Community feedback has driven a number of recent improvements to the VicEmergency app to make it faster and more responsive and to introduce new features.
Tuesday 3 December (Version 6.2.4):
App fixes:
- General usability improvements
- Miscellaneous bug fixes
Monday 4 November (Version 6.2.1):
App fixes:
- Miscellaneous bug fixes
- Updated neighbourhood safer places data
Thursday 11 April 2019 (Version 6.2.0)
New features:
- The app display now fits iPhone XS Max and iPad Pro devices
- You can now pull down on the home screen to refresh
- The issued date and time has been added under the warning heading
App fixes:
- Small design change to My Location on the home screen
- Issued date and time displays on pop ups has changed
- Locate Me and Zoom to State buttons have been moved off the map
- Added an indicator when sorting a list by Type or Updated
- Warnings list will now cap list of suburbs to four lines of text
- Warnings pop ups will now cap list of suburbs to four lines of text
- The Wind Direction Map Filter has now been renamed Wind Direction and Speed
- Map Filters have been removed from the Filters menu
- Fire Danger Rating will now display when you have several watch zones
Monday 15 January 2018 (Version 6.1.0):
App fixes:
- Miscellaneous bug fixes
Friday 8 December 2017:
New features:
- Updated base map to the latest Spatial Vision VicMap Book
App fixes:
- Miscellaneous bug fixes
Friday 29 September 2017:
New features:
- Thunderstorm Asthma forecast
- Miscellaneous bug fixes
Friday 9 June 2017:
New features:
- Replacement of Google Maps as the mapping source with Spatial Vision VicMap Book
- Display of fire danger ratings for your current location and watch zones
- Simplified navigation menu to promote help links and remove redundancies
App fixes:
- Improved performance, especially in low-connectivity areas
- Reduced data download requirements
- Miscellaneous bug fixes
Thursday 19 January 2017:
New features:
- Introduction of a Heat Health Alerts map filter
- Change to default incident settings for new watch zones
- Link to LSV sharks page from all shark sighting incidents
- Link to LSV beach closures page from all beach closure incidents
- Minor style changes to the homepage layout
App fixes:
- Fixed notification descriptions for weather events
- Zoom level now remains in place upon each automatic refresh
- Notifications now open the relevant watch zone map
- Notifications are no longer sent for fires marked safe
- Other fixes and improvements to the app
Thursday 22 December 2016:
New features:
- State alerts will now be visible on the home screen for all users
- Fire ratings / bans will now be visible on the home screen for all users
- 'State view' and 'locate me' buttons have been added to the map
- Selecting an incident from the list view will now display it in the list section of the screen
- You will now see a message when opening an expired notification
App fixes:
- Improved transition between the splash and home screens (Android)
- The alert tone volume has been increased (Android)
- Deleted watch zones will now be removed from the menu
- Adjusted text fields in create profile and manage profile screens
- Other improvements for the performance of the app
Website fixes:
- Watch zones will now open the list and map by default
- 'Locate me' button now works when creating a watch zone
- Fixed formatting of last updated timestamp
Friday 16 December 2016:
New features:
- A 'What's new' pop up has been introduced to display recent app enhancements
- You can now create watch zones without having a VicEmergency profile
- Upon signing up for a profile, you will no longer be sent a verification email
- You can now edit your watch zone from the view watch zone screen
- A new 'land' map filter (VicMaps) has been introduced
- A shortcut to Fire Ratings / Bans has been added to the menu
- The password complexity rules have been removed
- A password strength indicator has been added below the single password field
New Website features:
- A download app banner will appear when viewing the VicEmergency website from a mobile device
- Added App Store and Google Play logos to the VicEmergency website
- Icons explained has been updated with the latest information and icons
App fixes:
- With location services switched off, 'My location' will appear grey and link through to the state map
- With location services switched off, Warnings and Incidents boxes will be hidden
- 'My location' will now display the correct colour for all scenarios
- Password reset heading no longer wraps (iPhone 4S and 5C)
- Users can now update their email address from the profile screen
- Splash screen will now display when the app is launched in landscape mode
- Changed Animal/Plant icon from an insect to a paw print
- Optimised transition between the splash and home screens (Apple devices only)
- The alert tone volume has been increased (Apple devices only)
- Other improvements to the performance of the app
Wednesday 7 December 2016:
App fixes:
- Making changes to the incident map filters will no longer turn off a map overlay
- On/off toggles will appear as they should on all screens (Android phones/tablets)
- An additional date check has been introduced before the system sends any FDR notification
- Addressed a bug regarding some users being logged out on occasion
- Addressed a bug regarding some users not receiving all watch zone notifications
Website fixes:
- The close button now appears when accessing your profile (Internet Explorer)
- The map filters pop up now displays correctly (Internet Explorer)
Thursday 1 December 2016:
New features:
- Added a data time stamp and refresh button
- Selecting Warnings from 'My location' will now display the map with warnings list
- Selecting Incidents from 'My location' will now display the map with incidents list
- From the map, selecting Warnings or Incidents will now open the list
- All Fire, Flood and Weather incidents are now turned on for each watch zone by default
- Fire Danger Ratings and Total Fire Bans can no longer be turned off
- Added four day forecast for Fire Danger Ratings when the map overlay is switched on
- A save button has been added to the top of the create and edit watch zone screens
- If the reset form is used for an unknown email address, the user will receive a sign up email instead
- A loading indicator will now display when an operation is being performed
- The screen will now grey out when loading a new screen
Design changes:
- Changed layout of 'My location' headings
- Added clickable indicator arrow to each watch zone
- Increased width of coloured watch zones status bar
- Made the search field text easier to read
- Wording changes made to the Filters page to clarify functionality
- Updated test notification text to clarify functionality
- Updated password reset text to clarify functionality
App fixes:
- General speed improvements have been achieved by optimising each page
- The home screen data will now reload every 60 seconds or by selecting 'Refresh'
- Users can now select all of their watch zones if more than three have been created
- The correct map view will now display when selecting 'My location' on Android and iPad
- Map filters will now reset to default settings when switching screens
- The password reset form will now recognise case-sensitive email addresses