A neighborhood is first a community, then a location. Nextdoor is the service that makes your neighborhood community digital, available from the smartphone. News and classifieds, jobs and discounts, home events and community feeds are here in the app.

Functionality

Nextdoor is, in fact, a social network, sorting its users by location. Registering on Nextdoor requires your home location, along with other traditionally necessary data. Thus, you get connected to other users registered in the same neighborhood.

The app has several sections. Recommendations on home services, private teachers, babysitters, beauty specialists, entertainments and so on help you find (or offer) nearby last-minute assistance. You can get alerts on local events, like garage sales, local celebrations, lost-and-founds, or on crime and safety situation.
Garage sales, we said? You don’t have to wait for them. Just share any item you want to sell, with descriptions and pictures, or browse through those on sale from other users. You can contact each other directly within the app.

Any neighborhood has some restaurants, cafes, coffee kiosks, recreations and so on. Here is a special page that makes Nextdoor a compact version of Foursquare, with local POIs reviewed and rated. Any user can add their own pictures from reviewed places and describe the impression. Owners or administrators can read and reply too, and, because it’s all local, neighbor reviews are more likely to impact their attitude.

Finally, it’s a social network, so you can connect to your neighbors from the app. You are supposed to meet each other in real life, and hiding your address or phone makes no sense. Your real name and address is a must, so they have to be verified, and strangers are not allowed.

Usability

The interface of the app is something like Facebook married to eBay. All the sections, from sales to locations, are about certain sorts of events, so it’s easy to find the one you need. There are Android and iOS versions of Nextdoor, the latter separately adjusted for iPhone and iPad. The tablet version makes use of enlarged screen space; on Android, the app detects screen size automatically and adjusts to it.

The app requires alert permission, and in case of some really important event, it will inform you. YOU may select sorts of events you should be notified about. It matters when minutes count; some users even report they had their lost dogs found within hours due to a post on Nextdoor.

So far it’s available in the US only, though its local analogs can be found in virtually any country, Nextdoor is an example of local social place. Still, you can meet in your favorite small café, but now you can make an appointment first, and see each other in minutes.