Public demand for and use of smartphone applications for disaster risk management is rising. Provided by government, NGOs and private commercial enterprises, these digital tools are considered vital for public preparedness. We systematically identified English-language applications focusing on natural hazards available for public download. A custom program developed to search Google Play store and Apple App Store for applications on geophysical, meteorological, hydrological, and climatological hazards identified 322 applications in May 2023. While 12% of applications are ‘all-hazard’, the majority focus on a single hazard, most frequently earthquake, wildfire, and storm. Most applications prioritise information delivery for emergency response, with only a small proportion addressing preparation, mitigation, or recovery, thereby limiting their capacity to support proactive risk reduction and sustained preparedness. 85% of applications were provided by private commercial enterprises. A detailed case study of applications for wildfire preparedness shows that while many applications provide one-way information, very few offer two-way interaction, neglecting community knowledge.
Orange et al. (Fri,) studied this question.