Smartphone apps that can be used to improve Women's Safety

Personal security has always been a major concern for women in India, and various potential solutions have been discussed on how technology can be incorporated to solve the problem. Technology only covers a part of the larger picture and a larger social transformation is required. Regardless the conversation, we will cover how technology can help on that front, the best apps that can help you do it and the potential pitfalls that we have observed in the implementation.

A number of smartphone apps have been introduced in this space, as the smartphone adoption grew in India. Most of the apps were launched as part of a social campaign or were part of an advertising campaign. But the main issue with most of the apps is the fact that they are not updated frequently.

During my research on the apps that can help women tackle the important issue of personal safety, I found a lot of outdated apps. Apps that were last updated in 2015 or late 2014, apps that no longer function or are unstable, and user feedback has pointed out unpredictable nature of the apps. I have excluded the apps that no longer work and are not maintained by they developers so that users don’t encounter any issues while using the apps. Though, the stability of the apps depends on their compatibility with your smartphone setup.

1. Trusted Contacts

Trusted Contacts is the latest app launched by Google. The app is straightforward, as it lets you choose trusted contacts and these contacts are notified about the same. One important thing to note is that the other user needs to install the same app if they want to request your location. The app lets trusted contacts request your location and the location notification comes in the UI design of a phone call. If the user does not respond in 5 minutes, then the app automatically shares the location to that trusted contact and also allows the trusted users to check phone’s activity.

Even though the idea, compatibility and design of the app are the best in the list, still the implementation can be improved. The company needs to do away with the request timeout feature because the user is aware of the fact that trusted contacts can request your location.

2. My Safetipin: Personal Safety and SafetiPin Track: GPS Tracker

My Safetipin is one of the smartest apps on Google Play Store which serves as a database of information for locations around you. It lets you enter details like Lighting available in the area, your Visibility to other people so that people can check on you, the diversity of crowd in terms of number of women and children around, the density of crowd in the area, distance from nearby public transport, presence of proper place to walk, availability of police or private security nearby and openness of the place. However, the most important thing is the ‘feeling’ field where you can enter how you feel about your safety in the particular location.

The app comes with another companion app which gives options like ‘Stay with me’ which allows family and friends to track you, ‘Call back’ option that will make the phone ring in few minutes to help you get out of a situation, ‘Call me’ asks friends and family to call you, ‘Scream’ where the smartphone plays a loud noise to scare off people following you or trying to harass you. Other options include ‘Where are you’ where you can see locations of your friends and family members, ‘SOS’ that triggers a loud alarm on the smartphones belonging to your friends and family.

3. Himmat

Himmat is the official app developed by Delhi Police where the user is required to register in the app using an OTP. This registration registers you with the Himmat backend which is monitored by the Police control room. The audio and video from the mobile device are sent to Police control room as soon as a user activates SOS alert from the app which allows police to send assistance request to nearest Police station or PCR van in the area. Keep in mind that there are two identical app listings in the Google Play Store. The first listing is ‘Himmat’ which is outdated and the latest updated listing is ‘Himmat.’

4. Smart24x7-Personal Safety App

The smart24x7 app is currently supported by Gurgaon Police, Jalandhar Police, Chandigarh Police, Jammu Police, Mohali Police, UP Fire Services (Lucknow and Noida). It allows users to send alerts to friends or family using the ‘PANIC’ button in case of any emergency. In case the GPRS or mobile data of the device is not working then the app will switch to SMS to send alerts. The app has 24x7 call centre assistant feature, voice and video recording during an emergency that will be sent to the police, fake call, tracking, sharing travel alerts and maid/servant registration with the police. They recently added a new feature that keeps your friends and family informed when you are on your way to the office or home.

5. Eyewatch Women , Eyewatch Aman , and  Eyewatch BlackBox

Eyewatch is a suite of apps developed by a developer group ‘Eyewatch’, and different apps have different features. The apps like Eyewatch Women, Eyewatch Aman and Eyewatch BlackBox have important functionalities like tracking, fake calling, emergency contact to your family and friends. The developer or the group developing should club all the apps to make once a consolidated app that can be maintained while offering all the features that are spread over multiple apps.

Conclusion

One important issue is that most apps are not well developed with system level integration. It requires low-level access app that can map hardware keys for instant actions and the apps can’t be installed directly. Even though, developing such apps will require significant coding skills, such apps should be mandatory for issues of personal safety.

Developers should note that these apps don’t generate any revenue but if any developer comes with a consolidated, well maintained and modern app that includes a monthly subscription then people will pay to use that app. People will choose personal safety over not paying for a smartphone app.

One thing to note is that the Government of India has ordered smart manufacturers to integrate emergency button or panic button in the smartphone software. Most smartphones have already rolled out updates to add that functionality. This move by the government is a huge step in the right direction.