You're walking out of a friend's house and the guy/girl who was supposed to walk home with you is gone. You look around, wondering what on Earth you're going to do next. Walking back in this big city by yourself this late at night is so not an option.
It's a pretty common problem. Whether you're a guy or a girl, if you attend a university that isn't in the best location as far as safety goes, and you're out late you will worry. Not only will you worry, but your friends and family will also worry. What an unnecessary mess.
To solve this problem, some University of Michigan students created "Companion," which is an app available on Android and iOS. There's a lot of security apps available to Android and iOS, which is good, but the issue is that not all of them work. You can accidentally butt dial 911 on many of them, which no one wants.
Companion uses your location to notify any selected number of friends whether or not you're on the path you need to be. The best part is that if you start to run, drop your phone or stray off the path, your friends are notified and there is an option to call campus/city police. To make sure it wasn't a mistake, the app asks if you're okay.
Also, your friends don't need to download the app to make sure you get home okay. You simply put in their phone number and they are sent a text with a link to a map, displaying where you are and notifying them when you get home safe.
Living in San Jose, this app is a real plus. With SJSU Alerts galore, crime at night around campus is a real problem. There have been so many nights where as soon as it gets dark outside, I've had to worry about how I'm getting home. Luckily, I'm blessed with friends who will always walk me home. However, if that isn't an option for some people, they have this app.
Coming from a female standpoint, it's great someone is finally doing something about this. I've downloaded probably five of these apps and none of them had compared. One of them didn't even have the correct GPS status of where I was going.
What I like the most is that college designed this app for college students, and we know each other's struggle the best. I will definitely be using Companion from now on, whether I'm walking by myself or not.
