As we step into yet another new year, let us look back and chart in what ways the society has tried to answer the question of women safety. Following the Delhi Nirbhaya case in late 2012, development of apps to ensure the safety of women took a front seat. Let us have a look at the most popular women safety apps developed in 2013 -
Guardian - to guard you
Guardian was launched on December 27th by Microsoft solely for its users. Its “Track Me” feature lets friends track the users in real time with the aid of Microsoft Windows Azure cloud services and Bing Map APIs. They can contact security agencies, hospitals and police through an “SOS” button in times of need.
This application was developed in the Microsoft Garage of India after a continuous hard work of more than six months. Guardian was designed with more safety features than any other comparable application that can be found in the Indian smartphone market. The employees of Microsoft used their spare time to develop this app in order to make women feel secure in the Indian cities.
C-DAC app for a safer society
Using this Android based app, women who feel threatened can send distress signals to the closest police control camp. It was implemented as a pilot project for the Jaipur police in December. This project took shape in the light of the Nirbhaya case in Delhi in December of 2012, in order to protect the dignity of women in public places. This has become useful in keeping a check on not only women safety issues but also in ensuring children, tourist and senior citizen safety. The app is also set to be put together into a wrist watch as a handy personal safety tool.
After the devices are integrated with the police control rooms, the police would be able to track the location of spot, and send a police patrol vehicle to the place right away. The app would automatically detect the shortest route to the location of the signaler and reach there as soon as possible.
(img source - the hindu)
iFollow – to follow you around
One of the recipients of the Nasscom AppFame Award for women safety, iFollow was launched in early 2013 as a personal application for the cellphones. With this app the user (when in danger) can make calls to their most important contacts by shaking the phone. The user needs to shake the phone thrice within 5 seconds. A maximum of three contacts can be added to send out the distress calls to. If the user contacts the first person and does not get a response from them, iFollow will automatically generate an sms with the user’s geographical location, and promptly send it to all the three contacts. After the first message has been sent, it will send SOS with upgraded location details with a change in every 10 meters of your location. Moreover, at other times, it remains as a background app so that power consumption is minimized.
(img source - ibtimes)
SafeBridge – to ensure safety
Telerik launched SafeBridge, a free mobile app for promoting personal safety for women in India. The beta version of the app took only 4 days to build, test and launch in the Android market. SafeBridge was managed by just 1 developer from the efficient Telerik team within 2 weeks and took 4 days to be developed. The beta version has been made available to all kinds of Android phones.
During a crisis situation, you just need to press the “Help Me” button to send urgent SMSs along with your GPS information to the priority contacts on the phone. When the danger is over, the “A am safe” button would notify the same contacts that things have become normal again and that you are safe. In addition to it, this application can work with limited or no internet at all. It has a directory of police stations located in Delhi, while the Telerik team is considering bringing other Indian cities into this range.
(img source - telerik)
SafeTrac – safety at hand
SafeTrac, developed by the Chennai based KritiLabs, can track movement on a real-time basis, both from home and on a hand-held device with an internet connection and Google Maps. The app that was launched in early 2013 has an emergency button that you can click when you feel threatened. The Delhi rape incident triggered the development of this application which is based on KritiLab’s Transport Operation Mobile Management software platform. It works on Google and Android based phones.
(img source- thehindubusinesslines)
The other noteworthy women safety apps (launched before 2013) are –
• GoSuraksheit - by Hughes Systique India Private Limited
• Sentinel - by MindHelix Technosol Pvt Ltd
• Nirbhaya: Be Fearless – by SmartCloud Infotech Pvt Ltd
• FightBack – by Tech Mahindra (The micro-blogging site Twitter triggered the development and launch of FightBack, a mobile app dedicated to the cause of women safety. Anand Mahindra, chairman of the Mahindra Group, was part of a Twitter conversation that focused on the rape incident that took place in Delhi. It was then that an individual came up with the suggestion of a mobile app for helping out Mahindra employees as well as other women at risk. The chairman appreciated the idea and eventually this app took shape.)
• One Touch SOS - by Ideophone
• inE - by Rain Concert Technologies Pvt. Ltd.
• PanicGuard – by PanicGuard Ltd
These apps were winners of NASSCOM’s All India App Fame Contest 2013, which focused on creating solutions for women safety.
