harbor: home safety made easy Reviews

I downloaded the this app app when it was released because it was something my family and I really needed to get on top of - but then I procrastinated in getting started on harbor and setting up our plan. In early January, we had a toilet overflow that, because of a faulty flapper, wouldn’t stop running and flooded our entire master bathroom, went through the floor, and crashed water through a light fixture onto the first floor and even further into the basement. As it was happening, we knew we needed to turn the water off - but having lived in our house for a little over a year and never having an issue, we had no idea where the water shut-off was. As we were hunting around every surface of the house with flashlights, while water kept coming and doing more damage, I no lie said out loud to my husband, “this is exactly why we needed to set up this app - it literally tells you to do things like take a picture of where your water shut-off is”. Home emergencies are at least as likely to be like this one - everyday mishaps that turn serious fast - as they are to be big natural disasters, and I only wish I had followed this app’s simple steps to mitigate them earlier.

harbor’s format would likely play well if marketed to elementary schools for their students to learn about emergency preparedness. As an ADULT, I find the format condescending and overwhelmingly laborious to walk through. The content seems good, but harbor ’s UX designers clearly did not research targeted customer demographics when designing the UX. The UX seems like it was designed for young children or possibly by people who spent too much time in lockdown with their young children, deprived of adult interaction.

Friends at this app: If you’re hitting revenue targets and profits are pouring in, my perspective (and that of other reviewers that shared similar sentiments) is irrelevant. If you’re not hitting revenue targets, consider going back to the drawing board and designing a UX that attracts the people who will actually pay for this service (aka: adults). Also, the annual subscription of $99 is pretty steep. I struggle with seeing how harbor adds perpetual value at that price point, especially with the American Red Cross providing disaster preparedness plans and apps for free. Again, the numbers tell all. If a profitable and growing customer base finds the annual cost reasonable and worthwhile, alternative opinions are moot. Best of luck!

harbor has a lot of great info but I have to agree with reviewer Stargirlx12, the format is dreadful.

It’s like sitting through a tedious PowerPoint lecture from hell. The puns and jokes get old really quickly.

At certain points in the Q&A the user is prompted to take or upload a photo of things like the gas shutoff or the main circuit breaker panel. If you choose not to do it , there’s no way to go further in this section. I don’t want to give access to my photos, to just any old app (even with ios14’s greater security over photos access). My breaker panel is right out in the open. I don’t want or need a picture of it. Same for the gas shutoff and my water heater. Yes my water heater is strapped in. It’s mandatory in this state ( because 40+ gallons of scalding hot water getting loose in an earthquake is never going to end well, to say nothing about natural gas hoses being ripped out of the wall). I don’t need to take a picture of it to know if it strapped in.

I’m all for the purpose of upping your emergency preparedness. I think this is well thought out and the content doesn’t miss a beat. However, the FORMAT seems like it was made for five year olds, and that’s why I’m upset and probably won’t be using this. Instead of a straight up list, harbor “helps” you prepare with a million slides/questions per topic that you need to choose an answer to and a backstory/paragraph here and there. You go question by question which takes forever. They then congratulate you (with an annoying pop up) for completing each step.

With an app like this, I don’t want storytime. I’m not in kindergarten. I just want the info, which is excruciatingly difficult to get given the format for dummies. People- if you need an app congratulating you for getting your life in order or putting some snacks in a go bag, please work on your self-esteem.

I rarely write app reviews but this is so frustrating I had to warn other intelligent human beings that while the idea is great, the execution leaves a lot to be desired.

I realize the developers probably developed for the lowest common denominator, but please don’t forget the people who can think, process and make decisions for themselves.

harbor concept is great with lots of useful information. It’s nice to have lists and plans. It’s useful in gathering everything you need to be prepared, where to keep it, what to have on hand etc. Unfortunately the checklists don’t work. If you check something off it doesn’t update. Coming back to the list results in an unchecked box. It makes it hard to prepare when your lists never update.

Edit: Since my initial review they have fixed the bug making this a highly usable app for preparing for emergencies. Lists now work and make it great for getting together what you need. Now a five star app.

harbor covered all my bases, and even more that I hadn't thought about!

I feel like I'm fully prepared to take on nature and my regular, everyday world around me, now having had the experience of using harbor!

I'm going to be moving into my own place at some point and harbor is really helping me to know what I need for my house!! Bravo!

I'm really surprised, still really surprised to see JUST how THOROUGH harbor is!
I'm surprised to see that it even analyzes the area around your address to see what risk factors you'll have to deal with, if anything!

It's all very easy to use, very user friendly interface, and easy to digest preparation courses!

It challenges you to understand your house, car, medicine cabinet and other places that you might need to store information, items and other stuff!

I can't stop singing praises for harbor!
It's incredibly well made, and well executed!

Well done!!

It crashes constantly, or simply won’t respond. Can’t even get through one activity. Neat idea but relatively useless if you can’t actually get through anything. My family installed harbor but there’s no way to connect unless I invite them - which I can’t do because everyone uses the Apple private relay now. So nobody is connected. (No, I’m not going to invite anyone by their personal email). Really hope these issues get worked out, it could be a great utility.

harbor was exactly what I was looking for, for my wife and our three young kids. It helps us all prepare, but also shares simple things around the house like “where’s the water shutoff?” in case a leak happens when I’m not home. Fun and friendly too!

harbor is so cool it ligit shows all the natuarl disasters around the world i never knew this many was happening right now there are so many i mean like i knew there were alot of natuarl disasters happening around the world but i never knew that many I love harbor it works perfectly

I’ve tried every emergency preparedness app on harbor Store, most of the ones on the play store, and a plethora of web apps. This one takes the cake. It’s user friendly without skimping on details. I highly recommend this for anyone who wants to be a little more prepared.

I tried using my iCloud and then my Gmail however it kept saying they were invalid emails. I can’t even skip it and do it later so I have no clue how harbor is at all. I want to keep harbor however this is a bit annoying. If the developers see this can you please fix it as soon as possible. From the other reviews it seems like a good app and I’d love the chance to use if you can just fix this bug

I opened harbor it wants all my personal information before it has showed me a thing. That’s not happening until we have a little trust, here. I read your nice little privacy practices. Exactly what I would put in if I were hijacking PII.
Next, they want to sell me stuff.
Bad start folks.
Tell me how to get to the information you are trying to provide. How do you get paid?
Why do you think you need my personal stuff? I already have it all in a safer place than yours.
With reasonable answers, we may be able to do business before I change the rating an delete your app.

harbor helps me get everything in order. I had go plans, stay plans, aging supplies, but nothing was organized. The quick training sessions makes it so easy to get prepped. Love it.

Glad to have this with the strange weather because I know I'll have adequate warning now! Am recommending this site to all my friends especially out of state

I’ve been going thru and filling out the various pages, however it crashes kind of a lot, when I press “next.” It’s crashed 3 times in 10 mins

This is a great app but the pro version is way too expensive. The people that will benefit most from an app like this won’t afford these prices.

Finally an app to help protect me and my family. Taking something overwhelming and making it simple and fun. Gorgeous design and easy to use. A lifesaver...literally!

harbor finally makes my family feel safe. Thank you to the team for making such a scary process so joyful!

Earned 20 percent off coupon. Where do I find it to use?

Great and very useful app, recommend everyone to install it as its very detailed and prepares you for any disaster

2020 opened my eyes to the fact I needed to get a handle on disaster prep but googling around online for help has been so overwhelming. this app breaks it down easily, lets me keep track of all my supplies in one spot, and I can invite my family so we’re all in sync about our emergency family. I’m not one to leave reviews but, Seriously, I will not be surprised if this saves my family lives.

It’s very important to have one place to look in case of any emergencies. I feel a little safer having harbor in my pocket.

Super helpful view of my regional risk profile and what I need to be doing to keep myself safe.

Thank you! So easy to use and (literally) a life saver.

this app has given me tremendous peace of mind. I have never felt more prepared for the unexpected.