An app built on an off-the-grid ranch in rural Sonoma County is serving as a critical tech hub for free, fast and reliable information to help victims of the catastrophic Los Angeles fires — and future disasters.
The fire-tracking app Watch Duty has skyrocketed to the number six spot in Apple’s App Store listing, just below ChatGPT and ahead of Threads, Google, Instagram, Bluesky and TikTok, with 12.8 million active users, who rely on it for real-time intel on fire perimeters, but also evacuation zones, animal shelters, meal distribution locations, weather reports and other essential information for those affected by the raging Los Angeles fires.
“We decided to take a human-centered approach to the information problem,” said Watch Duty CEO and co-founder John Mills, 42, "While governments release important facts during a crisis, “no one was really thinking about user experience.”
At www.siliconvalley.com
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