SharkSmart vs FeralScan Pest Mapping
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
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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
FeralScan Pest Mapping
Record the location and impact of pest animals, along with control actions taken. Your data contributes to a community-driven map to monitor populations and target control efforts effectively.
- Record pest animal locations
- Document pest-related problems
- Log pest control actions
- Contribute to community mapping
- Monitor pest populations
- Target pest control programs
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Pest animals cause significant damage to our environment, the economy and society. This App can be used at any time to record the location of pest animals in your local area, record the problems they are causing, and record control actions you undertake. Your records will be submitted to the FeralScan community pest animal mapping website www.feralscan.org.au, to help develop and maintain an up-to-date picture of pest animals throughout your region. This information can be used to monitor populations, and to better target pests through coordinated pest control programs. Future versions of this app will include additional species, and more advanced mapping and data recording features. Please note that continued use of GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: SharkSmart at 4.3 against FeralScan Pest Mapping's 1.0. SharkSmart also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 3 months) and ratings volume (282 vs 3). FeralScan Pest Mapping's advantage is monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 18.6). On price, review sentiment, ads and in-app purchases 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 1.0. 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 complicate that: 27% of SharkSmart's written reviews are positive against 31% of FeralScan Pest Mapping's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
SharkSmart ships an update weekly, FeralScan Pest Mapping every 3 months. Both last shipped on November 1, 2026.
| Parameter | SharkSmart | FeralScan Pest Mapping |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.3 (282 ratings) — better | 1.0 (3 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 27.0% of reviews | 30.8% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 282 — better | 3 |
| 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 | 12.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 49 MB | 44 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development | Invasive Animals Limited |
Customer experience
SharkSmart
FeralScan Pest Mapping
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
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- 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
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- 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
FeralScan Pest Mapping
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
SharkSmart
No in-app purchases
FeralScan Pest Mapping
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is SharkSmart free?
Is FeralScan Pest Mapping free?
Which has better reviews, SharkSmart or FeralScan Pest Mapping?
Do SharkSmart or FeralScan Pest Mapping have ads?
Which is updated more often, SharkSmart or FeralScan Pest Mapping?
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