By Julie Shapiro
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
LOWER MANHATTAN — A new iPhone app that takes people through the graphic sights and sounds of 9/11 has drawn strong reactions from users.
Called "Explore 9/11," the free app is sponsored by the National September 11 Memorial & Museum and includes a walking tour, an interactive timeline and a GPS feature that displays 9/11-related photos taken near the phone’s location.
Since the app launched two weeks ago, more than 450 people of the 734 people who rated it on iTunes gave the app five stars, the highest possible rating.
“It’s great for people who were just kids when this happened,” wrote iTunes user Justin Parker. “It can help them understand what happened and what we lost.”
However, many others said it was too soon to show such explicit images of 9/11, and nearly 100 people gave the app just a single star.
“I know there’s an app for everything,” wrote an iTunes user who goes by MetalliCoz, “but I’d like to be able to go on my iPhone and not see 9/11 images."
The app, designed by Local Projects, includes narration from first responders, volunteers and lower Manhattan residents and dozens of photos taken in the minutes and hours after the attack. A person using the app while standing in southern TriBeCa would see photos of the smoking towers and the roiling dust cloud that formed in their collapse.
"In sharing these interactive resources, we are preserving and presenting history to a generation of children who may have been too young to understand the enormity and impact of 9/11," 9/11 memorial President Joe Daniels said in a statement.
Many users agreed. One who goes by the name mcarroll wrote, "My kids always ask me about this event. I can now share this app with them so they can see it for themselves."
But others said they couldn’t stomach the devastating content.
"This app is too soon," said a user named JDC1986. "We should never forget but not in this way. We don’t need to put pictures of thousands of people dying on our phones."
A user named TheShortOne71, who identified himself as a firefighter, said, “This is ridiculous and a little too far, it says never forget but you don’t need it on your phone.”
However, another user, Oscar Feliciano, said the events of 9/11 are an important part of history and should be visible.
"I sincerely sympathize with anyone who lost loved ones that day, but that doesn’t give you the eternal right to shield everyone else from what happened, whether it’s through this app or some other means," Feliciano wrote. "Like with any app or site, if it bothers you so much, then don’t download it or visit the site."
