First introduced as a mechanic in Spider-Man: Miles Morales, the Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man app (FNSM for short) is an in-universe way for the citizens of New York to call Spider-Man for help. Returning to Spider-Man 2 with most of the same rules as the last time, but with a few changes, players may need a second to adjust to.
The app will list both main story quests and special side quests that count as FNSM missions, but this time, the random crime happening around the city will not be directly tied to the app and will be handled separately.
How To Unlock The FNSM App
At the very start of the story, the app will be down. Just after beating the Sandman, you will gain a mission that repairs the app. This is a main story mission and will be unmissable because of this, and said mission will eventually force you to use the app but only explain its purpose in terms of that mission.
During the mission, you will already have a tracker telling you where to go, but the straightforward mechanics will be there to teach you the basics of how the app will work in the future. From that point onward, it will be up to you to remember to open the app from time to time and see if a new side mission pops up. All main missions will also be listed in the app, the special side missions will be labeled with a blue Spider-Man head.
How To Open The FNSM App
There are a few ways to open the app. Swiping left on the touchpad is the one taught to you by default, but you may not care for this method, so keep the other ways of doing so in mind. A secondary method, as shown above, is opening the FNSM app directly from the main menu you open with the Options button on your PS5 controller.
Another way that you may find even easier is to go deeper into the Options menu and find the Shortcuts section. These Shortcuts are for the left and right D-pads, and you can assign “Open FSMN app” to these buttons. This means you can open the FNSM app by hitting left or right on the D-pad as long as you assign it to one of these Shortcuts.
One final note regarding the app is that once opened, you can also use it to swap between Miles and Peter, so be sure to figure out the easiest way for you to open it.
Accepting A FNSM App Request
Once you have the app open, and if there is a new request for you to follow, simply select the request with the X button to start the mission. A blue waypoint will appear for you to follow, so just head to the location provided and see what needs to be done.
How To Solve Reported Crimes
While swinging and gliding around New York, you will find red text icons telling you about a Crime being Reported on the app. In Spider-Man: Miles Morales, these were tied directly to the app and could be repeatedly played by selecting them, but this no longer seems to be the case. Still, they are reported by users of the app, and it would be best to quickly describe them.
They will work the same as before, minus the choice to replay them whenever you want. A random crime of a set type will spawn, and Spider-Man will have to dispatch the criminals with bonus objectives appearing. Meet the extra objectives to earn extra exp or tech parts.