The IDF has released a mobile app to warn Israelis of security threats in their area.

Launched last week on Android devices and going live on Tuesday for Apple customers, the app, called Home Front Command, will alert civilians to impending threats near them, such as rockets being fired from Gaza, earthquakes and terror attacks.

What makes this app stand apart from other similar alert systems available is the use of GPS. Home Front Command will track users’ locations, meaning that alerts will only be issued for relevant threats. Current apps alert users to every siren across the country.

Lt. Col. Shlomi Maman, the Home Front Command’s alert branch commander, said the army wanted to localise warnings as much as possible to avoid needlessly worrying civilians.

“We view a warning that reaches a citizen who didn’t need to receive it just like someone who needed to receive [a warning] and did not,” he said in a press briefing. “This project is to make it more selective.”

The app will be available in four languages - Hebrew, English, Arabic and Russian – and will also provide guidance on what to do in the case of an emergency.

Connected directly to the IDF, the Home Front Command has said that as well as being more accurate the other apps, it is also faster than the national siren system; users will be notified at least one second before the public siren goes off.