Shamontiel L. Vaughn
Social media livestreams come in handy to allow users to see what’s happening as needed. They are your sounding board, your second pair of eyes, your digital eyewitness and harder to debate than a third-party human testimony. While there are two sides of every story (his side, her side and the truth), in the case of mobile technology, seeing actions in real time make it much more difficult to try to change the story later.
Although social media recording apps allow users to see what’s happening in real time, there’s one major downside. What if your followers (and local emergency contacts) are not checking your social media feed when it happens? Could the MyOneOne mobile app be a better alternative?
Users of this emergency app can connect with their MyOneOne lifeline via livestreaming. Videos are then stored for later use. The mobile app will send the user’s location information directly to their lifelines. Unfortunately, Android users are not able to use this app. Like Siri, which requires an iOS 12 operating system to use the emergency response app, MyOneOne is also designed for iPhones.
But for iPhone users, tap the MyOneOne alarm and choose which emergency is happening. If your emergency is not actually being stopped by the police, this app will also connect you to the police or an emergency medical service. (Siri has a voice activation option once it’s been set up.)
Alternate options for Android users
Although Android users too often get treated like the stepchild of the smartphone users (Clubhouse, we’re ready when you are!), there are some other emergency options for the 129.1 million to 130 million Android smartphone users who want a Siri-like or MyOneOne-like emergency option.
- Zello PTT Walkie Talkie can be used like a walkie talkie for livestreaming, and has call alerts and push-to-talk options.
- PulledOver allows users to record, notify emergency contacts and is shared with the rest of the Pulled Over community (anyone else who has downloaded the mobile app).
- Mobile Witness will record while the screen is off, and supports uploading to Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, Box and more.
- AZ Screen Recorder and Android 10 (or newer) have built-in options to record front-facing video. An emergency send option will not automatically send video from the camera though.
Keep in mind that these four apps have some tech complaints largely dependent on needing newer Android phones and/or lack of front-facing camera functionality. Test each app beforehand to make sure it works before it’s needed.
Emergency contact reminders for iPhone and Android users
Whether you’re on an iPhone or an Android phone, in the event of emergencies that vary from a lost phone to a scary situation, programming emergency contacts should be something all smartphone users do. Choose “Groups” and either edit “Emergency Contacts” or select from the “ICE—Emergency Contacts” to select medical emergency contacts and/or emergency contacts from phone contacts.
If you know your blood type, make sure to add that, too. This way, whether the recording is on or not, someone will know who to contact in the event of an emergency situation.
