A new app has been released to remind people when to commemorate loved ones who have died.

The free "Jewish Funeral and Yahrzeit Memorial App" informs users of yahrzeit and yizkor dates on their Hebrew calendar and provides the right prayers and meditations for those occasions.

Available on Apple phones, the first-of-its-kind software shows passages in English, Hebrew and transliterated Hebrew, and gives users directions on how to get to the relevant cemetery.

The app was made by a communal funeral service in New York called the Plaza Jewish Community Chapel. The non-profit's chief executive, Stephanie Garry, said that she supported anything that "reminded the Jewish community that they're Jewish".

She added that the software, which received 250 downloads in its first 24 hours, would "enhance the memory of those who came before us. It allows you to fill in grave information, so it's a way to put down a bit of history so it's not lost for generations to come."