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Business News/ News / Business Of Life/  Safety at your fingertips
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Safety at your fingertips

A number of new applications, developed with safety in mind, can alert friends and family when you feel at risk

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OTHERS :

When author Upton Sinclair coined the term “Urban Jungle" in 1906, life in the city was actually (and ironically) a lot more peaceful than it is today. Yes, there were crimes, but staying out late was not considered to be one of them. Today, we live in times best described as uncertain. Be it a long drive to the airport or a bus or auto ride home after a long day at work, any delay can result in multiple brows furrowed in worry. Fortunately, there are apps that can help, letting those who matter know exactly where you are, and in some cases, even giving them an indication that you are in a spot of trouble. We look at seven of the most handy ones:

A word of caution: All these apps use GPS and data services to pinpoint your location and therefore can drain battery heavily, so we recommend keeping your phone fully charged, whenever possible.

Glympse

iOS, Android, Windows Phone, BlackBerry

Free

“Share your where" is the tag line of this app, one of the most popular location-sharing applications. What makes Glympse so handy is its simplicity—you can share your location with anyone, and can even specify the period for which you wish to be visible. For that period, the person with whom your location is shared will be able to “see" you on your journey on map—all the receiver needs is an Internet-enabled device, be it a phone, tablet or notebook. No, it has no actual panic button. That said, in terms of sheer effectiveness and ease of use, it is one of the best apps of its kind.

Watch Over Me

iOS, Android

Free

Watch Over Me works on a simple check-in methodology. All you have to do is indicate a time for the app to watch over you (you can specify the time) and if at the end of it you have not checked in safely, alerts go out with your location to all those whom you have specified, and the camera gets turned on as well, letting people know what’s happening. The app thus does away with the need for an emergency or SOS button, which people often are not in a position to hit when the going gets tough. And, if a situation looms out of nowhere, a shake of the phone sends out an alert.

Guardian

Windows Phone

Free

Developed by the Microsoft India team, Guardian is a free app for Windows Phone devices that keeps your safety in focus. You can let people see where you are going, share your location, and in case of an emergency, just tap the SOS button, which will send out alerts over mail and text with your location and even give you the option of posting on Facebook groups of your choice. You can also connect to security agencies and hospitals. It works very well indeed, and the fact that the SOS button can be placed on the home screen (as a live tile) makes it particularly handy, though the setting-up procedure is a bit tedious since you have to sign up with Microsoft’s services (something that is not needed in other apps).

ReachMe

iOS, Android

Free

Like Glympse, this too is an app that is all about sharing your location. Here, the app generates a PIN depending on your location, which you can then share with your friends and social networks. You can also opt to let your friends see where you are headed using the “Follow Me" feature. And since this is an app from navigation specialists MapMyIndia, people can also track the fastest way to get to where you are. Again, there is no classic alarm button, but it is a great option if you want to let people know where you are, and thanks to the excellent maps online from MapMyIndia, you tend to get a very good idea of locations.

Safe Runner

iOS, Android

110

What makes Safe Runner worthy of special mention is the fact that it tries to build security into an existing app, saving you the need to download an app purely for personal security. As its name indicates, Safe Runner is primarily a fitness app and a pretty basic one at that—it gives you distance travelled and calories burnt in your run. But where it scores is in its very simple alarm system. Once you enter the name of the person you want contacted in case of an emergency, all you need to do to send an alert from your device is to pull out the headphones, which send out an alert with your location and also activate the front camera to record what’s happening. If you pull out the headphones accidentally, putting them back within 10 seconds cancels the alert.

Nirbhaya: Be Fearless

iOS, Android

Free on Android; 55 on iOS

Developed after the gang rape and death of a woman in 2012, a tragedy that brought Delhi to a standstill , this app attempts to not only let you alert select people in times of emergency via text and calls, but significantly, allows you to view areas that are safe or “unsafe" (marked helpfully in green and red)—the user can add to these if needed. There are a few neat touches on the Android version of the app, where an alert can also be triggered simply by tapping the power key or shaking the device, something that is actually a whole lot easier than hitting an on-screen SOS button.

VithU

iOS, Android

Free

Recently released and promoted by Channel V, this app is, literally, a panic button. And a very simple one at that. All you need to do is press the power button on your Android device twice (or the
on-screen panic button on your iOS app’s display once) and the app sends out messages to selected contacts: You can customize the message—“I am in danger. I need help. Please follow my location" is the default one. And this is not a one-time affair—the app will send out alerts every 2 minutes to the contacts with updated information about your location. Simple, speedy and very effective, although the fact that the alert trigger cannot be customized can lead to some problems—the power button is often used also to lock/unlock an Android device, and accidental double presses (especially in slower devices) are not uncommon. There is also a not-so-subtle attempt to push a TV show, including alerts as to when it is to be aired next, and a Twitter feed about it. But that’s a small price to pay for what the app could deliver in times of trouble.

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Published: 28 Jan 2014, 07:29 PM IST
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