This week USA.gov launched a slew of new apps to help citizens, including a product recall app for Android.
The app lets you search by name for products to see if they’ve been recalled. It also shows you pictures of the recalled items and what to do with it if you’ve already bought it.
The Recalls app brings together recalls from each of the four relevant agencies, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Food and Drug Administration, and the Department of Agriculture.
The app even has a button so that you can report a potential problem with a product.
Now if they could just make one that uses your phone’s camera to see if there’s mold inside your Capri Sun pouch…
Product Recalls App [USA.gov]
apps.usa.gov
More From Consumerist
-
YouTube Launches New iOS App Just In Time For That New Phone Everyone's Been Waiting For
-
Google Introduces The World To The Nexus 7 Tablet
-
Does Amazon Actually Sell Its Kindles At Cost?
-
California Attorney General Warning App Developers They Can’t Mess With Consumer Privacy
-
Amazon Launches iPhone MP3 Store While Managing To Cut Apple Out Of The Deal
I am waiting for a notification from this app saying my Android is being recalled. That should make this the best summer ever.
And you thought the Large Hadron Collider was going to bring about the end of this plane of existence…
Can something be recalled that isn’t technically sold to anyone ?
Kinda funny…I can imagine Apple going “hey, you should make that for the iPlod/iPhoney too” and the US gubbermint would say “It’s government policy to only develop for open systems…”
Then Apple will be sad.
Actually, they won’t care. And they’ll educate their consumers to not care either.
I don’t think “educate” was the word you were looking for. I was more thinking brainwash.
“and the US gubbermint would say “It’s government policy to only develop for open systems…”"
Why would the government lie about that?
In the interest of accuracy (as opposed to the bullshit you’re spewing), usa.gov lists two android apps, a half dozen or so iPhone apps, one Blackberry app, and a bunch of Mobile Web apps.
Oh snap!
Sounds like the proposed new agency that combines several other agencies to provide centralized consumer protection and regulation enforcement.
In other words, it sounds rather useful.
I first read this as an app from the government that recalled Android phones. (Boggle)
I completely missed the word App in that title and was wondering why…
drop-side crib death? there’s an app for that
chromium poisoning? there’s an app for that
stinky Chinese drywall? there’s an app for that
crooked politicians? there’s no app for that…
…save the ballot box and an informed electorate, of course. One can hope, anyway.
When I go to install the app in the Android Marketplace, it shows that the app has access to read browser history and bookmarks, read contact data and write contact data. Why does it need that kind of access? I understand why it needs to access the Internet and take pictures (to send a pic with the potential problem). I think I’ll pass.
Queue up the conspiracy theory machine!
Just FYI folks, the app needs read and write access to your contacts list, and maybe other things – I didn’t read that far into it. I’m not a conspiracy theorist, and I even volunteer for a government agency, but I’m not comfortable with them having that information of mine.
Given that most android phones can read barcodes, why not make the program search recalls by scanned UPCs instead of just typed names?
ROTFLMAO, leave it to the government to get this screweed up…
I went to the page, tried to download the Android application. IF you put your mouse over the Android link, it says
“recall.apk” which is an installable application for Android.
However, if you click the link, a Recall.zip file is downloaded to your machine and it’s unusable and uninstallable and unrecognizable by the Android device.
So, their link says “recall.apk” yet the associated file is incorrectly downloaded.
EXCELLENT.
I just tried, and it downloads fine as an apk for me. This could be the doings of your browser or a proxy you’re going through. An .apk *is* a zip file, just renamed. If something recognized the format, it may have renamed it for you in an overzealous attempt to be helpful.
Rename the file to apk, it’ll be fine.
One of these already exists from the FDA, typical government waste develop something that already exists and works:
http://www.androlib.com/android.application.com-fdable-news-xnxC.aspx
The Iphone App is still in Apple Limbo…may not see the light of day. Apple claims that the goverment’s app is too similar to their company structure, and therefore would be competition to theirs.
I don’t get it.
My guess is that Apple won’t allow it because it “defames” products. Kind of like the editorial cartoon apps that aren’t allowed because they make fun of famous people.
If it’s being released as an Android application, why isn’t it on the Marketplace instead of as a direct download? Isn’t that contrary to the whole Android Marketplace concept?
It is on the marketplace. Search “product recall” and it’s the first one.