The emails, texts and calls contain your location and a snapshot of your surroundings. This activates the emergency triggers that immediately send out texts, emails and make automated phone calls to the people you listed previously as your emergency contacts. Keep your device handy, so that when or if an emergency occurs, you can quickly tap the screen for a second. You launch the app whenever you know you will be walking alone, or in a company you don’t trust. In short, it’s a panic button fit for smartphones. It desperately needs an Android version, and hopefully we will see it launch this year. The Witness app is perhaps one of the few apps that is being developed by an indie with humans instead of business in mind. Witness – Livestream Emergenciesĭownload from iTunes | Request Android test version Flawed connection may delay or hinder the messages delivery. Of course, mind that you need to have location tracking services enabled for this to work. The help messages include your location, snapshot made by your phone’s cameras and even a voice recording. How to activate the SOS button? Press the phone’s lock button three times. You select the emergency contacts that will receive your SOS messages when you are in trouble. If you sport a Samsung Galaxy S5 or S6, you can make use of its proprietary feature called “Safety Assistance.” Go to Settings → Quick Settings → Safety Assistance → enable Send Help Messages. Since some of the apps on the list are subscription-based, or country-specific, don’t rush to pay for premium features until you make sure they perform well on your end and on your emergency contacts’ devices.įinally, when activating any of these apps, know how you can deactivate or cancel an alarm sent by mistake. Also, do not underestimate the importance of test-driving the app’s location tracking accuracy. ![]() If you should install a panic button app, you need to train to be able to use it faster than in a blink of an eye. Hence, the apps listed below provide that extra functionality that is supposed to be built-in by default, in a perfect world. Add the shaking hands and an occasional lag of any of the hardware/software ingredients, and you are toasted. You have to take your eyes off of your potential threat, take your phone out of your pocket, unlock it (swipe, pin code, pattern?), get blinded by the screen and ruin your night vision, launch an app, dial the number, tap the call button. Smartphones don’t make it easy to dial 911 or your emergency contact’s number in case of a real life threatening emergency.Forrest Gump’s Mom was wrong – life is not a box of chocolates. According to RAINN, Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, 4/5 rapes are committed by someone known to the victim, 47% rapists are a friend or an acquaintance, 25% are an intimate. In many cases, a perpetrator is someone a victim knows and trusts. Perhaps, this should be number one, and it concerns anyone – women, men, children.So, remember to disable and enable the app-specific services, so that they are functional when the time of need comes. If you keep GPS enabled on your device all day long, your lonely commute home from office will be unassisted because your battery would be dead. Hence, any app on the list needs 100% of user input. What is worse, your device may run out of battery the moment you need it the most. They rely heavily on data and GPS, so errors and glitches might hinder their usefulness. The mobile industry has yet to improve the functionality of these apps.Pepper spray clutched in your pocket might be a faster solution to a bad stranger scenario.Four seconds to activate an app, or one second to start running – you need to assess your chances faster. In most cases of assault, a split second reaction is the difference between safety and doom. Otherwise, these apps will let your contacts know where to find your body. ![]() ![]() iPhones do have a taser case, but unless you sport one, you will need something better than an app to protect you long enough until help arrives. There is no such app, or smartphone case that can protect you better than situational awareness, self-poise and a tool. Don’t let any tech give you a false sense of security. Never rely on your phone alone for safety.Personal safety and technology is a tricky and slippery subject, so before we proceed with today’s list of apps, let us outline a few basic points anyone looking for a panic / personal security/ children tracking apps should understand.
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