While you’re busy using your phone to call an Uber, send a snap or keep your New Year’s Resolutions, you can also use it to stay safe and have a great night out. From keeping track of drinks to keeping track of your friends, these apps are your new go–to for going out.
If You’re Walking Alone At Night:
Companion: Mobile Personal Safety
Price: Free
How it works: You put in your destination and program some of your contacts to be your “Companions” (these contacts don’t need to download the app). As you walk, your Companions receive updates on your progress. If you don't make it to your destination on time, you start to run, your phone falls or your headphones are pulled out of your phone, the app will check in on you. If Companion doesn’t receive a response within 15 seconds, it will alert your Companions. You can use the “I Feel Nervous” button to indicate areas that feel unsafe and the app sends the information to your Companions. You can also use the app to call the police.
Price: Free
How it works: Like other safety apps, you choose certain people to be your safety contacts, but bSafe also allows you to send your location. The app has a feature called “Follow Me," which allows a friend to trace you through GPS. You can also set a timer that will sound an alarm if you don't check in on time. The app's other features include a "Fake Call" option and Guardian Alert button, which will send your location and video to friends and family, and a siren.
Price: Free
How it works: To use of Circle of 6, you designate six people to be your emergency contacts. The app will send a text message with your location to these contacts if you get into a dangerous situation. If you’re out with your friends and get separated from the group, you can send them a “Come and get me” message, which will also give them your location.
Price: Free
How it works: Kitestring isn’t an app—it’s a free online and SMS–based service (which means you don’t need a smartphone to use it). You set up a time for Kitestring to check up on you, which you can do online or by texting them the time when you would like to be contacted. Kitestring will text you then, and you can check in by replying to the text message or checking in online. If you don't, it will alert the emergency contacts which you set in advance. For added security, you can set a check–in password and a duress code, which sends a message to your emergency contacts.
To Keep Track of Your Friends:
Life360 Family & Friends Locator
Price: Free (with in–app purchases)
How it works: While this app is geared toward keeping track of family members, it can be just as useful for friends. It allows you to view the location of a friend on a map and sends alerts when they arrive at or leave programmed locations, such as home, work, school or any other place they go to frequently. You can also use the app to send messages and track phones.
So You Don’t Drink Too Much:
Price: $2.99
How it works: This app calculates your blood alcohol content (BAC), taking into account your height, age, weight, gender, stomach content and drinking frequency. The coolest thing about this app is that it tracks your alcohol consumption and absorption; it even graphs your BAC, so you can see it over time. The app also allows you to set limits and has an alarm that will alert you if you go past them.
Price: Free
How it works: This app lets you program your weight, gender, amount of time you’ve spent drinking and the amount of alcohol you’ve drunk. It then gives you an estimate of your blood alcohol concentration. The best part is that it also has a “Need a Ride?” feature that allows you to call a ride if you've drunk too much by connecting you to ride–sharing services such as Uber, Lyft, zTrip and Curb.
If You Do Drink Too Much:
This digital drinking buddy has a number of useful features. It includes a call–blocker that will hide certain contacts for up to 12 hours. The Find My Drunk feature lets you keep track of your friends through GPS and the Breadcrumbs feature lets you keep track of where you were the night before. The app also helps you get a ride home and can give you walking directions to where your friends are.
So You Don’t Get Lost:
Price: Free
How it works: Maps.Me is basically the offline version of a map app—which is great for when you can’t get WiFi, don’t have service, are running out of data or for some other reason cannot access Google Maps. You can also use the app to share your location, which is helpful if you need to meet up with a friend or need someone to come get you.
If Your Phone Runs Out of Battery (so you can still use all these apps):
Anker PowerCore Mini Ultra-Compact Portable Phone Charger
Where to Get It: Amazon
Price: $13.99
We know what you’re thinking — all these apps sound great, but every time I go out my phone dies. The solution is to get a portable phone charger. Although they come in all shapes, sizes and prices, this tiny charger is about the shape and size of a lipstick and weighs 2.4 ounces, so it isn’t heavy and will fit in a bag or pocket. It can fully charge an iPhone 6 in two hours, which comes in handy if you’re in a hurry.
