settings section you can reach out to our technical team who will be glad to assist you with any technical difficulties. Hope it works out for you, thanks again for reaching out. Stay SharkSmart. ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — What’s happened? *2026-07-23* 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 **Developer response:** 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. ### 1/5 — No data other than beaches *2026-02-02, version 3.27* Needs to be able to report up stream in rivers and harbours as well ### 1/5 — Not targeted to location *2026-01-31, version 3.27* I have to turn it off as it beeps non stop, not targeted to my actual location which is being tracked by the app ### 1/5 — A Million Alerts *2026-01-30* 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. **Developer response:** 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. ### 1/5 — Dissapointing *2026-01-22, version 3.26* Can’t get my beaches ### 1/5 — Waste of money *2026-01-22, version 3.26* 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.. ### 1/5 — Map is hanging searching for some location *2026-01-21, version 3.26* Map is hanging when opening away from beaches ### 1/5 — Stuck loading *2026-01-21, version 3.26* It is not loading any information at all, waste of time ### 1/5 — Needs a lot of work *2026-01-20, version 3.26* What a waste. Can’t even add beaches. Please fix this app, make it useful ### 1/5 — Horrible experience for UI and UX. Also very slow to load if it loads at all. *2025-12-06, version 3.25* This app is poorly designed it fails to load 90% of the time. The information is very hard to read half the time and is not clear and concise and laid out. It's full of bugs if it does load What do you expect for an app run and maintained by the government? Biggest waste of time. Do better ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — Flakey- no pun intended. *2026-01-30* 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. **Developer response:** 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. ### 5/5 — Looking for sharks *2026-01-21, version 3.26* I don’t really know how to use the app yet ### 5/5 — Burley *2025-12-06, version 3.25* I like to have a quick look on the way home. Just to see where the action is. Info is good, but it won’t change where I swim. ### 5/5 — Top notch *2025-11-28, version 3.25* If you think flight radar good, get yourself on this. No end of sharks. No end of information, just a real good all round app x ### 5/5 — Works well! *2025-10-14* I had issues with my beaches being saved but after submitting feedback the dev team have fixed it - thanks very much! It’s a made the app a lot easier to be able to see the shark activity in my area over the last few days. I slightly miss being able to see the size of the tagged shark (could be worth adding the ‘size when captured’) **Developer response:** Thanks for the feedback and for letting us know about the saving issue earlier. It’s good to hear the latest update resolved it for you and that the activity view is helping day to day. Your note about showing the size recorded at capture is a helpful suggestion and we’re looking at how to bring that data back in a clear way. Appreciate you taking the time to share your experience. Stay SharkSmart. ### 5/5 — Ⓣⓗⓐⓝⓚ ⓨⓞⓤ *2025-02-19* Ⓣⓗⓐⓝⓚ ⓨⓞⓤ ⓕⓞⓡ ⓗⓔⓛⓟⓘⓝⓖ ⓜⓔ ⓛⓔⓐⓡⓝ ⓐⓑⓞⓤⓣ ⓢⓞ ⓜⓐⓝⓨ ⓓⓘⓕⓕⓔⓡⓔⓝⓣ ⓣⓨⓟⓔⓢ ⓞⓕ ⓐⓝⓘⓜⓐⓛⓢ ⓣⓗⓐⓝⓚ ⓨⓞⓤ (≧▽≦) Ⓛⓞⓥⓔ Ⓒⓞⓞⓟⓔⓡ ⓗⓐⓣⓣⓔⓜ ### 5/5 — MY IDEA AND GIFT TO THE PEOPLE AND NSW GOV *2024-10-05, version 3.19* I thought of this! I am a regular local scuba diver and surfer when I was younger. I hope everyone in NSW stays safe now with this app 😊 ### 5/5 — Very cool app *2024-05-02* It’s heaps fascinating tracking sharks (with info about size and type as well as location now and where they’ve been!) even if u never get in the water. But obviously it’s a must-have app for swimmers & surfers to know when tagged monsters are at their local beach! ### 5/5 — What a wonderful app. Well done. *2024-01-03, version 3.10* Very interesting, thankyou. ### 5/5 — Such a great app! *2023-03-17* This app is awesome, so easy to use and the notifications are great!! There was an issue recently and I contacted them and they fixed it straight away, I was so impressed!! I can’t recommend this app enough!!!! The best shark notification one out there. **Developer response:** Hello J9R27, thank you for your great feedback and getting in touch. We are glad we were able to help out. Do make sure you update to the latest version we have released as there are some more enhancements made to the app specially the "My Beaches" section and the filtering of Alerts data. Stay #SharkSmart. --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-08-25.*