Two in three Australians will be diagnosed with skin cancer in their lifetime.
61 year-old Melbourne man Keith Short is one of them.
"A lesion appeared on the back of my neck back probably 12 months ago. It was brought to my attention by a whole heaps of guys who I play golf with. They kept on saying that you should get that checked out. It doesn't look good."
An operation involving 35 stitches was able to remove the melanoma, which was 25 millimetres long.
Keith Short believes the growth was caused by close to a lifetime of lax attitudes to skin protection.
"That's all really due to our generation. You know, you're brought up on the beach, playing sport and everything for for years and years and years, you had really had very little sun protection you used, or if you did, you probably use the wrong type."
Doctor Stuart Henderson from the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency says the application is designed with the aim of changing people's behaviour.
"So what we're hoping it will do is remind people that they've got to protect their skin when they're out in the sunshine, regardless of what the temperature may be. The UV can still cause burns, even on a cool day, if it's clear and sunny."
U-V radiation is the main cause of skin cancer, with too much exposure also causing sunburn, tanning, premature aging and eye damage.
Australia has one of the highest rates of skin cancer diagnosis in the world, with the disease accounting for 80 per cent of all newly diagnosed cancers.
About 2,000 Australians die every year from the disease.
But despite this, head of prevention at Cancer Council Victoria, Craig Sinclair, says many people aren't aware of the way U-V radiation works.
"We know that many people think about sun protection when it's really hot, but independently of temperature is UV radiation. Across Australia, we've got temperatures ranging over summer, it could be from 20 degrees up to the high 30s." Mr Sinclair says.
On the U-V index, anything below three means there's a low risk of skin damage from U-V radiation, while a rating of 11 and above is considered extreme.
The Cancer Council's Craig Sinclair says during an Australian summer, the U-V index can be at extreme for most of the day, every day, for the whole season.
"To give you some examples, in a lot of Australian cities today, the UV is extreme, which means that it's above 11. While if you look at a global perspective in Paris, or Geneva, the UV index is not even reaching one. So means that there's no need for some protection. But it's certainly required in Australia at this time of year."
Even so, skin cancer rates are rising in other parts of the world.
That's why the app has been designed to be used anywhere and has been developed with support from global bodies including the World Health Organisation.
Craig Sinclair says there’s a recognition that lessons can be learnt elsewhere from the Australian experience.
"It's not just a problem unique to Australia, we have melanoma rates rising in Western Europe, largely due to the advent of ready and easily available travel to sunny destinations. And we're also seeing melanoma rate increasing in parts of North America as well. "
The app is available in eight languages - English, Italian, French, Spanish, German, Dutch, Chinese and Russian
