Don’t take your chances on your next run. Nearly 80 percent of women have reported being harassed while on a run. You need a safety app to ensure you remain safe while working out.
The following running safety apps can help keep you safe, whether in the middle of an emergency or in the moments preceding a potential crisis.
One Scream (iOS and Android)
One Scream makes it easy for women to feel safer when they run. The app works similar to some other safety apps, while adding some additional safety features.
When you first download the safety app, you’ll be asked to add up to three emergency contacts who will be notified when you are in need of help. Then, before you head out your door for your next run, open the running safety app and grant it location-tracking permissions. This ensures your GPS location will be tracked from starting to finishing your run. The ultimate part of the running app is that you don’t have to press a button when you’re in danger.
The app is triggered by your scream. Following your scream, the app will trigger a siren and a notification will appear. This notification is asking whether this is a false alarm or not. If it isn’t, you don’t have to respond to it. After 20 seconds, the app will fully engage, sending a text message and automated call – with your location – to the contacts you listed. Best of all, Android users will keep the phone line open, following the call, so your emergency contact can hear what is happening, thus gaining evidence along with what the app records.
bSafe (iOS and Android)
You should always be safe while out walking or running. bSafe aims to provide that to every one of its users.
It is an advanced app that offers many different features to users, all of which aim at protecting them from situations where they feel as if their personal safety is being put at risk. One of its key features involves GPS tracking, which can be automated in mere seconds so that your exact location can be tracked to a T. Also, you can ask for a network of “guardians” to keep an eye on you – a group of local chaperones who will keep their distance but ensure you remain safe.
You can also automatically trigger the app through voice activation to set up immediate live streaming and recording, which will allow you to instantaneously capture evidence of whatever threat you are dealing with. Unlike an Apple watch, female runners can even activate features like Fake Calls and an S.O.S. button, the former to make it seem as if you’re legitimately talking to someone on the phone and the latter to receive help by notifying local guardians of your distress call.
Source: George Rudy/Shutterstock
ROAD iD - Live GPS Tracker (Android and iOS)
Don’t put yourself in harm’s way over a workout. The ROAD iD running safety app protects you by leaving a digital trace wherever you run. Our eCrumb (electronic breadcrumb) stores “crumbs” of your GPS location during your run, showing where you’ve been and where you are.
Best of all, if you ever feel in danger, you can utilize the app’s eCrumbs S.O.S. button to instantly notify your emergency contacts. If you trigger the alarm in the Road iD app, it will send your exact GPS location to your contacts so they can act accordingly, whether driving out to check in on you or call for emergency services – in more severe instances.
Red Panic Button (iOS and Android)
Feel as if your life is in danger, either due to a stranger or a sudden medical crisis? Pull up the Red Panic Button app and immediately call for assistance. When the app is engaged and used, it will send a link of your location, via Google Maps, to your emergency contact – both by text message and email. Furthermore, prominent Twitter users can link their accounts to send what the company calls a pre-written “panic tweet” to inform followers that you are in serious need of help.
Source: Rocketclips, Inc./Shutterstock
Run Free of Safety Concerns
Before you head out the door for your next run, make sure you have the most reliable running apps ready at your hip. In case of emergency, you can immediately reach for your phone and access assistance, whether it be for personal safety, a medical accident or simply getting lost while on a trail. Make sure you’re protected by preparing before your run, downloading the running apps you need.
