Have you ever felt unsafe walking home from McKeldin late at night? Maybe you wish someone was with you on your trek back to your dorm.
The new Companion app promises you’ll never have to walk home alone again. The free app launched its second version almost three weeks ago, and has been rapidly growing ever since — particularly among college students. The app received 500,000 sign-ups in the first week alone. Available on Android and iOS, the Companion app was created by a group of five students at the University of Michigan, who decided that they would create a safety app that would be different from the rest: it would be cool, easy-to-use, and most importantly, made for students by students.
I decided to try out the app when I was walking back to my apartment late at night. I was instructed to enter my destination and select a contact to be my “companion.” With just a few clicks, the GPS had loaded my route, and my friend had received a text message with a request to be my companion. After she accepted, she was able to see my exact location on a map. The best part was that she could do all of this without ever needing to download the app herself. This capability allows for immediate communication with your companion, as you don’t have to wait for them to complete a download, or deal with issues of “not having enough storage.”
After I reached my destination, my companion received a notification that I had arrived safely.
However, if something had happened in the meantime, she would have been aware immediately, as the app would have sensed my movement change and let her know there was a problem. For example, if the user gets stopped or begins running in the opposite direction of their route, the app prompts the user, asking if they’re OK. If they don’t respond, the app goes into alert mode. The companion is notified and a siren sounds to scare off any attacker. An emergency button also appears on the screen, giving the user the option to call the police.
There are other functions available for when the user feels unsafe such as the “I feel nervous” button. If pressed, it lets the companion know to pay close attention to your journey and walking speed. 9-1-1 also becomes available with just two taps. The “I feel nervous” button is also a great feature that the app uses to record unsafe areas. You can anonymously submit feedback on why you feel unsafe so that this information can be used to improve the area. When the button is repeatedly pressed in a certain location, the area is marked as unsafe and this data will be used for communities to make the areas safer.
“Companion is a great way for students to look out for one another. It’s nice to know we have someone there who can watch out for us, even if they aren’t physically present,” explained Maryland sophomore Katie Towes.
The app has been noted to be particularly helpful for people on college campuses, for students walking through parking garages, and for walking in unfamiliar areas during study abroad.
However, the Companion app team isn’t stopping there. They have promised more improvements to the app in the next few months. They plan to ensure that the person who touches the “I’m OK,” button is actually the user of the app, rather than someone who has approached them and taken their phone. How? The team plans to do this by using motion sensors and fingerprinting. They also plan to improve the app by creating a screen that displays the safety of the route that the user is about to take, based on data gathered from previous walkers.
The Companion app team is eager to hear feedback to improve the app and are accepting suggestions from all students on their website to help them improve in the future.