SharkSmart vs FrogID
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- Real-time shark alerts
- Drone and tagged shark detections
- Interactive risk assessment
- Shark and marine animal identification
- Beach mitigation gear locations
- Smartwatch compatibility
Read full descriptionHide 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
FrogID
This app allows users to identify Australian frog species by recording their calls. It contributes to a national citizen science initiative, helping experts track frog populations and monitor waterway health.
- Record frog calls
- Identify frog species
- Citizen science project
- Submit records for verification
- Track frog populations
- Monitor waterway health
Read full descriptionHide full description
FrogID is Australia’s first national citizen science frog identification initiative – a project led by the Australian Museum in partnership with Australia’s leading natural history museums and IBM. Use the App to create a profile, record frog calls and match your calls to the frog calls on the app. Then upload your records to the Australian Museum frog experts for species verification. With your help we can put more frog species on the map and track changes to their species and habitats over time, and therefore monitor our waterway's health.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: SharkSmart at 4.3 against FrogID's 3.6. SharkSmart also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 3 months) and ratings volume (282 vs 16). FrogID's advantage is review sentiment (52% vs 26%) and monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases). 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
SharkSmart holds the better App Store score, 4.3 against 3.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: SharkSmart has 282 ratings behind it against 16, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 26% of SharkSmart's written reviews are positive against 52% of FrogID's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
SharkSmart ships an update weekly, FrogID every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on September 22, 2026 and September 26, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | SharkSmart | FrogID |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.3 (282 ratings) — better | 3.6 (16 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 26.3% of reviews | 52.3% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 282 — better | 16 |
| Update frequency | Weekly — better | Every 3 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 18.6 | 9.3 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 49 MB | 121 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | NSW Department of Primary Industries | Australian Museum |
Customer experience
SharkSmart
FrogID
User reviews
SharkSmart
From 282 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 📍 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
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent app crashes and freezing
- 📬 Excessive notifications from distant locations
- ⚙️ Notification settings not persisting
- 🐢 Slow loading times
- 🚫 Unable to add/save favorite beaches
FrogID
From 16 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Great for learning frog calls
- 💡 Citizen science contribution
- 🤩 Fun for kids and adults
- 🗺️ Helps identify frogs in area
- ✅ Accurate matching results (for some)
Room to improve
- 😞 Limited to Australia
- 🐌 Long wait for confirmation
- 🤷🏼 No photo search
- 😔 Discouraging lack of feedback
- 👎 Useless if not working
Bugs and 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 moreShow fewer
- 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 moreShow fewer
- 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
FrogID
Reported bugs
43 issues- App crashes constantly
- Database updating hangs
- Recording issues (cutting out, no results)
- App freezes
- App logs off frequently
Show 38 moreShow fewer
- Photo upload fails or disappears
- Password issues
- Cannot record with Bluetooth
- App crashes on opening/explore screen
- Lost recordings
- App not loading
- Microphone not working
- Notes section behind keyboard
- Submit icon frozen
- Null frogs error
- App closes itself
- Cannot submit recordings
- App crashes when accessing Profile
- Recording page issues
- Cannot send recordings
- Submit status 'not submitted'
- App crashes frequently
- No way to match new frogs
- App closes down when accessing Profile
- Cannot record without audio
- App hangs and hangs
- Verification is very slow
- App is deaf unless frog is close
- Assumptions on species based on habitat
- Upload doesn't work
- No way to know if recording submitted
- Frustrating bugs
- No feedback on submissions
- App keeps logging off
- Photos too small
- Cannot identify rare species
- App is useless if not working
- No expert or community verification
- Primitive app, needs work
- Limited to Australia
- Long wait for confirmation
- No photo search
- Discouraging lack of feedback
Requested features
12 requests- Add photo search functionality
- Include other countries (e.g., US, Minnesota)
- Allow photo submission without audio
- Add a short list function
- Add a call playlist function
Show 7 moreShow fewer
- Show user status (e.g., Tadpole)
- Add a stats page showing population changes
- Allow uploading audio from video/audio clips
- Option to upload photo for identification
- Filter based on location
- Add dark mode
- Add advanced analytics dashboard
In-app purchases
SharkSmart
No in-app purchases
FrogID
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is SharkSmart free?
Is FrogID free?
Which has better reviews, SharkSmart or FrogID?
Do SharkSmart or FrogID have ads?
Which is updated more often, SharkSmart or FrogID?
Other comparisons















