Personal Protection (Emergency Alerts)

This is about apps to fire an alarm in emergency situations – when there's usually not enough time for complex actions (like making a call or writing a text), and every second counts. So possible actions (which are mostly used by below apps) could include:

shake the device
plug-out the headset cable
have a "dead-man switch" (auto-alert if not pressed all xx minutes)

Possible actions, also found in some of the apps:

make a loud noise to draw attention
send an SMS/Mail/… to selected contacts (maybe including position data)
make a call to a selected contact (maybe while activating a "beacon" to be locatable, a la Glympse)

Dead-Man-Switch

2026-01-06

A Dead man switch fires automatically when you do not take action – so activation works just the opposite way of a panic button.

Noonlight: Feel Protected 24/7 (4.4@4,596) Ǥ 17 3
Kinetic Global (4.4@636) Ǥ 14 $Contains no trackers known to us \o/$
Dead Man’s Switch (4.4@354) 13 $Contains no trackers known to us \o/$ LastUpdate: 2024-04-03 triggers alert when not being moved for a given intervall; SMS, sound, call
Keep Alive (0@0) 17 $Contains no trackers known to us \o/$ Github; notify others if you haven't used your device in a given period of time

Panic mode activators

2026-01-06

Bull Horns Panic Button (4.3@762) Ǥ 24 7 LastUpdate: 2020-04-30 activate from earphone buttons or Wear device
Shake2Safety - Personal Safety (4.2@607) 10 $Contains no trackers known to us \o/$ LastUpdate: 2020-01-10 emergency call or SMS w/ location by shaking the phone / press power button 4 times

Panic-Button

2026-01-07

iOkay - Personal Safety (5@338) Ǥ 40 2
SOSFem - Alerta para Mujer (4.6@4,226) Ǥ 19 11
SoSecure by ADT: Safety App (4.3@3,574) Ǥ 18 8
SOS EU ALP (4.2@460) 10 1 Notfallknopf für Bergwanderer; send position for rescue
Alerty Personal alarm (3.6@21) Ǥ 25 4 can also be triggered by the Pebble companion
SABRE Personal Safety (3@46) Ǥ 36 4
Red Panic Button (2.2@1,000) Ǥ 18 2 SMS/mail/Facebook/Twitter w/ location

Other Emergency Alerts

2026-01-02

WayGuard - Lass dich begleiten (4.6@1,972) Ǥ 22 13 LastUpdate: 2022-09-05 Vorstellung 8/2019
Covert Alert (4.5@53) Ǥ 16 7 LastUpdate: 2024-02-01
My Safetipin:Safety Companion (3@338) Ǥ 19 6
bSafe - Never Walk Alone (2.4@8,922) Ǥ 34 7 Dead-man-switch, fake call, panic button & more
LiveSafe (2.3@714) Ǥ 28 7 Background on how the app started: thumbs up, Kristina! But: Trackers?
Igatha (0@0) Ǥ 16 $Contains no trackers known to us \o/$ Github; SOS Signaling & Recovery for emergencies when communication networks fail
Keep Alive Lite (0@0) 16 $Contains no trackers known to us \o/$ Github; send notifications (SMS) if your device was not used for some time
Duress (0@0) 2 $Contains no trackers known to us \o/$ Github; listen for a duress password on the lockscreen

Further Readings:

How to Create an Emergency Panic Button on Your Android Smartphone (12/2022)
Notfall-Funktion unter iOS & Android (4/2022)
The 5 Best Self Defense Apps for Personal Safety When Walking Alone (5/2019)
10 free Android apps that can help to save your life (3/2014 - 4/2019)

2026-01-07

IzzyOnDroid