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From a young age, women learn to be on defense. We repeat mantras to ourselves and each other: Try not to go places alone. Don't leave drinks unattended. Check your car's back seats and lock your doors after getting in. We're told that doing such normal activities as living alone, jogging, going on dates, and leaving the house could put us in harm's way.
To protect ourselves, WIRED staffers and friends I spoke to mentioned the same few methods, like walking with keys held between their fingers, carrying pepper spray on their keychains, or talking on the phone with a friend until they felt safe. It's not always a stranger lurking in the dark who poses the biggest threat; it's often the ones we love and live with who perpetrate the most harm. We can't make people be better, but as technology writers, the Gear team wondered whether there was something better, a way for all this tech we already carry with us—our phones, our smartwatches—to provide an assist. We don't want to live our lives in fear, but we do want to be safe and prepared.
This guide is long, with options for a lot of different scenarios and budgets. The most important advice is this: download the free Noonlight app, see what safety features your phone and watch already offer, and learn to use whatever method you go with before you're in an emergency. From there, we urge you to browse the rest of this guide for other options you might not have thought of.
Updated April 2024: We've included info about Apple's new Check In feature and added the Silvertree Reach bracelet. We've also updated prices and links throughout.
Medea Giordano is the lead reviewer for this guide. Louryn Strampe and Adrienne So also tested some devices and shared advice on products they already use.
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The built-in safety features of the Apple Watch vary from model to model. Always get to know these features before you potentially need them.
Before you take the plunge and invest in one of these personal safety products or become entirely reliant on a piece of software, here are a few general guidelines to follow:
The apps that come preinstalled on your phone can be used to keep you safe.
Your smartphone has at least two built-in safety features that work without requiring you to download or buy anything extra: location sharing and emergency calling.
The obvious downside to relying on your smartphone is that if it dies or is shut off, you can’t make any phone calls or share your location with a trusted contact. So if you notice your battery is low, and you sense you might be in danger, you should quickly send your current location so your trusted contact has a starting point. If you’d rather not use continuous tracking, you could text a trusted friend a photo of the map you’re using, like if you’re going out for a solo hike; if you don’t arrive at your destination, friends or authorities can at least try to trace your steps.
To use these built-in safety features on your phone, follow these instructions:
You likely always have your phone on you. If you want something more than the built-in features, an app is the most convenient way to access help without fumbling over a separate device. Most of our favorites are also free.
Noonlight is dead simple to use and has free, $5, and $10 per month options.
The best safety apps are simple to use in a panicked situation, and Noonlight is as simple as it gets. All you have to do is press your finger on the onscreen button if you feel unsafe—I often use it while walking home but you can use it for any situation, like if someone knocks on your door. Once you're safe, release your finger and enter your PIN within 10 seconds. If you don’t enter your PIN, Noonlight first attempts to contact you over the phone, and if you don’t answer the call, the company then contacts local authorities, directing them to your location. Help is on the way in the critical moments when you may not be able to dial 911 and talk to an operator. Every person should have this app downloaded; the free version is more than enough for most users.
Noonlight is available for both iOS and Android. The iOS version has two additional free features that I like: Timeline and Safety Network. Your Timeline can be filled out with details about your activities, like who you're going on a date with and where; you can even add a photo of their dating profile. You can also indicate whether you’re doing anything differrent from your usual schedule, like house-sitting, working late, or traveling to a new location. If you activate the Noonlight button, your Timeline is sent to authorities along with your location.
When you add contacts to the app’s Safety Network, these people can check in on you and send local help to your last known location. Your contacts don't have to download the Noonlight app; they can access all of the relevant information on the company’s website.
If you subscribe for $5 or $10 a month, you can connect Noonlight to apps like Uber, Lyft, and Tinder (you'd be able to automatically add your date's profile to the Timeline mentioned above), or connect a voice assistant. The $5 tier also gets you access to the Apple Watch app, though I personally think that should be a free feature. Noonlight partners with some of the other options on this list, too, and works with Wyze, one of our favorite smart-home brands.
Strava is mostly used for logging cycling and running workouts, but it has some useful safety features.
Strava is a social network for workouts, used mostly to record long bike rides or runs, and it may be an app you already use. Strava has a helpful feature called Beacon that shares your real-time location with anyone you choose, along with what time you started your activity, how long you've been active, and your phone's battery percentage. If you set up a check-in time with your chosen friend, they'll know when it's time to get worried. They can then share your GPS map with the police. Beacon is now free on the mobile app (it used to be part of the premium version of Strava), but you'll have to pay for a subscription if you want to use it on other connected devices, like your smartwatch.
Remember that if you have a public profile, other Strava users might able to see where you live. Strava has instructions on how to tweak your privacy settings, or you can start tracking your runs a few blocks away from your house.
Rescu lets you choose exactly the type of help you need, and it saves addresses so you can get help to your house even if you aren't there.
In addition to contacting police, Rescu includes options to get the fire department or an ambulance dispatched quickly so you don't have to worry about talking through an incident with an operator before the right team is alerted. It has another nice feature: You can send help to up to four saved addresses even if you aren't there—so if you're out of town and your security camera spots someone lurking around or there's an emergency at an elderly parent's house outside your area, you don't have to figure out exactly which department to call when you're already panicked.
There's no free tier here, but the brand has condensed its options into one $8.25 per month subscription. It includes your saves addresses plus the ability to send help to wherever you are, using GPS, and an unlimited amount of emergency contacts. And you can use calling, texting, or in-app chatting to talk to help if it's needed.
The app is automatically put in test mode for the first day after you download it, so you can get used to using all the features without actually calling anyone. If you want to refresh yourself or show someone else how to use it, you can put it back into test mode at any time from the main menu.
Sabre is best known for its paper spray and other safety devices. But the brand teaches safety, too, with certified instructors and programs available. It also has an app to get you help quickly if you need it.
The app is free if you want to only alert trusted contacts, or $5 a month to add police access (Sabre works in partnership with Noonlight for this). In the app, add your contact's name and number and all they have to do is verify it via a link they're texted; they don't have to download the app. On the homepage, you should see your location on a map and a red exclamation point at the bottom. Clicking that exclamation point takes you to your panic button. Once you press it, your trusted contact gets a link to your location. If you've paid for the subscription, it also alerts authorities to that location. From there, you can mark yourself safe or state it was a false alarm—both need a pin number to confirm, and your contact will be alerted of that status as well (though they can still view your location).
Sabre's Personal Safety app can be used alone or paired with its smart pepper spray, alerting your contacts or local authorities when it's been deployed. But as we said earlier, laws are complicated, and pepper spray isn't the best choice for everyone or every situation. Pepper gel is also typically a better choice, because there's less chance of it blowing back into your eyes. (If you do get it, please utilize the practice canister.)
Mobile Justice can be used to record your interactions with law enforcement or to record any police interactions you're witness to.
Defaulting to apps that promise to “contact the authorities” when you’re in danger assumes a certain amount of privilege: It means your experience is such that you believe the authorities will protect you, not hurt you. But as we know, that is not everyone’s experience. For many Americans—particularly Black Americans—there’s a very real risk of being harmed by police, even if they're the ones who call and need help.
That’s where an app like Mobile Justice may be helpful. The app records your interaction with police, streaming the video to your chosen contacts and your local ACLU chapter. If you feel your rights have been violated during the interaction, you can then fill out an incident report for the ACLU with the location information, name of the police agency involved, and a detailed explanation of what happened. You’ll need cell service or Wi-Fi for the app to work, but you can record on your phone and send an incident report later if needed. The Mobile Justice app isn’t just for people who are being pulled over or treated with unnecessary force; others can use the app to record incidents they witness.
We know this isn't a perfect solution and that even capturing concrete video evidence doesn’t mean a citizen is protected or that justice will be served if harm is done. But you are well within your rights to record interactions with law enforcement. As is outlined in the rights section of the app, officers cannot view or delete footage or confiscate your phone without a warrant; and demanding that you stop recording violates your First Amendment rights. Third parties can legally record interactions with police and someone else, as long as they are not interfering with what’s happening or obstructing officers’ movements.
There's more helpful information within the app about your rights in different situations, whether you’re being stopped by the police or participating in a protest, as well as alerts from your local ACLU.
The InvisaWear wearables below work with ADT, but the home security company has a standalone app too. The free tier gets you an SOS button, where you can activate an alert—if ADT can't reach you by phone, it’ll send help and alert your chosen contacts. There's also an SOS chat option available. Both of these get you to help without anyone near you knowing, so if you're in a weird situation, no one would think you're doing anything but texting. Or, if you have to hide for any reason, you can tell someone what's going on silently—just remember to turn your phone volume down. Also part of the free version is location tracking with trusted contacts, like some of our other recommendations offer.
If you subscribe to the Plus plan at $4.17 per month, you'll also get SOS video (this could be used as evidence, if it comes to that), a timed tracking feature for ADT and your contacts to track your location during a situation you feel could be dicey, and the option to trigger a silent alarm with a secret code phrase. A premium plan for $8.33 a month includes roadside assistance and crash detection.
There are tons of safety apps, including two additional ones we've looked into. We recommend trying a few to see what works best for you, and like everything else on this list, play around with the app so you know exactly how it works when you need it.
There are times when you simply can't, or don't want to, have your phone open in your hands, and that's where a panic button comes in handy. We've tried keychains and buttons hidden in jewelry.
Arlo's Safe Buttons are small and mostly unassuming, adding little weight to your keys. You'll need to connect it to the Arlo Safe app (available on the App Store or Google Play) but once set up you can use it without taking out your phone. If you're in an uncomfortable situation and this is already in your hand, you can press the button without anyone knowing.
It works similarly to Noonlight. Hold down the button—or the onscreen button in the app—if you feel uneasy, releasing it when you're either safe or need help. Enter your PIN within 10 seconds to deactivate or don't to prompt a text and call within a few seconds of each other. Without a subscription, your chosen contacts will be alerted of your location via GPS tracking, but with a subscription you can contact police and unlock other services too, like tracking and check-ins. You can get two buttons bundles with one year of a family plan. After that, subscriptions cost $5 per month for an individual plan, $10 for a family plan, and $25 per month for the total Safe and Secure Plan which includes camera monitoring if you also use its security cams.
There's a clip to attach it to your clothes, and it seems pretty secure for walking, but runners may want more dependability. I recommend using the key ring to attach the button to a hair tie around your wrist, then use the clip to secure it so it doesn't bounce around—I used to do this with my dorm key in college to avoid losing it or needing a bag. You'll need to have Bluetooth turned on, and the device must be close to your phone for it to work, like the other devices here.
Plegium's buttons are affordable and small little keychains, at just about an inch in diameter. The button part is actually two teeny blue buttons, one on each side of the circle. Hold them down for a few seconds, and once the green light flashes, a text and automated phone call are sent to your chosen contacts. If you don't pay for a subscription, they'll get the location where the button was activated. That gives them at least a place to start if something terrible happens. For live tracking and connection to authorities, you'll need to pay for the $7.45-a-month subscription.
The brand also has two sizes of pepper spray that, when sprayed, alert your contacts the same way the button does. Like I mention in the Sabre section, I prefer the option to use pepper gel, because there's less blowback on you.
I’ve tested around half a dozen or so safety-specific wearables over the past few years, and the Flare bracelet stood out. For one, it actually looks like a bracelet, not a tracking device. Flares come in beaded, leather, or cuffed designs, with a few options for metal finishes. Its design hides an SOS button that you'd really have to be searching for to find—whoever you're trying to get away from won't know you've set anything off. Press the button once if you’d like to receive a fake phone call, the type of which you determine in the app (available on the App Store), like a roommate who needs you or a partner checking in. It comes from a real number that the app prompts you to save in your contacts, adding a fake name that gets displayed when the phone rings.
That aforementioned feature is helpful if someone is simply being a nuisance, but when you’re in a dangerous situation where a fake call isn’t enough, hold down the button to send a message and your location to your selected contacts and/or police. Flare has also established a partnership with Noonlight, so you can set up the Flare device (through the app) to call 911 when you hold the button down. You'll get a text and call immediately, and if you can't answer, your location is shared with first responders in your area. If you set it off accidentally and want to cancel, the operator will ask for personal identifiers, like the spelling of your last name and phone number, so they know it's really you.
The pricing and subscription models have changed a few times, but as of this writing the $149 fee includes a membership. The battery should last one year and it isn't rechargeable, which the company says was an intentional design choice to avoid any frustration with having to constantly recharge the thing. But the bracelet is guaranteed to last one year and depending on usage could last as long as two years. You'll be notified when it's dying. After that, you'll have to purchase an entirely new bracelet for another $98. Flare is currently only available for iPhone users. Like any other tracking device, it has to be connected to a phone, so you couldn't put this on a child and send them to school, for example.
Note: The company picks five people each month who are in need to receive a free bracelet. You can nominate yourself or someone you know here.
Elderly Personal Alarm If you like the idea of Flare but have an Android phone, or simply don’t wear bracelets, then you might want to consider InvisaWear products, which are backed by the home security company ADT. The InvisaWear lineup includes a wide range of products like keychains, bracelets, and necklaces. Like Flare, these products are mostly designed to blend in with the rest of your wardrobe. As with Flare, it uses Bluetooth to connect to your phone via its app (available on the App Store or