VithU App – An app to keep you safe!

This Dussera as we celebrate the victory of good over evil, we share with you a write-up on the new safety app for women called the – ‘Vithu App’ – sent in to us by one of our readers Merril Diniz.

VithU is the latest App launched by Channel V; find out how it can be best used for your personal safety!

Merril is a Delhi based Editor; you can Tweet her @merrild.

An app to keep you safe! 

You can tell a lot about a person by the apps he or she downloads on their smartphone, from scanning documents and counting calories, to managing finances, to even giving you a daily tarot reading!

The cup of apps runneth over.

However, there’s one app I urge all women, teenagers, and in fact, even men, and senior citizens to download, in this day and age of heightened crimes and unexpected atrocities.

Known as  ‘VithU’, this app helps you send out an SOS along with your location in case of danger, with just a (double) click of a button. I recently downloaded it myself through Googleplay, and found it to be effective. And it is free of cost.

Once you download VithU, you need to feed in four or five mobile phone numbers of people who you can reach out to, in case of an emergency. Your cellphone must have a valid Internet connection, and your location services must be switched on.

This is out it works:

Step 1: Say for instance, you are walking on the street and someone attacks you or if you have an intruder in your home, all your need to do is double click the power button of your phone.

Step 2: An SMS will go out to all your emergency contacts, several times until, you deactivate the app. The default message reads: “I am in danger. I need help. Please follow my location”. Of course, you can customize as you like.

Step 3: Your location will also be visible to your emergency contacts via Google maps, and your movement will be tracked as long as your phone is switched on and is on your person. Of course, it may not be completely accurate, however, at least your contacts shall know where you’re located at the time of the incident.

Step 4: Your emergency contacts should be reliable enough, not to mention resourceful enough to swing into action. What is the right protocol in this case is debatable. For instance, I’m not totally sure calling the victim, is a good idea, since the attacker/ intruder might get to know that the potential victim has a cellphone. So, the protocol needs some thought. But in general rushing to the location, and asking for reinforcements from police/ friends/ family, makes sense.

Note: Once you download the app and plan to do a test run it, please give your emergency contacts a heads-up, because they will soon shall start receiving a battery of SMSs and will get palpitations for no good reason. Trust me on this one, as I did not have the good sense to do this and put the fear of God in my emergency contacts!

Now, you might think the technology used in this app is radical. However, safety apps like VithU, already exist. These include Fightback, Safe, Circle of 6 and SOS Whistle. People can explore the features and benefits of all of these. However, some are paid and some cannot be downloaded on all cellphones.

VithU is brought out by Channel V and was introduced at the launch of ‘Gumraah Season 3’, a show on the channel, which tells stories of crimes against teenagers and youth as narrated by the relatives and friends of real victims.

So, download the app, today and stay safe!

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