The most powerful safety app for today’s world. Download Citizen to feel safer at home or out. Get real-time safety alerts and live video of incidents happening near you, updates on natural disasters or protests, and know if your loved ones are near a dangerous incident. Plus, 24/7 access to a trained Protect Agent who can help whenever you feel unsafe.
Citizen notifications have urged people to evacuate burning buildings, deterred school buses from nearby terrorist attacks and have even led to a rescue of a 1-year-old from a stolen car. Citizen may notify you of a crime in progress before the police have responded. It's meant to protect you and your community — please use it responsibly.
NEW! 24/7 access to a trained Protect Agent who can discreetly help, silently monitor your live location and audio, alert other users, call 911, monitor heart rate through your apple watch and more. No situation too big or small.
See friends on your Safety Map: Know their safety status at a glance and find out if (and when) they are near a dangerous incident in real-time. You can turn on Ghost Mode to keep your location private at any time.
Real-time Safety Alerts: Location-based notifications help you avoid potentially dangerous situations.
Live Breaking Video: Watch live video of an incident unfold from different angles or broadcast live from the scene.
Keep Your Community Safe: Report incidents right when they happen to protect the people around you
In case of emergencies, Citizen also offers the Protect subscription to help protect you and your loved ones. You can read the Terms of Use here: https://citizen.com/privacy/protect-supplemental-tos
Citizen: Local Safety Alerts Negative Reviews
Another Pointless Subscription Based AppI’ve had this app for a few years now, and I really enjoyed it previously. Unfortunately, every single time I open this app now, I'm bombarded with subscription notices. If you are not paying for this app, you can't really get access to much of anything. Some alerts are free, but many alerts require a paid subscription to even see what the incident is. On the incidents which are free, if you listen or watch any of the videos some stop midway and tell you that you cannot finish the recording unless you upgrade your subscription. What's the point of having a "free app," if I then have to pay to find out what the incident is? I might as well not have the app! Other problems with the application is the false alerts and unmonitored comments. The comments most of the time are rude; which often range between blaming the homeless or victims in incidences. There's no monitoring comments... beside the "don't be rude" warning you get when opening the chat box.
There's a number of alerts that come through that aren't verified. Verified alerts are part of the subscription, so you very likely will get false alerts. This app relies heavily on its users as it's sources, yet turns around and makes you pay for the content they aren't paying for themselves. For a free application that was meant to let citizens know of major incidents happening around them for their safety, it sure feels like they have prioritized their own pockets before the users..C_290Version: 0.1170.0
You need to pay for everythingI've had this app for a couple of years now, and I really enjoyed it previously. Unfortunately, every single time I open this app now, I'm bombarded with subscription notices. If you are not paying for this app, you can't really get access to much of anything. Some alerts are free, but many alerts require a paid subscription to even see what the incident is. On the incidents which are free, if you listen or watch any of the videos some stop midway and tell you that you cannot finish the recording unless you upgrade your subscription. What's the point of having a "free app," if I then have to pay to find out what the incident is? I might as well not have the app! Other problems with the application is the false alerts and unmonitored comments. The comments most of the time are rude; which often range between blaming the homeless or victims in incidences. There's no monitoring comments... beside the "don't be rude" warning you get when opening the chat box. There's a number of alerts that come through that aren't verified. Verified alerts are part of the subscription, so you very likely will get false alerts. This app relies heavily on its users as it's sources, yet turns around and makes you pay for the content they aren't paying for themselves. For a free application that was meant to let citizens know of major incidents happening around them for their safety, it sure feels like they have prioritized their own pockets before the users..BrobrobrostopitnowVersion: 0.1146.0
You have to pay to use app nowI've had this app for over a year now, and I really enjoyed it previously. Unfortunately, every single time open this app now, I'm bombarded with subscription notices. If you are not paying for this app, you can't really get access to much of anything. Some alerts are free, but many alerts require a paid subscription to even see what the incident is. On the incidents which are free, if you listen or watch any of the videos some stop midway and tell you that you cannot finish the recording unless you upgrade your subscription. What's the point of having a "free app," if I then have to pay to find out what the incident is? I might as well not have the app! Other problems with the application is the false alerts and unmonitored comments. The comments most of the time are rude; which often range between blaming the homeless or victims in incidences. There's no monitoring comments... beside the "don't be rude" warning you get when opening the chat box. There's a number of alerts that come through that aren't verified. Verified alerts are part of the subscription, so you very likely will get false alerts. This app relies heavily on its users as it's sources, yet turns around and makes you pay for the content they aren't paving for themselves. For a free application that was meant to let citizens know of major incidents happening around them for their safety, it sure feels like they have prioritized their own pockets before the users..Kanesbuggin78Version: 0.1135.0
Less useful than it should beI liked that if I heard sirens I could open up the app to see what was going on. However, recently the app has been updated to basically reduce the amount of local information that’s brought to users. Before the update, I could scroll through a long list of incidents in the area and see dozens of dots throughout my community. Now I only see a handful of incidents in my local area. There is a long list of trending incidents such as… a mudslide in Beverly Hills? An incident in the Bronx? Both of which are several hundred miles away from me?? I don’t understand why the list of “trending incidents” from cities that aren’t even remotely close to my own is longer than the list of incidents in my own city, or why I can even see those incidents in the first place. If I was connected to people who live in those cities, maybe that would make sense, but I don’t really care about a two-vehicle collision that happened on an interstate in Chicago. If it’s significant enough, I’ll see it in the news.
If they change the app back to the way it was, it would be really helpful if there was a way to sort the list of incidents, such as by most recent or by proximity. The list of incidents didn’t seem to be in any particular order and you’d have to comb through them to find what was happening in the last few minutes versus incidents that occurred several hours ago..RiversandrhoadesVersion: 0.1121.1
Moderation and UI of CommentsTo begin with, I use citizen in the LA region, this is a nice app to have on hand just cause theres helpful reference of alerts in my area. Great examples would be of Covid alerts and other Major Event alerts. First problem that comes up is constant and inconsistent changes to parts of the app. Layouts will be different (sometimes from alert to a different alert) and glitchy. I dont mind redesigns, but why is glitchy and different each time in small shorts-pans. I rather the app gets no changes for a while and comes out with a less buggy update. Second of is user to user interaction, why have replies if there is no way to revisit quickly to see if someones reply. Furthermore, the comments section itself are very buggy. And now lastly, the lack of moderation, blatantly bigoted, racist, homophobic, hateful rhetoric and other harmful comments are made constantly on it. And it flies. Its hard to continually keep reporting comments if theres so many, and the UI constantly bugs out. (To Note: I have an iPhone 14 with the latest IOS and most current update of the Citizen app) I want citizen to be aware of the type of audience they’re attracting and to take time into their app as a whole. Please invest more into the programming staff and make this app better. Right now as it stands, not much is keeping me here. And it’s unfortunate because it has potential..Back to the First iPhoneVersion: 0.1127.0
Dangerous and not to be trustedI just installed this app about 30 mins ago and was immediately confronted with subscribing to Citizen’s premium service. It was then suggested that I allow access to my contacts so that I could add my Emergency contacts, which meant I would be sending invites to join Citizen to each contact I would add (given they do not already use Citizen). Last but not least, I was warned that I need to enable & allow the app to always allow access to my phone’s location. I then decided to look around and saw that there was no notification
fence to limit a certain area of interest, for example 1.4 mile radius. I closed the app & when I later opened it, I was again met with being asked to subscribe to the premium service. It was then I did a web search on the legitimacy of this app & though this app is legitimate, it is not officially supported by official sources & notifications are driven by employees of Citizen listening & combing through police scanners, as well as crowd-sourced. This is troubling for me b/c without official support, there is a potential for false alerts b/c of the lack of oversight (verification) which in turn is extremely dangerous in today’s society. I will not be using this app for this reason in addition to the constant push for the premium service. Until this app is officially supported I cannot recommend this app..AgilisOneVersion: 0.1110.0
Alert Radius Does Not WorkI’ve used Citizen for probably five years now. But as they continue to push on ways to get paid, they have neglected core functionality. Specifically, there is a setting to dictate the radius of which you expect to be notified of activities/crime. Mine is set to 2.5 miles. As in, alert me to any activity 2.5 miles or closer. This simply does not work. I live in the greater Los Angeles area, and I get notifications from all over. Of course I feel awful about the barricaded suspect shooting at police, or the missing dogs, or the elderly person gone missing three days ago. But when it’s 20 or 25 miles away, where I can not help, nor am I impacted directly, these alerts do nothing other than stress me out. They put a pay wall around this notification setting. And seemingly while doing so, they broke its functionality. I try to slide it up or down, am told I need to get premium, and it resets back to 2.5 miles. If only it respected the 2.5 miles I would be all set, but instead I’m hearing about a crimes two hours away. I still use the app, but I turned off all notifications. I don’t need my Apple Watch going off every 10 minutes for incidents that simply are not relevant to my area or my family. I emailed their support and received no response. Unfortunate..JGN1981Version: 0.1179.0
Who cares if we die…right?As a security officer who’s always getting notifications of gunman literally a blocks away, I hate that I can’t hear the police say the description of the shooter/ gun flasher because there’s a report a half city block from me that he’s on the loose targeting security officers…idk what he looks like because you request us to pay for something that really shouldn’t require payment. Do you need to pay to scroll the news? No you don’t. Do I have to pay a police officer to tell me the description of a criminal? No I don’t because they’re providing a public service and aren’t greedy. They actually want to help. So instead of making us pay for this, actually create something that you can make money off of because at this point you’re just saving the rich who can afford this which is probably 20% of your downloads and 60% of your revenue. Making it free will help/ save people. What am I going to do with hearing only 3 seconds of the dispatch recording huh? That’s enough time to say “suspect” and that’s it. Get off your high horse, realize you won’t be able to sell this app ever because you don’t want to help people you just want to tease them for money. But whatever, right? Who cares if this gunman comes to kill me, right? You’re obviously on the line between supporting people and criminals..Jsnaow zifmldwvahaVersion: 0.1164.0
Not accurate, have to pay.I downloaded this app months ago and barely used it. I’ve worked in public safety and love to keep up with what’s going on in my area so thought I give it a try. I’ve had police scanner apps and others including my personal favorite, Pulse Point. Well the other day I got a Citizen notification for a traffic Crash 1.5miles away. So I naturally go on pulse point to listen to the local FD. Pulse point allows you to see in real time what calls FDA are on and even listen to the scanner feeds. To my believe there wasn’t any reported accident! Hmm strange but didn’t think anything of it. Well now the last few days I’ve been getting accident notifications however I’m unable to verify it on Pulse point. Nothing! So either Citizen app are creating false reports to keep me engaged on the app or there’s a serious flaw in the app. Which gets me into the next flaw. You have to pay a ridiculous amount a month to “feel safe” with this app even tho it’s not accurate. Like others have said you’re better off looking on social media or having the ring app. Note pulse point is only for FDs so it doesn’t have police info but it was the app I used to fact check Citizens app. So if your still looking for a app that shows police activity you’ll need to keep searching because citizens app is not it..Swiftwater ProductionsVersion: 0.1144.0
Do not download this app. It’s a dumpster fire that only gets worse.I had this app months ago when they didn’t have a premium service and it was nice to see what sort of things were happening in the are but they would frequently alert me that “*my wife* had been in extreme proximity to a (shooting, car crash, etc…)” which was all a marketing ploy to try get me to open the app and look through the ads they’d serve so they could get paid. They essentially would fabricate a near personal crisis for users to get them to use the app. How horrid, disgusting, inhumane and most of all— manipulative.
I recently downloaded to see if I could figure out some info on a recent collision at a crossroads near my work and any sort of relevant info is locked behind a paywall with misleading information and false incidents posted frequently to try to get you to upgrade to the full premium service.
They don’t care about public safety, information, or their customers. All they want is a quick buck in any dirty way they can get it. Don’t support the low life devs who designed this it’s an awful glimpse in how people use technology and information to exploit others emotionally and financially. What a scam. Google some news in your area if you need reliable, trustworthy and free information that won’t rob you of your self respect..RhjdfghVersion: 0.1144.0
Text messages alerts from users who are also on this is an appI’ve recently installed this app on my phone and I’ve added some of my contacts who currently uses the citizen app. The issue I’m having is whenever those contacts text me I have absolutely no way to know that they text me unless I physically unlock my phone and check my text messages. There are absolutely no alerts at all to prompt me to check my phone whenever I receive a text message. I’ve contacted tech-support after trying everything within the app and on my phone to troubleshoot this issue myself. It is taking them over 12 days to simply answer my question as to why this is happening. Meanwhile, this has been happening for months now since installing this app on my phone and it is becoming a major inconvenience.
I will give them a few days and if nothing has been resolved I will be deleting the app, contacting everyone whom I’ve added and shared this app with to let them know that I’m no longer using it. I could also go on and on about the types of notifications that I am receiving in conjunction to the area where I live and the privacy concerns. It’s just not worth the headache in my opinion, but this would make this review too long and the information contained within may not be red because it is so long..Nu MuhVersion: 0.1030.0
Used to be the best app on the marketAs stated, this used to be the best app out there in terms of getting up to date news. But it’s been reduced to seeing limited information about what’s going on in my little neighborhood and quite frankly? I don’t care about what’s going on in my neighborhood. You used to be able to see alerts from all over the country, then you had to navigate an extra step to see news from neighborhoods you subscribed too. Then you couldn’t see anything from any neighborhood but your own unless you paid.
I downloaded Citizen years ago to keep tabs on what’s going in the larger city where I work every single day. The up to date news alerts came over sometimes faster than they’d come over on my friends police scanners. It was impressive. And I really didn’t mind paying for the quality they were once providing. However, even behind the paywall they make it IMPOSSIBLE to see the information I paid for and get alerts about it. I cancelled the subscription and now I’m deleting the app. There’s way better apps that deliver the exact same information in the exact same way that Citizen used too but I do hope they come to their senses and change things back one day..Dear.BrooklynVersion: 0.1144.0
Why are you trying to charge me for information I get free online?!I was recently going through the sexual offenders in my area and realized that I have to pay to see who they are! This is kind of ridiculous when I can go online and specifically find every single sex offender in my area, including a picture, and a description of their offenses. I used to really get a good use out of this app, especially having teens who like to go out and about, but now everything is about money and subscriptions and pop ups and blocking content for payment. It would make more sense to charge a small one time fee for access to at least most of the app. (Idea: maybe You can charge additionally for other conveniences on someone’s particular route etc. so you all can keep making “income” off of this app) It feels wrong to have to pay, when the local news catches most of this, & Especially when regarding SEXUAL OFFENDERS INFO! They are legally required to register and put on a public domain! How dare you make people pay to see something like this, that can avoid some real harm to kids in communities all over..Truly disgusted.Version: 0.1178.0
Used to love this app…This app was extremely useful years ago but has become nothing but a money grab and it’s honestly kinda gross. They’ve added a map layer that shows you how many sex offenders are around you but you have to pay to see the photos and read the info for said offenders. Like at least support keeping women and children safe without a fee!! Tell me a man runs this app without telling me a man runs this app. You can’t listen to audio without paying. And I guess you can’t see videos either now unless you pay. Videos users are posting for free, mind you. The comments used to be helpful neighbors chiming in but no one takes the app serious anymore so now it’s more often than not just a bunch of sick humor and snarky sometimes vile replies (and I’m a girl with dead parents and hella dark humor about it so when I’m disgusted that’s saying something.) Citizen is losing quality all while features disappear for the poors. And it’s the poorer neighborhoods with the higher crime rates - people who can’t afford to pay can no longer be as informed to keep themselves safe. It’s really unfortunate and short-sighted. Or maybe it’s just pure greed..AmandaValentine978Version: 0.1149.0
Issues w/no support getting resolveI signed up for this app over a year ago. Used it very often then all of a sudden, when trying to sign in , I kept receiving a message; retry over count. Tried a few more times, receiving same pop up message. Then received a message to try again in 24 hours. Waited until next evening, tried once again to sign in, same lock out. After 2 weeks of this issue, I emailed support. They told me to do same thing as previous pop up messages. Let them know, already had done exactly what had been suggested and had deleted app and downloaded again before contacting support so when they said to try deleting, had already tried. I decided to try it again, now that tech support was supposedly looking into my account and why this was occurring. Waiting 24 hours -48 hours and deleting app, then downloading again several times over a Month, NEVER heard from support again, I decided to rate & write this review. Such a shame to have a possible useful app tool But, what good is it, if you can’t get signed in and when asking Citizen Support to help correct/resolve bugs/issues and they don’t, well……..?!!😡.11CarolynVersion: 0.1053.0
Well, it was good while it lasted.Such a great app, despite the constant henpecking to to upgrade. I completely understand that developers, like all the rest of us, need to make a living, and they have the right to charge for anything they choose when it comes to an app they designed. Consumers then choose what to buy based upon the value the app brings to them. Unfortunately, the developer's approach now feels like a bait (scary alerts, connections with neighbors, awesome information... for free) and switch (see how much you like it? Now you're going to pay for it). Nothing wrong with charging for this, and then evaluate how to evaluate and manage the resultant customer loss. Only the developer knows their own revenue loss tolerance and acceptable growth rate. There are many ways to generate revenue, and depending on what customers do in response to what is now a useless app unless you pay $5 per month, the developer may or may not put forth the effort to come up with an alternative revenue raising plan, perhaps one which is less dependent upon pay walls being forced between the customer and any sort of useful information. Byeeeeeee.........What_the?ChicagoVersion: 0.1132.0
BewareBeware of the “premium safety service”/“protect service” which is one quick click (with only a tiny “skip” in the top right corner) and seems like part of the set up process but actually is a $199 (!!!) charge if not cancelled after the 14 day free trial. I find it interesting that if you want to buy a $1 coffee using your phone you have to use Touch ID, or enter every single detail of your credit card, or some form of ridiculous, excessive verification, but they can basically deceive people into buying a $199 subscription with no verification. Not to mention the fact that Apple buries subscriptions within your phone, and the ability to cancel it, so users who aren’t familiar with iPhone minutiae won’t know how to terminate it. Or will have to deal with a huge headache of trying via Apple support. And let’s be honest they won’t refund it after the fact when you get the surprise charge from Apple on your statement and call to dispute it. Which is so messed up cause they clearly designed the set up to intentionally deceive! People are hurting right now and this is what companies that we rely on for Covid updates are doing to its users! And Apple allows it. Disgusting..GnfnonVersion: 0.1026.0
The app used to be usable now it’s exclusively pay to use garbageThe app used to let you enter your address and we’ll as friends and families locations so you could get up to date notifications about what’s happening in those areas. Now that feature among many others, that used to be free are locked behind a pay wall. The app used to give you city wide coverage of what was going on, now it only notifies you of events taking places at a maximum distance of 2.5MILES unless you pay for their stupid subscription service and they are asking an absurd price for it, especially considering most of this used to be free. It went from an app that was 8/10 usable without buying their subscription to an app that is 1/10 without buying their subscription. It’s a grotesque way to market a product especially something that deals with something as serious as life and death. I could be driving home 3 or 4 miles away, only to not be notified that on my way home I could find myself in a dangerous situation because I wasn’t within the absolutely absurdly tiny radius of 2.5 miles. This app is disgusting..Klnnvyin cVersion: 0.1152.0
Pay to see pretty much anythingThis app is steadily getting worse. Every time you use the app, your asked to subscribe and pay. Lots of features locked behind paywall, basically you get notifications of a crime up to 30 minutes or more later. They consistently show crimes in other parts of the city and suburbs nowhere near my location. Then i constantly see reports of gunshots really close within earshot and windows open but nothing heard outside, lots of false reports. They constantly let you know that there is a person convicted of sexual assault living nearby but refuse to show where without payment. They constantly let you know you need to pay for a feature to get any info. Any actual crime or fire in progress gets you only like 5 seconds of dispatch recordings before they tell you to pay to hear more. Pay, Pay, Pay Pay!!!!! Also the comment section is nothing but vile and cruel comments. Constant racism and gang banging by people in the comment sections. Gang bangers gloating in the comment section with no repercussions. This app give you no incentive to upgrade to a subscription.Nyro510Version: 0.1184.0
STOP THE GOD FORSAKEN TRUMPETSWhyyyyyy is there no option to turn off these horribly obnoxious trumpets?? They are SO disruptive I had to silence ALL Citizen notifications. Look, I get it. The Citizen app can be a downer & they want to add positive news, but this is a total UX fail. I have pets, & I’m truly happy when a lost pet is found. But 1) I don’t use this app to feel good. I use it for helpful safety info. 2) Does my phone need a whole ROYAL announcement? Is the Queen here?? It’s not even a standard alert. Why? It’s jarring & obnoxious. And while it’s great that Citizen is being used to help locate lost pets, these aren’t helpful at all if I was never notified that the animal was missing. If I HAD been, fine. But it appears those only go out locally, so the “found” alerts just feel like a self-serving way for Citizen to go, “See?!? We aren’t always doom & gloom!” But, again, I don’t have this app to get the warm fuzzies. I want relevant, important info. I’ve been avoiding turning off the notifications for Citizen entirely, but I’m done. I’ve searched for ways to mute these specifically or change them to normal alerts. It’s too much..NYC6621Version: 0.1049.0
No Longer Free:At the beginning Citizen App was my go to place to see any incidents where I need to steer clear from. Very helpful by the way!! Whether I was driving/riding transportation or walking. Citizen App allowed its users to gain free access to know what is happening in their own neighborhood. When otherwise they would not know. All for free!!! Now I understand keeping an app updated may cost $$. Even fixing bugs may cost $$. But if this was the cause why wouldn’t the developers of Citizen App charge from the very beginning when it opened to the public. The information that they receive is from police scanners, which is free!! But now every thing on Citizen App you are harassed with subscription pop ups! You cannot see past incidents with out being bombarded with a subscription pop up. You cannot read nor view live footage without being blocked by a subscription notification. So I question what is the sense of having Citizen App downloaded on my phone if I cannot view anything. Thanks but good luck!.W.Ev'aVersion: 0.1144.0
INSANE Paywalls; They Don’t Care About Us AnymoreUsed to be free. Everything on there is public information that you can get for free, just takes longer to use another site and other sites won’t alert you as far as I know. Their paywall blocks 99% of settings so you’ll get EVERY notification (sometimes the exact same one over multiple days) from coast to coast. It’s like the boy who cried wolf every time I hear it. Stresses me out that something might be happening nearby. They do this on purpose so we'll cave in and pay the $20+ per month. Horrible.
I’m a young, fairly attractive woman living in a sketchy area of Denver. I got this app to get timely alerts while I’m out since I walk or take public transportation. I’m security for high profile events as well.
This app used to give me some peace of mind. It’d be real nice if they didn’t get greedy and genuinely cared about our safety, because I can’t afford this now. They even block off all the info and blur the photos of newly registered seggs offenders! Citizen app did a total 180° on their morals. Totally disgusting!.Don’t download this app..Version: 0.1170.0
This App Needs a Trigger WarningThis app has progressively gotten worse about sending triggering content in notifications and not censoring things appropriately in posts, to the point where I am deleting it.
It didn’t seem to be as big of an issue when I downloaded the app years ago, but it seems like those pushing out the content have forgotten that their subject matter is people. I understand the importance of funneling people away from crime/accident scenes but sending out information about suicides and accidents is an entirely different scenario than an armed criminal on the loose and at times it feels like they all get treated the same. I got this app to be more aware of real time incidents, not to be triggered opening my phone on my lunch break or to see gory footage/photos at all, let alone without warning. The people running this seem to have forgotten that they are humans reporting on human events. I understand having a job that requires needing to dissociate at time to get it done, I have one too, but they need to remember how to flip the switch back to humanity..HappiepandaVersion: 0.1153.0
FrustratedI had no issues with this app until yesterday with a new update. I liked looking on the map and zooming in on my area to see what had occurred overnight or when we are heading home from outside the city, I could check which areas seemed to be having a concentration of incidents so I knew which route to take home. Now, the map is partially covered with descriptions of active incidents, which may not even be in my area. I liked being able to click on the incidents I wanted to know more about. Also, it is now only showing active alerts. I cannot zoom in to see past events. I’ve been all through Settings, but have not discovered a way to see past alerts. My city has a lot of crime, so I do have other ways of keeping track of things in my area, but Citizen was a great resource to find out more info (although, when my neighbor was murdered, it never showed up in Citizen). I wish this particular update didn’t happen. Not sure if I’ll be using the app much longer, as it is no longer giving me the info I need..Muselover75Version: 0.1085.0
Not worth it anymore.I use to love this app but now I'm deleting it. Everything is locked behind a pay wall. Once the app got popular they slowly implement it, paying features it started with Citizen Protect which was 5 a month. So, I guess since nobody was paying for that they decided to fully force you to do so if you want to continue to use the app. Things that use to be free to use with the app require a subscription which is 5 a month. Want to watch a video that was posted? Better subscribe. Want to create an alert around your work or home that's a subscription, want to see past events? You guessed it subscription! The app use to be really good and I use to sit on this app for up to 30 mins at a time looking at stuff going on in different states can't do that now subscription! I mean you can go to the other states and see the events but forget seeing any videos. Honestly, the app isn't worth having like it use to be. You do get alerts when there are things going on and you can chat but that's it!🤷🏾♂️.Mr.Six14Version: 0.1146.0
Doesn’t show ANYTHING anymore - unless you payCitizen used to be good. Now, though, you don’t see any local incidents except what seems like a random selection of a few (<10) throughout the city, and they want you to pay to play. And if they don’t even show you at least a map of incidents and a short description without paying, then how can you trust that anything more would show if you did pay?
It will sometimes show an incident happening in another state that has made national news - which I understand, and I do want to see those. But other times it will send a notification for something happening in my state, but a different city, for no apparent reason (just local crime, not something big) - while not alerting on anything happening in my city!
You can’t get past much in the app without hitting a paywall, to the point where if you do see something relevant, you can’t see everything because you have to pay. And those sex offender alerts? Yeah, that’s just an ad for a paid feature giving you information that I’m pretty sure you can look up for free somewhere else.
The last straw was at 4:30 this morning - there was a swat situation about a mile from my house, an officer was killed, another injured, the suspect and two people inside the house dead. What did Citizen have to say about that? Absolutely. NOTHING. No alert, not so much as a pin on the map. So why have the app at all? Well, I don’t have it anymore because I deleted it..Ryan5678Version: 0.1166.0
No longer usefulI’ve relied on this app for the last few years to keep me aware of what’s going on in my area, however it’s really gone downhill. I recently updated the app and I can’t help but think that’s has something to do with it, as now it’s constantly pushing a subscription version. Prior, if anything odd in my area happened I could open up the app to get info and without fail there would be SOMETHING about the incident, even if just to say something general like “police activity”. However, about 45 min ago I was woken up by very clear and present gun shots and still nothing about it has showed up in the app. I would’ve thought I had dreamt the shots, except my partner heard them as well. This is the kind of thing that would've registered in the app immediately, prior to me updating, so I’m very confused why it’s not appearing now. Looking for a new alternative, as I’m not going to pay their ridiculous subscription fee for the same kind of local community driven updates I previously got for free..Ashwynn7Version: 0.1153.0
Was a decent app until recentlyRevisited, it’s getting worse. I was hoping it would get better but the problem is as less people use it the less “citizens” report. They need to rethink their business model. You will be bombarded with upsells now when just trying to see the basic stuff. No way to turn that off. If they were smart they could make money off an occasional ad to make revenue, instead they want a pay wall. Fuhgetaboutit. Time to delete. I tried a couple more days to get over the pop ups trying to get me to pay, but it’s too annoying and definitely not worth paying for. Thumbs down 👎🏽👎🏽👎🏽👎🏽👎🏽👎🏽👎🏽👎🏽👎🏽👎🏽👎🏽
Again revisited, and now since almost no one is reporting crimes, they post stuff from much farther away to fill in when serious crimes are happening down the street. The whole basis of what made the app work is gone. Someone needs to revisit the way it originally worked and throw in occasional ads to support it. The pay wall model is a complete failure..LittlelabsVersion: 0.1179.0
Amazing business decision to lock features that were previously available behind a pay wallYou have to be extremely terrible at business to think that it is a good idea to lock features that were available before behind a pay wall. Before I was able to see all of the alerts in my area even alerts from several days ago. Now if I wanna see some thing that happened just two days ago, I have to pay for the "plus" tier. i'm going to be honest with you citizen: no one is going to do this. Absolutely no one. In fact, less people are going to be using your app because now it's totally unfunctional. You click an event that happened only to see that it is locked behind the plus tear basically everything you see on the map is locked behind the plus tear. What's the point in even using this app if you can't see a single thing that has happened. What's the point and using the app? If you can't see anything that has happened. It's useless. And it's being uninstalled..Brittney SpearowsVersion: 0.1158.0
Very Different App These DaysI've been using Citizen for a couple of years now. It used to be great, particularly around the height of the COVID pandemic. However, everything is now behind a paywall. You can't post any incidents or view old ones that happened not even a week ago. It's useless unless you pay the premium. What's the point of an app called "citizen" to be fueled by local "citizens" when really you can't even rely on it unless you pay! I remember being able to easily navigate the app and getting prompt notifications. Now, notifications come "late." "Late" because Citizen notifies you of some really worrying incidents that, after you tap on the notification to take you to the app, turns out to be SO OLD or reported SO LATE that YOU CAN'T EVEN VIEW IT ANYMORE! The real-time notifications are used to lure you into the app to try and get you to... yup. To pay. What a joke this app has become. It's a shame because it's supposed to help the community..CocoleeeenVersion: 0.1157.0
Bring Back Useful Version Prior to Update!This disappointing August 2022 update now only shows what is current in your immediate area within 24 hours. This is laborious and debilitating. For parents and more, the now removed longer-term incident indicators provided a welcome snapshot of where we were heading, of the area you're traveling through, or to, or where your children are, college areas, and neighborhoods. At a glance, it gave trends and history, and data. Now it tells me nothing but partial data often out of full context for my locale - subject to the time checked. This update has greatly lessened overall safety. It lulls a false sense of security and requires unreasonable time to put together a mental map for the user, as well as search comments and video updates on recent significant area incidents. If this does not change to not only include current information on my specific locale, but also the useful and more broad prior mapped history at a glance, my entire family will be deleting this app..CityFamily4Version: 0.1102.0
Pay to use, glitches a lot, false addressesMultiple times the address for the incident is incorrect, or the spelling of street names is off. Right now theres two completely different locations for the same incident, with the same video. Every-time I turn my phone sideways for a video the app doesnt let me turn it back ?¿ Every-time I click go live- on accident- it wants me to enable my microphone, and forces me to settings without an option to exit, so I have exit the app just to go back home. Also moderating has been an issue and there are a lot of racist, discriminatory comments. Its become so frustrating to use with these glitches, the constant bombardment of subscription alerts, and disgusting comments.
This was free at first and now they just want you to sign up. Why would I sign up for Pro, when there are already so many simple issues with the layout of the free design? Wouldn’t recommend this to people anymore..Koko koko 22Version: 0.1182.0
Loved it but now everything behind a paywallI started using this app when I moved to a new city I was not familiar with a few years ago. This app was amazing and really did make me feel safer. There was a period where the app seemed to not be working. I stopped getting notifications of incidents in my area and, when I opened the app, there were no dots indicating any activity. The app appears to be updated now but unfortunately, that update has put all useful information behind a subscription. I wouldn’t mind paying to use this app but it really should be a one-time fee. I’m not paying $40 PER YEAR for this. There isn’t even a free trial option to even see what this “new premium” gets you. And,if I’m not mistaken, isn’t all of the information being relayed essentially crowd-sourced from other users? So, it’s $40/year to use the platform? I Can get live updates in my city for free on Twitter. I miss the convenience of this app but there are other ways to get the same information..TarvesVersion: 0.1181.0
Good Idea, Poor ExecutionCitizen REALLY needs to allow users to set a notification radius.
For example, I don’t need to be notified about an incident almost 30 miles away from me. I straight up don’t care about it. What I would care about though is everything within about a 1.5 mile radius. But I can’t do that.
Because you don’t have that feature it actually carries a few negative impacts for the users.
1. I am complacent, the Citizen app gives me the perception that I am being spammed because I am notified multiple times per day about events that don’t and won’t impact me.
2. I don’t actually know how close something might be until I open the app. Whereas if I had a radius setting and was notified I would know to be alert right away. Potentially saving precious time.
3. Because I am getting notified of things 30 miles away or further, e.g. Washington D.C. Citizen ironically entirely fails to notify me of things within the zone I care about the most.
4. I am honestly getting tired of all these notifications that are ultimately meaningless to the original intent or advertised intent of the app.
I have uninstalled the app because I am so tired of the constant spamming. It’s unfortunate because I really like and support the original intent. But if users don’t have control of their radius then it is ultimately useless.
Once this is corrected I will gladly reinstall the app.
I hope this finds the right hands,
Paul Heinrich.Waterboy330Version: 0.1037.0
Used to be good but now has a crazy paywallThis app used to be good. People would post crimes, police activity, missing pets, gunshots etc. But now it’s a complete dead zone. I live in a really populated city and I’ll see that the most recent posts are from 4 days to 2 weeks old. The reason ? Most likely because you have to pay to do practically anything on there. You have to pay to change your location? That doesn’t make any sense. You have to pay to see recent sexual offenders in your own neighborhood! That’s so stupid and immoral. On top of that it shows you recent activity from completely different states. Why would I care what’s going on in a neighborhood in Chicago if I live on the complete opposite side of the U.S? I have to pay to update my location but can see activity from a location almost 900mi away. This app should just be wiped or remade or updated to where the paywall isn’t so intense. I get it , you need to make money but is the way you’re doing it working? No..TheyDidn'tPayMeToDoThisVersion: 0.1182.0
Was restricted and never told yet still chargedI was restricted for violating their rules. They never told me. Not an email not a message nothing. I hadn’t been able to post a comment so I emailed their support team & did not receive a reply. 10 days later I sent another email. Again no reply however when I tried to post a comment this time as a test, a message popped up saying your blocked. No explanation no opportunity to contest it nothing. I see vile vile comments on this app all the time which is what I finally had enough of & responded to. Normally I don’t engage but when you see these constant disgusting things you break. Thinking about it afterwards I realized most are probably bots which is another thing citizens app doesn’t not control. Yet these people still continue to post the most sick things. I canceled my subscription. In my city police radios will no longer be accessible to the public very soon anyway so it will be just occasional posts from the public..Apple need adobe flash playerVersion: 0.1179.0
App is in a nose diveHad this app a couple of years. It was funish. Could see somewhat how many car accidents were around me. Usually you could tell what police or fire activity was going on. Once it notified me of my apartment dumpster on fire. Not really useful but decent info to know. Now the notifications are mostly gone and everything you press brings up a subscription notice. If you are not paying for this app, you can't really get access to much of anything. And there is zero reason to pay for a twentieth the notices that it had before. Some alerts are free, but many alerts require a paid subscription to even see what the incident is. On the incidents which are free, if you listen or watch any of the videos some stop midway and tell you that you cannot finish the recording unless you upgrade your subscription. I get being paid for work, but this app requires a wide base of people reporting or professional access to systems they don’t have. I’m done.CharmingarbageVersion: 0.1135.0
There should be text-based incident reportingI work at a school. We had a lock down situation in which I didn't know what was happening - just that we were in lock down and could not leave our rooms. The incident happened right after final dismissal and I was alone in my classroom, with the lights out and trying to be absolutely silent. I wanted to report the incident on Citizen but I did not want to show live video or make any sound at all. I thought there would be some way to type an incident report but I couldn't see a way to do that on the app. Fortunately the situation turned out to be less dangerous than it could have been and the whole thing was over within 45 minutes, but it would have been great to submit a report to try to get some information about what was going on from the community.
Generally the app is good, and the idea behind it is great, but you can't always shoot video or talk..JhndglsVersion: 0.1080.0
Fun and informative.UPDATE: The always-on location requirement has become even more intrusive (ie you can't use the app without allowing always-on location access). One star and deleted.
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Woulda been a 5-star review but the app just started prompting for always-on location access EVERY time you open the app. Not cool. Annoying enough that I'm now considering deleting an app that I tend to check on a daily basis.
EDIT:
The developer was kind enough to respond to my review clarifying that they do indeed perform the action that I've claimed is intrusive and annoying. But it's ok because they promise to protect my privacy in the process.
"Hi there, Citizen's mission has always been to keep people informed and protected by using technology responsibly. We ask that you enable your location settings so that Citizen can work in the background, even when you're not using the app, to send you real-time, sometimes life-saving crime and safety alerts. We understand some users are concerned about their privacy when sharing their location data. We can assure you that Citizen protects all user data by storing as little as necessary to run our safety network. We encrypt all data and connections. And we will never share or sell user data to third parties. If your settings aren't properly configured, you will see a reminder to update them. You can dismiss that modal to continue into the app, but it will appear again the next time you open Citizen.".AmongmanyVersion: 0.937.0
They want you to pay for safetyYou guys have a really cool, great app here. I’ve used it for years to know what was going on around me in the city. It’s helped me a few times to avoid areas I was nearby when bad things started happening. I really think the new subscription model is 1) just morally wrong, to charge people for public safety information, and 2) far too expensive for the service that’s provided. I understand running the app isn’t free, and I’d hate to see ads in the middle of getting an active shooter update, but I also don’t want to pay $40 to know where the danger is at any given time. Maybe try getting donations or getting in with law enforcement and be tax-subsidized. Sell the app to fema or something if you’re trying to cash out so bad. I’m really disappointed because you have such a great product that was so handy and now it’s capitalizing on disenfranchised communities. Trying to make a buck off people trying to avoid violent crimes and dangers..(Concerned) CitizenVersion: 0.1160.0
Could of been a great appThis app had potential but they completely flopped it for greed. They want you to pay 5 dollars a month for inaccurate information. When I click on the registered sex offenders map it only shows 1 person living close to me and I have to PAY to see any details even though that information is free!? When going to the sex offender FREE website it says 5 sex offenders living close to me and I can see pictures, details about their cases, and full addresses. Kinda wrong of you to have people pay for something that is publicly free especially when your not even accurate about it. Secondly I've had this app for about a month now. Nothing ever ever happens around me. Which I know isn't true cause I live in a terrible area and actually had a car accident happen right infront of my house. No word about it on the app. Do not recommend this. A good app to keep up with what's going on around for free is called "Nextdoor" 10/10 recommend that one..Kor1200Version: 0.1152.0
Update ruined this otherwise helpful appOpened this app after the update and discovered there’s no map any longer to view incidents in my surrounding area (even with location shared & data on). I tried closing and reloading several times without any luck. There’s a video feed now instead, which isn’t helpful because it pushes videos randomly, they’re not organized by time posted or even location nearest to me. I also can’t view the incidents from a birds eye view. Another issue with the videos is if you select an incident to view more, the app automatically turns the phone volume all the way up (way too loud) — I keep my volume off for a reason! I don’t want to disturb others if I’m checking this app in public. An app should never automatically change your phones volume, it’s not only annoying, it feels like it’s violating how i choose to set up my device.
I have an iphone 13 pro - still having issues. Please fix your app..K_2MariVersion: 0.1079.0
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