YOUR PHONE COULD SAVE YOUR LIFE!
Travelling overseas? TABITHA BRANSON picks ve safety apps that guard against potential danger.
WATCH OVER ME
Free; from $3.99 for a monthly subscription with additional features. Available at the Apple App Store and Google Play. Malaysian online marketer Chin Xin- Ci (left), 26, created this app after she successfully foiled a kidnapping attempt by escaping from the getaway car. How this app works: At the start of a journey, key in how long it is likely to take, plus details like your cab’s licence plate number. The app will track your location via GPS throughout the journey, and if you haven’t arrived at your destination within the estimated time and checked in using the app, it will send out alerts to your preset emergency contacts or post an alert on Twitter and Facebook.
YWCA SAFETY ALERT
Free, available at the Apple App Store and Google Play. Activate this app when you’re in a potentially dangerous situation, like when you’re walking down a dark alley or through a deserted car park. In the event of an emergency, simply shake the phone or tap on the app’s Alert button and a shrill alarm will sound – even if your phone is on silent mode. An e-mail with your approximate location will also be sent to a preset list of contacts.
CIRCLE OF 6
Free, available at the Apple App Store and Google Play. First, choose six friends and add to them a circle. If you get into a difficult or dangerous situation, use the app to send your circle a preprogrammed SMS alert. Choose from messages like “Call me” – great if you need to get away from a weird date or party – and “Come get me”. The latter includes the address of your current location and a link to Google Maps. You can also call a preset emergency contact number by tapping the in-app Emergency button, followed by the Custom Hotline button.
Free, available at the Apple App Store and Google Play. This app is perfect if you’re travelling in a large group. Create a circle with all your travel mates and preset zones to indicate meeting points.
LIFE360
When someone in your group checks in at that location, an alert will be sent to the others – this ensures that everyone in the group is accounted for. In an emergency, hitting the panic button in the app will send a text message, a phone call in the form of a recorded message and an e-mail with your GPS tracking coordinates to the people in your circle.
SENTINEL SAFE. ANYWHERE
Free, available at the Apple App Store, Google Play and Blackberry World. Keep the app running, and it will automatically send an alert with your contact number and last known location to preset contacts when it detects that your phone may have been forcibly shut off by someone else, or when there is no signal even with battery life remaining. It doesn’t need Internet connection to work – you can activate the alerts yourself via SMS.