With these neighborhood apps for iPhone you know what’s going on

The best neighborhood apps

You probably know the Facebook and WhatsApp groups for a specific neighbourhood or district. But there are also special apps that allow you to stay in touch with your neighbours. Do you have a children’s bike or a bag of compost left over and would you like to make a neighbour happy with it? Have you lost your cat? Or would you like to borrow a hedge trimmer? In that case, you can make good use of the neighbourhood apps, which allow you to get in touch with neighbours on your street and in your neighbourhood.

Hoplr

The Hoplr app is a closed, ad-free neighbourhood app that allows you to build better contact with people living in your neighbourhood. You will also be kept informed of reports from your neighbourhood, such as roadworks, waste schedules and noise pollution. You can also exchange second-hand items with people in your neighbourhood and you will receive an overview of activities in your neighbourhood, which you can of course also organise yourself. If you have lost your pet, you can also go to Hoplr for this. You can create private chats and group chats with individuals or with a specific part of your neighbourhood.

Peerby: borrowing items in the neighborhood

Peerby is a veteran: this well-known neighbourhood app has been around for years and is intended for borrowing and lending items. For example, a high-pressure cleaner, wallpaper steamer or other devices that you don’t need often. This also makes Peerby good for the environment. Instead of everyone buying items for themselves, you can share one device with multiple people. If you offer a device, you are not obliged to lend it out. You can indicate that it is not convenient at the moment.

The app has many users and you can search quite specifically for the product you want to borrow. However, there are generally more people looking for stuff than the other way around. In other words: relatively many people want to profit from other people’s stuff, but don’t lend anything themselves. Peerby can also be useful if you have stuff lying around that you want to get rid of. Perhaps the person who wants to borrow your pressure washer or facial tanner wants to take the device off your hands for a low price. This makes Peerby look a bit like Marktplaats.

Neighbour book

A digital village square for your neighbourhood. Residents, professionals, entrepreneurs and the municipality can use this to inform each other about everything in the neighbourhood. This way you can suggest ideas or respond to proposals, expand your neighbourhood network and get in touch with local entrepreneurs. Neighbourhood parties, workshops and other events can also be seen in the app. Do you want to do volunteer work? Then you can get in touch with neighbourhood organisations that could use some help via the app.

OutsideBetter

If you see a problem outside, such as a loose paving stone or another unsafe situation, you can report it via the BuitenBeter app. Within four steps you have reported the location and the problem, possibly with a photo. The municipality does the rest and (hopefully) resolves it. If necessary, the municipality will ask you for additional information. Previously, it was quite complicated to report something to the municipality, but apps such as BuitenBeter have done something about this. Whether it is a lamppost that is not being repaired, a dirty bus shelter, garbage bags that have been dumped somewhere or a cycle path with huge holes: if you report it, there is a greater chance that it will be resolved! The app is updated regularly.

Improved neighborhood

Are you having trouble with a loose paving stone or another problem? With the Verbeterdebuurt app, you can quickly report problems and ideas to the municipality. Add a photo and description and the app’s creators will forward the report to the correct municipality. You can also use it to share ideas, for example if you want a playground in the neighborhood or think that the underground waste containers could be moved. Reports that you make in the app are also immediately visible to everyone on the website Verbeterdebuurt.nl. You can also share your reports on Facebook, X and via email. You log in with your Apple ID or Google account.

Nextdoor

Nextdoor calls itself the better neighborhood app. It has quite a few features and because Nextdoor is made with a lot of investment money by an international team of hundreds of employees, it is all a bit more professional (and commercial) in approach than many local neighborhood apps that are made in the Netherlands. Nextdoor has been active in the Netherlands since 2016. The reason we do not put this app at the top of the list is because there have been some privacy issues.

The app is mainly aimed at making contact with the neighbours. You can share news, tips and burglary risks with each other, but you also regularly see messages from local entrepreneurs who offer their services. Think of pedicures, handymen and cleaners. As a result, Nextdoor sometimes resembles the notice board of the supermarket. The line is sometimes difficult to draw: is a small entrepreneur allowed to post a message and the local shop (which may have an important neighbourhood function) not? It is also sometimes difficult to see the difference between honest reviews and surreptitious advertising.

Nextdoor can be used to discuss local issues, such as noisy neighbors and other annoyances. But because you can see where everyone lives in the app, you also have to be careful with your privacy. Before you know it, the angry neighbor is at your door, wanting to get some redress. Why complain on Nextdoor, when you could have just called for a good conversation 1-on-1?

Nextdoor has more members than many local apps created in the Netherlands. But just like Facebook and WhatsApp, the most used app is not always the best. If your neighbors are already active on it, you will have to use it, reluctantly or not.

More neighborhood apps

If you couldn’t find anything in the above apps, here are some ideas:

• Burgernet (Free, iPhone, iOS 11.0+) – Work together with the police and the municipality to improve safety in your neighborhood.
• Safe Neighborhood notifications, news (Free, iPhone/iPad, iOS 13.0+) – Receive alerts from your neighbors, such as police, Burgernet, Amber Alert and more.
• WhatsApp Messenger (Free, iPhone/Mac, iOS 12.0+) – Grown to be the most important neighborhood app. Check WABP (WhatsApp Neighborhood Prevention) to see which group is in your area.
• Neighbor Power (Free, iPhone/iPad, iOS 11.0+) – Take action together with your neighbors and make your neighborhood more beautiful, greener and safer.