IDF launch app to warn smartphone users of incoming rockets

The Israeli military has launched an app for mobile phones which tracks users’ location by GPS and tells those in the line-of-fire of incoming rockets, writes Stephen Oryszczuk

The attack alert application, developed by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), will also warn users of other threats, such as terrorist attacks or even earthquakes.

Army chiefs said the Home Front Command app improves on several civilian mobile-based warning systems developed around the time of the 2014 hostilities in Gaza, when hundreds of rockets were fired towards Israel.

Using the Global Positioning System (GPS), Lt. Col. Shlomi Maman said the army hopes to localise warnings to a greater extent, to avoid needlessly worrying civilians. “This project is to make it more selective,” he said.