“Text me when you get home”
“Be safe”
“Let me know when you’re back”
“Can I call you while I walk home”
“I’ll just walk back, it’s fine”
“Don’t worry it’s not far”
“I can’t be bothered to wait on the bus, I’ll just walk, I’ll be fine!”
We’ve all said one or all of these a million times. In a city like Aberdeen where everything seems pretty close by and taxis cost way too much, the temptation to just walk wherever you need to get to – no matter what time of day or night it is – is a strong one. Hopefully, if you’ve got good friends, someone will ask you to text them when you get to your flat or to give them a ring on the walk back just to make sure you get there safely. You know what it’s like though, your hands are too cold to keep texting, you don’t have anything to talk about on the phone (not that it’s ever stopped me) or you simply forget to text your friend to let them know you made it back in one piece.
Thanks to a new app called ‘Companion’ none of these things are really a problem anymore. With an easy to use design and super easy navigation, this might be the best app out there (maybe even better than Instagram)!
The whole premise of Companion app is that you shouldn’t have to walk home alone. It works by using the GPS location services on your smart phone and tracking your location. When you first download Companion it will give you a simple demonstration and ask you to input your full name and gender and send you a confirmation code so that you can start using the app right away. It determines where you are, and then you enter your destination before selecting a couple of your contacts to walk home with you. Your chosen chums don’t even have to have the app in order to track you. Companion will send them a text asking if they’ll be your (you guessed it) companion while you’re on your journey, and when you make it back safely the app will automatically notify them of that as well. It’s so simple!
The app periodically asks if you’re okay, and if you don’t respond within 15 seconds (by pressing the huge green YES button that will appear on your screen) then the app will automatically alert your hand picked companion(s).
Pretty cool, right? Well, the safety features don’t end there! The app is aware if you’ve begun running or if your headphones have been taken out of the headphone jack and ‘Companion’ will start its 15-second countdown before contacting your friends. Seriously you guys, we need to get this!
As a huge perk for uni students, the app lets you select places on campus where you feel unsafe or that you think could be made safer by tapping on the ‘I feel nervous’ option. Companion app has promised that it will alert university officials when a report like this has been made, so by using Companion you’re not just keeping yourself safe, but helping to keep the rest of us safe as well. If you’re ever in a position where you need immediate help there is an option to call the police via the app. Obviously this feature isn’t one that should be used lightly, but it’s a great one.
Currently the app is free and available for both iOS and Android so there’s no excuse not to download it ASAP!