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Tracking and SOS apps that could save your life

As much as we love South Africa to ignore the danger that folks face, especially the dangers faced by women and children, would be folly.

There is a reason we lock our doors at night or don’t venture into dark areas alone. Many of us are simply unsafe when we do these things.

But more often than not, people face danger in regular spaces such as the post office or a sports activity and that’s why today we are going to be looking at a few applications that are designed to keep you a little bit safer or at the very least, helps others find you when you are in danger.

We must clarify that these apps will not guarantee your safety but in the event that you are attacked or go missing they may help others find you.

It’s highly recommended that you bother your friends and family to download these apps in the event that they find themselves in need as well.

Namola – emergency services and tracker

This locally developed app is available for iOS and Android and it is free to download and use.

Namola allows you to contact emergency services with a single button so that they can be dispatched to your GPS location. Upon requesting help a trained operator will call you back to confirm details and dispatch emergency services.

Namola also has a tracking feature that allows users to share their live location with contacts. This location can be shared forever, for a few hours or just a day.

The app does require you set it up and test the service before hand so we recommend you spend a bit of time setting Namola up, just in case.

mySOS Panic Button

mySOS Panic Button is a standalone gadget that sports a single button emblazoned with SOS.

Simple as it looks this little fob features two way voice communication, GPS tracking and fall detection. While the gadget doesn’t need an application it can be paired with the official mySOS app, more on that in a bit.

The mySOS Panic Button is rather pricey at R1 450 and you’ll need a SIM for 12 months at a fee of R25 per month. In total the panic button will set you back R1 830.

The app, however, is free to download and use and doesn’t rely on the panic button.

Through the app you can request various forms of assistance, find assistance near your location and be tracked should you want folks to know where you are.

mySOS is available for Android and iOS and is both free to download and use.

bSafe

bSafe is the only application on our list that offers in-app purchases of some form and unfortunately you have to pay R27.99 per week or R1 049.99 per year to access the features of it.

For that money you access to features such as Follow Me (which tracks you), Fake Call and an SOS button.

You can of course get all of these services by making use of the aforementioned apps but bSafe could be useful if you decide to pay for the service.

bSafe is available for iOS and Android.

What3Words – easy location relay

We were recently introduced to What3Words as it announced its official presence in South Africa.

The firm has spent years dividing the world up into a 3 X 3 metre grid and assigning a unique three word address to that grid.

While the app itself won’t track you it does provide and easy way to relay your location to a person in just three words.

Once again, What3Words is free to download and use for both iOS and Android and the three word location can be used when talking to ER24.

WhatsApp Live Location

The chances that you use WhatsApp are rather high what with the service boasting half a billion daily active users.

For those that are using WhatsApp you can make use of the app’s live location sharing feature which lets you share your location with others for a few hours.

The service is free and doesn’t require any additional downloads if you already use WhatsApp. Here’s how to turn it on.

[Image – CC 0 Pixabay]

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