Ever feel a bit insecure about walking to your car alone at night? Wonder if your friend or daughter is OK when she is out on a first date? Worry about your college-aged children on campus alone? React Mobile has created an new free app for iPhone and Android that helps enhance personal safety.
React Mobile Co-Founder, Robb Monkman, was inspired to create the mobile safety application after being held at gunpoint during a home invasion while in college several years ago. Wanting to do more for on and off campus safety he created a tool that could be used to silently and discreetly alert a wide network, including the authorities, of an emergency and its location.
As a stay-at-home mom, I often go for walks, runs, or hikes by myself or with my dog (she is small so certainly no protection there). While my area is relatively safe, I still wonder about my personal safety when I am on roads are paths that are relatively uninhabited. Heck, even inhabited roads can have their hazards. Adding the React Mobile app has made me feel more secure when I head out on my own. There is a “follow me” feature so my husband can see where I am in real time on his cell phone.
I love this idea for keeping track of my kids too. They are a bit young for permanent cell phones, but I can let them borrow mine and we can track them on my husband’s phone. This has come in handy when they want to take longer bike rides in our area.
In this world of online dating, this is definitely a great app. Picture meeting someone for the first time or having a child go on a first date in a car. My kids are only 8 and 10 and the thought already freaks me out. You can track your loved ones and they select the “I’m Safe” function to let you know they are OK when they have reached their destination.
In an emergency, you just press the SOS shield on the app to send out a panic alert containing a link to your GPS location to select emergency contacts via text message and email, which can optionally be posted to Facebook and Twitter. Once the SOS alert is activated, you’re automatically prompted to dial 911.
screen shot of follow me function in action
If you are out of the country, the app allows you to choose which country you live in (or are traveling to) from the settings tab and when an SOS alert is triggered, you will be prompted to dial the appropriate emergency authority depending on you’re geographic location. Cool, huh?
In addition to the free app, there is a customizable function for schools and businesses. These could be great for colleges, companies with large campuses, lone agents like realtors, etc.
In case your more of a visual learner, here’s a cool video to explain how it works:
I was super glad to be introduced to this tool and it’s something I plan to use often. How do you feel about your personal safety? Would you try an app like React Mobile? Keep up to date with all things React Mobile with their social media channels below:
Website: www.reactmobile.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ReactMobile
Twitter: www.twitter.com/ReactMobile.com
I have this on my phone and it really does work!
Thank you for sharing about this! I will have to download this one, I often run by myself too
I am looking to put this on my phone right away! Great app!
That app looks great to have in an emergency! I’m all about being safe!!!
This looks like a great app for so many different situations. It’s a shame that people aren’t safe wherever they go, but it’s wonderful to have something like this that might be an enormous help in an emergency!
I’m actually thinking I ought to put this on my phone so my boyfriend can have some peace of mind in knowing where I am when I take my long road trips up north. He gets nervous that I’ll make it there ok. Heck, so do I!
This is one of my favorite posts this week. Thank you for sharing. Headed to go and download the app.
Where I live we lose our cell signal a lot, so that last know gps would be great.
This is such a great resource to have in an unthinkable emergency!
What a wonderful app to come out of such a scary circumstance. If I had a smartphone I would most certainly look into it.
I’ve often wondered why these features weren’t integrated into our common mobile technology. We have tracking on our phones, but this looks like a great app for multiple uses and situations.
I reviewed this app. It is such a great idea for personal safety.
Ohhh! I’m defintely going to check this app out! I live alone in a not so nice part of town and I’m often leaving school or work late and getting home even later! Is there a fee for this app?
This looks really cool! On the other hand, I wonder if the chances of it being abused are greater than the chances of being in a risky situation? I love the automatic calling feature.
That looks like a really cool app. I may have to download it and check it out closer. In this day and age, it really seems like it would be a smart app to have, especially for people with kids etc.