Townbell: Estate Alarm

Why Townbell

Break-ins and car thefts on residential estates mostly happen at night, while everyone is asleep with their phone on silent. A message in a group chat does not wake anyone. Townbell does: it rings neighbours' phones like an alarm clock, so lights go on, people look out and someone calls the Gardaí, within seconds.

The name comes from the town bell, and the logo is an Irish round tower, the cloigtheach or "bell house", once used to sound the alarm.

How it works

1. Your estate admin shares an invite link with residents.
2. You install the app, sign in, enter your house number and ask to join. The admin approves each house.
3. If you see a suspicious person or car, or a break-in, you hold the alert button in the app. There is a five-second countdown to cancel.
4. Every approved neighbour's phone rings for ten seconds and shows which house raised the alert and what they saw.

Made for trust

• Invite only. Each estate is a closed group. Only residents the admin approves receive alerts.
• No accidental alarms. Alerts need a press and hold, then a countdown you can cancel.
• No spam. The app sends nothing but alerts from your neighbours. No ads, no marketing.
• Not an emergency service. Townbell wakes your neighbours; in an emergency always call 112 or 999.

Your data

You can sign in with Google. Townbell uses only your name and email address from your Google account, to identify your account. It never reads your contacts, email or files.

Neighbours on your estate see your first name and house number when you raise an alert. You can delete your account at any time in the app. The privacy notice explains what is kept and for how long.

Getting the app

Townbell is for Android and iPhone. During the pilot, the app is shared with residents of participating estates by their estate admin. Public listings on Google Play and the App Store are coming.

Want Townbell for your estate? Email privacy@townbell.app.