Personal Safety – There’s An App For That

If you aren’t making use of every resource you have to protect yourself, are you really trying enough? We live in an age where nearly every person carries a portable, high-powered computer in their pocket. Most of us use that high-powered computer to look at pictures of cats. That’s fine, but you can also use that high-powered computer to enhance your personal safety. Believe it or not, there is an app for that.

Let’s dig into a few apps you can download and experiment with.

Pixel Personal Safety App

The Pixel Personal Safety app used to only be available on Pixel phones but has currently found its way onto most Android phones. The main idea behind the app is to make it easier to call 911 without calling attention to the fact you are dialing 911. Simply press the power button five times to trigger an SOS.

We then get an alarm and a five-second countdown. You can cancel the SOS if it was done by mistake in these five seconds. After the five seconds is up, the phone calls emergency services and shares your location.

The secondary features include car crash detection. If your phone detects a car crash, it starts a 60-second countdown. If the countdown isn’t stopped in 60 seconds, it notifies emergency services.

You can also set up a check-in feature. After a specified time, the app will send you an alert, and you’ll have to do a check-in. If you don’t respond to the check-in, the app will contact a designated contact in your phone and share your location.

This is a super handy app, but sadly, it’s only available for Android phones.

Noonlight

Noonlight provides an emergency panic button when the app is fired up. You are given a huge button, and you press and hold the button. If the button is released, you have ten seconds to enter your PIN. If you don’t enter your PIN, the app will alert local police and emergency services.

It’s perfect if you get a feeling in your spidey senses about the world around you. Maybe the area seems odd or simply too dark and unknown for you. Hit the button and move on. Once safe, you can release the buttons and deactivate the app.

The free version provides that basic service. Paid subscriptions offer features that implement integration with apps like Uber, Lyft, and even Tinder. It can even integrate the Taser Pulse into its system and auto-detect when the pulse is fired.

Sabre’s Personal Safety App

Sabre is well known for making stun guns and pepper spray, and they’ve recently launched their own personal safety app. Much like Noonlight (who they partnered with), the app allows you to have a panic button. With the free version of the app, you can notify up to five contacts of your location and an emergency text. The subscription will send an alert to emergency services.

One of the more clever features of the Sabre app is its integration with the SMART pepper spray from Sabre. The SMART pepper spray is linked via Bluetooth to your phone, and when deployed, the app will automatically send an alert to your designated contacts or to emergency services, depending on your subscription.

Snug Safety

Snug Safety is an app aimed at folks who live alone, with a focus on elderly folks. The app can be very useful for someone staying alone in a new location, like an Airbnb or hotel in an unfamiliar area. The app is very simple. You set up a time to receive an alert, and it’s basically a daily check-in time.

You get a text from the app, and you have to click a green button to say you’re okay. If you don’t press the green button, you get either a call from dispatch if you pay for the subscription or your emergency contacts receive a notification if you use the free version.

It’s not as dynamic or as fancy as the other apps, but it’s still useful for situations many of us may not consider.

American Red Cross Severe Weather App

Finally, maybe I’m just traumatized from going through Idalia, but knowing what the weather is doing is invaluable. Many people my age aren’t watching local news or listening to the radio. We might miss local weather alerts.

The American Red Cross maintains a free app that will send alerts to your phone for severe weather warnings. This may not appeal to everyone because we don’t all live in the midst of areas with crazy weather. However, if flash floods, tornadoes, and thunderstorms are somewhat common in your area, this app will keep your situational awareness on the high side.

There is an App For That

Personal safety is often more than just dealing with bad guys. It encompasses every risk we can take. Wearing a seatbelt is just as important as carrying a gun. Being able to use that computer in your pocket to enhance your safety is no different than utilizing every other tool in the book.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Travis Pike is a former Marine Machine gunner who served with 2nd Bn 2nd Marines for 5 years. He deployed in 2009 to Afghanistan and again in 2011 with the 22nd MEU(SOC) during a record-setting 11 months at sea. Travis has trained with the Romanian Army, the Spanish Marines, the Emirate Marines, and the Afghan National Army.

He serves as an NRA-certified pistol instructor and pursues a variety of firearms-based hobbies.

 

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