Personal Safety Apps & Gadgets: Using tech to be save yourself
Video Transcript
Courtney: Hey, guys.
Julissa: You know I love me some gadgets, right? So, I’m a little geeked out about all this. And even better because these are helping us stay safe, right?
Ryan: Yes, let’s talk about Valentine’s Day first because, you know, that’s tomorrow. And you might want something to get out of that date. So, I got something cool. There’s an app called Be Safe, and this is pretty cool, now I’ve never done this before but there’s a little SOS button. So let’s say that guy you go out with is kind of creepy?
Julissa: Yes.
Ryan: You could just press that and oh, let’s see if it will go. It’s supposed to… Nah, forget it. It’s supposed give an alert and like scream like, “Ah, I don’t want to deal with it.” But this is kind of cool. So let’s say you’re out and about and you’re like, “I’m kind of in a sketchy situation,” you can press that SOS button. It’ll alert your friends on your contact list. It’ll immediately start recording video and audio…
Julissa: Oh, nice.
Ryan: …and send texts to all your friends and say, well, anybody that you designate and say, “Hey, this person’s in trouble. Help them out.” If you’re out, like, jogging or just walking around and you’re just not sure, but you don’t want to press SOS, there’s a Follow Me button. And it’ll set up like a little GPS, where you’re going, and people can follow you on their phone. That’s kind of cool.
Julissa: Oh, they can track. Okay. That is cool.
Ryan: But this is the best part: Fake Call. So, you can set it up and schedule, so you’re, “Oh, I have to go to the bathroom,” you can schedule a fake call, have it say, “Mom” and then go, “Oh, hello. Oh, I gotta go. She’s so sick. It’s terrible.” So that’s kind of cool. It’s called Be Safe. It’s totally free. So check that out.
Julissa: We like that. We recommend. Okay.
Ryan: So, let’s say you wanna have a panic button, right? So, you just put this… There’s a little, this is a React Panic Button. It’s $69.00. There’s an app that you can attach to your phone. Cool part about this is that you can put it on your, like your yoga pants or something…
Julissa: Key chain or something?
Ryan: …while you’re running around. And if somebody does something weird, beep, press that button.
Julissa: Oh, you just press the button. Oh, so that’s always with you? Okay.
Ryan: Yeah, and it can call the authorities. There’s like a 10-second delay. But if for some reason you’re like, “You know what? I don’t wanna deal with apps. I don’t wanna deal with little buttons,” check out this.
Julissa: What is this?
Ryan: This is an iPhone case.
Julissa: Okay.
Ryan: But check this part out. So you can zap the bejesus out of that creepy guy, right? So you can’t really zap yourself, which is kind of nice. There’s a little button here, you have to slide it up.
Julissa: Okay.
Ryan: So then you press it in and…
Julissa: Oh my gosh.
Ryan: Seven million volts. So, you’re gonna punish somebody with this thing. It’s so cool. It’s $139 bucks all the way up to $189 bucks.
Julissa: It’s worth it.
Ryan: It’s only for iPhones, Court.
Courtney: Come on, Ryan.
Ryan: When we were talking earlier, but iPhone, or you know, Android users, they don’t need this kind of thing because they’re just tough.
Ken: Okay.
Ryan: So that’s kind of nice. And last but not least, this has nothing to do with Valentine’s Day, but we got this from Verizon. We thought it was pretty cool.
Julissa: I love this.
Ryan: This is the new Ring Version 2, so it’s HD, and so when you press the little button, you can get an alert on your phone. Hey, somebody’s at your door. And you can see if somebody’s stealing a package. There’s two-way communication.
Julissa: A lot of people have been able to find those porch thiefs because of having this at their doorstep.
Ryan: And I didn’t know this but, on their app, let’s see if I can get it open here real quick. On their app, they have a little thing where you can see your neighborhood and everybody in your neighborhood who posts, they can say like, “Hey, this person’s walking around the neighborhood stealing packages.” Or, “Hey, this guy was suspicious.”
Julissa: And you can talk. There’s a speaker, too, so you can talk to people, “Hey, you might wanna leave that.” I know that’s, you know, preventative.
Ryan: Wow. Freak them out. I like that.
Julissa: It’s also good when you’re little neighbor friends are not home, you can ring it and find out where they are.
Ryan: Yes.
Courtney: Your neighbor friends?
Julissa: My kids like to do that when the neighbors are not home. They’re like, “Where are you guys?”
Ryan: There was a doorbell ditcher on one of these things where you see the little kid walk up there and ring the doorbell, and it was pretty funny.
Courtney: “I’m calling your mom.”
Julissa: Oh my…
Ryan: When somebody rings the doorbell and just takes off running.
Courtney: “You little rag-a-muffin.”
Ryan: This is gonna run you about $170 bucks. You can still get the Ring Version 1. It’s not HD, but it’s still available.
Julissa: Right. Yeah.
Ryan: So, if you wanna spring for the Hd thought…
Julissa: Pretty…
Courtney: Ryan, do the taser, one more time.
Ryan: Super easy.
Courtney: One more time.
Ryan: What was that?
Julissa: The taser.
Courtney: The taser, one more time. Come on.
Ryan: Oh, okay. You want me to see if…
Courtney: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Ken: Don’t you do it.
Ryan: That’s not gonna happen. All the lawyers were like, “No. No.”
Courtney: Ryan.
Julissa: Holy moly. All right. Fantastic.
Ken: Always good stuff.
Julissa: Ryan, thank you so much.
Ryan: You’re welcome.
Julissa: We’ve got their website linked up to ours, gooddaysacramento.com. Back over to you.
There are situations in our day to day life that can make you feel a bit insecure.
Whether it’s walking alone to your car at night, going for a solo run or hike, meeting a stranger on a blind date, or sending your teen out on their own to any number of places, these instances can leave you wishing you had a bit of “backup.”
It’s not a testament to your capabilities.
It’s wise to be aware and protect yourself and your loved ones, but you don’t want to miss out on the experiences either.
Fortunately, modern-day gadgets and apps can help you balance everyday activities with safety.
Let’s take a look!
1. bSafe
Find yourself in a sketchy situation?
Fire up the bSafe app and tap on the SOS button. The following things occur as soon as the button is pressed.
- A siren-like noise is emitted
- Your phone’s flashlight is turned on
- Audio and video begins to automatically record
- Friends you’ve selected beforehand receive an SMS alert, your GPS coordinates, and a link to view live video
- Your ‘primary’ friend also gets a phone call
That’s sure to scare off anyone with malicious intent.
If you’re out for a run or walking home alone late at night, make sure to use the “Follow Me” function.
This lets you set a timer informing the app when you should be done.
If you don’t check in by this time, your friends will be alerted.
If you want a live guardian angel, you can invite a friend to “walk with you,” which lets friends monitor your movement on a GPS-enabled map.
The bSafe “fake call” function can even help you navigate out of hairy situations like a bad date.
Just enter who you want the call to appear to be from (for example – mom), when it should happen, and that’s basically it.
The phone will ring with a call that looks completely legit.
The app has an easy to use interface and is free despite many “premium” features.
It offers a great reassurance in situations that you know in advance make you uncomfortable. If you would normally consider calling someone to have them on the phone while you walk to your car or make it up to your apartment, bSafe offers a great alternative.
But, let’s be realistic. How likely is it that in a true emergency you’re going to have the ability to use an app on your phone?
Imagine asking your would-be mugger to wait a moment while you pull out your phone, launch an app, and slide an icon over.
As for runners, they typically don’t keep phones in hand while running.
Meanwhile, kids and elders may lack the focus to use the app in case of an emergency.
For these situations, simplicity is key.
2. SecretlySafe
One of the biggest challenges of a self-monitored security system is that it relies on you – or your loved one – being available when an emergency strikes. While it’s great to have a “follow me home” feature or an app that will notify your friends and family if you don’t check in, what happens when they aren’t available or don’t notice your alert when you need their help?
SecretlySafe addresses this with optional operator-monitoring ($4.99/month). With this feature, you get access to an “always there” operator. When an alert is activated, they’ll get automatic location updates so they can let the police know where to find you. They’ll also stay on the line with you, or you can pre-designate to send live-stream audio and video to the operator so they can report exactly what’s happening to law enforcement.
SecretlySafe also addresses the issue of not being able to activate a safety app when in the middle of an unexpected altercation. SecretlySafe is triggered with a custom vocalized phrase, so no one but you knows that an alert has been sent. This makes the app completely hands-free.
It can run for hours in the background without significantly affecting battery life. And you can use your phone normally – including listening to music – even while listening mode is turned on.
3. React Mobile Sidekick
React mobile sidekick is a wearable panic button that connects to your smartphone.
Press the button and your pre-set emergency contacts will be notified of your emergency with coordinates of your location.
A call to 911 is also placed within 6 seconds unless you cancel it.
The wearable button connects to the React Mobile app on your phone via Bluetooth which also has a “follow me” option.
You’ll need your phone nearby at all times for the panic button to work, but you don’t need it in hand.
Designed with real estate agents and in-home service providers in mind, this handy device will set you back around $69.99.
4. Yellow Jacket Stun Gun Cell Phone Case
Some police departments arm their officers with stun guns.
They are great for self-defense, deterrence and disabling attackers without causing long-term injury.
Now, you can convert your cell phone into a stun gun with the yellow jacket cell phone cover.
Great for close quarters like an elevator or vehicle, barbs are designed to ‘shock’ your attacker once you make contact and activate the appropriate switches.
The shock causes extreme localized pain, allowing you to escape.
The cover has multiple safeguards to prevent accidental firing so that you don’t hurt yourself or someone harmless by mistake.
The first is a safety switch on the side that must be pushed up into the “ready” position.
Then you need to activate the ‘stun gun activation switch’ on the back of the cover to expose the 2 electrodes that deliver the shock.
To fire, the activation switch must then be depressed using some force.
The stun gun cover includes its own battery, so it doesn’t drain your phone’s. You can even access the Yellow Jacket’s batter to charge your phone if needed.
At the moment, the cover is only available for iPhones and costs anywhere between $139-$189.
The company is also in process of adding a notification feature to the app so that any time you use the device a notification with your GPS location will be sent to your pre-designated contacts.
5. Ring Video Doorbell 2
When you’re home alone, answering the door to a stranger can be a point of vulnerability.
Yet you also don’t want to give the impression that your home is empty in the event the person at the door has ill intent.
The ring video doorbell 2 can be your eyes and ears.
It sends live video of who is at your door straight to your phone, tablet or computer. You’ll even get notified if the person doesn’t ring your bell thanks to motion sensors and night vision.
Activate the two-way talk function if you’re uncomfortable opening the door to a stranger, or if you aren’t home and want to impart instructions to the person on your porch.
The doorbell has a 1080 HD camera for clear images.
It’s a great way to deter burglars and package thieves for only $199.
Make Safety A Priority
Don’t take your safety or that of your loved ones lightly.
These tools can give you a little virtual assistance so you can stay safe in sketchy situations.
Like This? We have more!
Sign up below to be kept in the loop and be sent more content like this in the future!
