Paddy Landau
Well-Known Member
Sometimes, one of my children won't be in the safest area. If I go to pick them up, I like them to be able to see where I am so that they know when to expect me, and to stay safe in the meantime. Conversely, if they're using their own transport, e.g. cycling, I like them to keep me updated where they are from when they start travelling to when they reach home, so that if something goes wrong, I can be aware of it as soon as possible.
Google used to make a personal safety app like this, for both Android and iOS. It was respectful of privacy — it shared only when the sharer explicitly asked it to (preventing stalking), the sharer could turn it off manually at any time, and it had an automatic 24-hour time out anyway. But it didn't work well, and it's been discontinued.
I see that Google now has a Personal Safety app to do the same thing, but it's available only on Pixel phones. So, while I can use it, my children can't.
I have been looking for a suitable app. There's the bSafe app, but you can't even test it without paying a rather expensive fee on every phone where it's used; the costs quickly add up. (It has a host of features that we don't need.) I'm not going to pay a lot of money for something before I've even had a chance to test it.
I know that this can be subjective, but I would like some ideas for a good app to use, please. What the app needs is:
Google used to make a personal safety app like this, for both Android and iOS. It was respectful of privacy — it shared only when the sharer explicitly asked it to (preventing stalking), the sharer could turn it off manually at any time, and it had an automatic 24-hour time out anyway. But it didn't work well, and it's been discontinued.
I see that Google now has a Personal Safety app to do the same thing, but it's available only on Pixel phones. So, while I can use it, my children can't.
I have been looking for a suitable app. There's the bSafe app, but you can't even test it without paying a rather expensive fee on every phone where it's used; the costs quickly add up. (It has a host of features that we don't need.) I'm not going to pay a lot of money for something before I've even had a chance to test it.
I know that this can be subjective, but I would like some ideas for a good app to use, please. What the app needs is:
- One person can share their current location (automatically updated using GPS) to a chosen second person.
- Sharing doesn't start unless manually initiated by the sharer.
- Sharing can be manually turned off at any time, and preferably also has an automatic timeout.
- It needs to work on both Android and iOS.
- The price needs to be reasonable (I'm not flush with money).
