Whether you are heading out for Christmas shopping, a festive get-together or to visit family in a different post code, the holiday season is a time for increased travel and added distractions. Readyr has curated a list of apps available on Google Play and the Apple store to enhance your safety and security this Christmas.

Noonlight

The first emergency response app that you should look at is Noonlight. It has taken the concept of a ‘panic button’ to a whole new level.

If you feel unsafe, you simply hold down the button on your phone. If the emergency resolves itself, let go of the button and enter your 4 digit pin. If you’re in real trouble, you just let go of the button and don’t enter your pin. Local police will automatically be informed of the situation and dispatched.

There’s also a timer version of this, allowing you to set a ‘check in’ time if you’re entering a strange location. If you don’t confirm your safety by checking in with your pin before the timer expires, police will be informed and dispatched.

Pixel Personal Safety

This one is Android only, but it deserves a mention because it’s written by Google themselves to assure compatibility on their hardware.

The Personal Safety app does a little bit of everything, though you need access to your phone just before things kick off. That’s because the trigger for the app is tapping your power button quickly five times.

Once you do that, the app calls emergency services, alerts all of your designated emergency contacts, and starts recording audio and video. It does have a similar ‘check in’ feature to Noonlight, so there’s a hands free option if you set it up beforehand. It can even detect if there’s been a car crash, and call emergency services automatically.

Life360

There are a lot of group and family location tracking apps out there, but none of them are as slick as Life360. Not only is the app built on top of Google Maps, and therefore offers both street views and satellite maps, but it can use GPS tracking to do some pretty clever things.

For example, you can get alerts when certain group members hit their expected waypoints, or if they fail to arrive on time. The app detects unsafe driving, including texting while driving. It can even track your wallet, keys, and phone via Bluetooth trackers. So if you get robbed, either you or another group member can inform police and they can start tracking down the culprit.

Disaster Alert for Android

The Pacific Disaster Center originally developed Disaster Alert for traveler and surfer safety, but it’s become so much more than that over the years. 

It will automatically alert the user about hurricanes, cyclones, typhoons, earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanos, floods, and wildfires. In the U.S. it also alerts to tornados and winter storms.

The Pacific Disaster Center also manually tracks certain marine hazards, coastal storms, drought conditions, and manmade incidents. 

AccuWeather for iPhone

For weather alerts, storm tracking, and natural disaster alarms on the iPhone, AccuWeather is your best option.

Although it has a lot of options for tracking day to day weather, it doesn’t skimp on emergency alerts! Natural disaster alerts, severe storm warnings, ice alerts, tidal and storm surge info, and air quality warnings are all part of the package.

So let’s turn uncertainty into confidence with these extremely useful apps. Enjoy your travels this Christmas with the peace of mind that everything is covered.