How PHapp® works

From official source to your phone — verified alerts in 50+ languages

How PHapp® Delivers Trusted Alerts

PHapp® — "Know What Matters. Know What To Do." — delivers verified health and safety alerts from official sources to residents in 50+ languages. Here's how it works.

Step 1: Official Sources Issue Alerts

Alerts originate from trusted, official sources including:

  • CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
  • NWS/NOAA (National Weather Service / National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)
  • FDA (Food and Drug Administration)
  • EPA (Environmental Protection Agency)
  • USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture)
  • Local and state public health agencies

Step 2: The Issuing Agency Sets the Policy — by Topic

Incoming information is mapped to PHapp® topics (flood, extreme heat, food safety, and so on). For each topic, the issuing agency chooses how alerts go out:

  • Automatic, no delay — for time-critical hazards like tornado or flood, the agency can prepare a template in advance, so the alert publishes the moment the official source issues it. Templates can always carry local follow-through, such as sandbag sites or cooling-center maps.
  • Reviewed first — for other topics, the agency can require staff review and approval before sending, and can schedule when it goes out.

Alerts are machine-translated into 50+ languages and labeled as machine-translated in the app.

Step 3: Alerts Are Delivered Across Three Channels

Residents receive alerts on the channel that works best for them:

  • App — download PHapp® for iOS or Android
  • Web — visit ph.app in any browser, no download or sign-up needed
  • Text/SMS — text START to 507-697-4277 (currently in beta)

Step 4: Guidance on What to Do, Where It Exists

For many hazard types, alerts include a what-to-do section drawn from official public guidance. Not every alert has one — for some alert types the right action depends on the specific alert — so residents should always follow the issuing agency’s instructions.

How fast, and can it change? For topics an agency automates, alerts reach residents essentially as soon as the official source issues them; for topics set to review-first, timing reflects the agency's review and any scheduling. Every alert keeps a stable link and can be updated or superseded with new information without the link changing.

Built With the Community

PHapp® is shaped by the Wehealth® Forum, a co-development community of public health professionals including epidemiologists, clinicians, emergency managers, and researchers. Their input guides the PHapp® roadmap.

Mission Over Profit

PHapp® is built by Hub Public Benefit Corp, a Delaware Public Benefit Corporation. No ads, no data sales, no tracking — just trusted information that helps communities stay safe.