Comparison

Beachsafe vs SharkSmart

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Beachsafe

Discover Australian beaches with real-time information on surf conditions, weather, hazards, and lifesaving services. Find patrolled beaches, learn about safety, and get expert advice on rip currents and marine life.

Highlights
  • Find nearby beaches with GPS
  • View surf, weather, and tide forecasts
  • Check patrol service information
  • Identify beach hazards and warnings
  • Access surf safety advice
  • Save favorite beaches
Features
Read full description

Taking a road trip up the coast? On holiday? Or just looking for the right beach for you? Find your nearest beaches in seconds. Brought to you by Surf Life Saving Australia, the Beachsafe app includes the location, weather, surf conditions and hazards plus the local facilities for all Australian beaches. Importantly, the current lifesaving service for each beach is listed to help you find the nearest patrolled beach. Beachsafe also provides expert advice about rip currents, flags and signs, waves, marine creatures, surf skills and more. SLSA recommends swimming at patrolled beaches, between the red and yellow flags. App Features Find a beach • Find beaches near you with your device’s GPS • Use the map view to quickly locate beaches near you • Search for a town, city, region or beach • Save your favourite beaches Patrol service information • Quickly and easily see if a beach is patrolled by surf lifesavers or lifeguards • Find out when a beach will be patrolled using the future search function Conditions • View detailed weather forecasts • See the tide information • Check the swell and wind forecast • Push notifications - Beach closures and major hazard alerts for Beaches that you follow Hazards • Review a beach’s hazard rating • Read detailed summaries of each beach written by coastal safety experts • See hazard information about a patrolled beach including rip currents, stingers and sharks when these have been entered by surf lifesavers or lifeguards Surf Safety • How to identify and escape rip currents • Lifeguard’s top tips • Read about flags and signs • Waves and weather • Surf skills • Marine creatures • Stingers • First aid advice • And more… The Beachsafe app was produced in conjunction with SLSA's beach safety website beachsafe.org.au. If you find this app useful and you wish to help support Surf Life Saving Australia and our 160,000 volunteers, please visit https://sls.com.au. Be safe at the beach, get Beachsafe.

About

SharkSmart

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.

Highlights
  • Real-time shark alerts
  • Drone and tagged shark detections
  • Interactive risk assessment
  • Shark and marine animal identification
  • Beach mitigation gear locations
  • Smartwatch compatibility
Features
Read full description

Enjoy NSW beaches. Be SharkSmart. The NSW Government’s SharkSmart app helps you stay informed before you hit the water in NSW. The app is part of the NSW Government’s Shark Management Program implemented by the NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD). Check the latest shark alerts, Surf Life Saving NSW drone patrol observations, and tagged shark detections to better understand shark activity along the NSW coast. With greater awareness and knowledge of sharks and their behaviour, everyone can enjoy NSW beaches while reducing the risk of a shark encounter. The SharkSmart app provides real-time alerts, beach conditions, species information and helpful resources to keep you informed at NSW beaches. Stay SharkSmart with our App. Alerts & Notifications Receive alerts for tagged shark detections, shark sightings, Surf Life Saving NSW and Surfing NSW drone patrol observations, beach closures and other safety incidents. Customise notifications for alerts around you, by region, by time, or for your favourite beaches. New beach arrival notifications remind you when you are near the coast, with a quick link to today’s conditions and safety information. Daily Updates give you a snapshot of shark activity and alerts across NSW, or focused on beaches around you and your favourited beaches. Beach Status Check conditions before you go with beach status and at-a-glance information for beaches near you or in your favourites. See weather, water quality, patrol information, safety advice, and other local conditions to help you plan your visit. My Beaches Save your favourite NSW beaches and get updates and alerts for the places you visit most. Manage your list, view beach details, daily conditions and recent shark alerts for each location. Tagged Sharks When a tagged shark is detected, tap through for richer detail than ever before, including when and where it was tagged, species information, recent detections, and the path the indicative shark has taken along the NSW coast. Data may include contributions from DPIRD and research partners. Ask SharkSmart Have a question about sharks, beach safety or the latest conditions at a particular beach? Ask SharkSmart is your AI assistant for SharkSmart-related questions. Get clear, helpful answers in a conversation-style experience, with links to relevant alerts, beaches and species where available. Species There are over 180 species of sharks in Australia, and the majority are relatively harmless. In terms of shark-human interactions, the three species responsible for almost all serious and fatal interactions are the white, bull, and tiger sharks, collectively referred to in NSW as the ‘target’ species of our Shark Management Program. Browse images and information on these target sharks, as well as non-target sharks and other marine animals that sting or bite, for education and identification. Apple Watch Compatible If you have an Apple Watch, the SharkSmart app includes a companion watch app that lets you receive SharkSmart alerts on your wrist. View alerts around you or set up notifications for a region, by time or for favourite beaches. For more information visit: sharksmart.nsw.gov.au

Screenshots

Beachsafe4 screens
SharkSmart4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Beachsafe at 5.0 against SharkSmart's 4.3. Beachsafe also leads on monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases) and review sentiment (46% vs 26%). SharkSmart's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs every 6 months) and ratings volume (282 vs 3). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Beachsafe holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: SharkSmart has 282 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 46% of Beachsafe's written reviews are positive against 26% of SharkSmart's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Beachsafe ships an update every 6 months, SharkSmart weekly. The most recent releases landed on September 19, 2026 and September 22, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Beachsafe versus SharkSmart: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBeachsafeSharkSmart
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (3 ratings) — better4.3 (282 ratings)
Positive reviews46.5% of reviews — better26.3% of reviews
Number of ratings3282 — better
Update frequencyEvery 6 monthsWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch
Requires iOS13.0 — better18.6
Further details — not scored
Size100 MB49 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSurf Life Saving Australia Ltd.NSW Department of Primary Industries

Customer experience

Beachsafe

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews71 reviews
Positive46.5%
Neutral2.8%
Negative50.7%

SharkSmart

All ratings282 ratings
Positive80.1%
Neutral6.7%
Negative13.1%
Written reviews99 reviews
Positive26.3%
Neutral16.2%
Negative57.6%

Bugs and requests

Beachsafe

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

SharkSmart

Reported bugs

10 issues
  • 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
Show 5 more
  • 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

Requested features

11 requests
  • 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
Show 6 more
  • 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

In-app purchases

None

Beachsafe

No in-app purchases

None

SharkSmart

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Beachsafe free?
Beachsafe is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is SharkSmart free?
SharkSmart is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Beachsafe or SharkSmart?
Beachsafe is rated higher. Beachsafe averages 5.0 out of 5 from 3 ratings, while SharkSmart averages 4.3 from 282 ratings.
Do Beachsafe or SharkSmart have ads?
Neither Beachsafe nor SharkSmart shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Beachsafe or SharkSmart?
Beachsafe ships an update every 6 months, and SharkSmart weekly. Most recently, Beachsafe was updated on September 19, 2026 and SharkSmart on September 22, 2026.

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