Trouble does not ask for permission before arriving. It gives you no prior notice to let you prepare for it. And when you are in danger, every moment is precious and might mean the difference between safety and devastating loss.
To meet just such unforeseen dangers, Notion Ink launched a new Android App today (16 September, 2013). The app is called ‘imShakti.’ It is a simple app that helps you send quick alarm messages (including your location) to your chosen contacts. It has some other very useful additional features as well.
According to Rohan Shravan, Founder & CEO at Notion Ink, “Emergency situations won’t give prior notice or hint against a specific gender. It could be women, men, children, senior citizens or patients. In view of the mobile penetration, we contemplated that it would be more relevant to target all mobile users. imShakti upholds the underlined endeavour to make the users believe that “I Am Shakti” and to not be afraid of any situation. This instant service can boost your confidence with the certainty that timely help is on the way. When we are in a panic situation, we don’t have time to unlock the phone, look for the application and select that one feature to help you immediately. We are confident that this application will make a significant impact in emergency situations,”
Here’s a brief look at its various features:
1: Instant SMS: As soon as the app is activated, it sends an instant SMS to all pre-selected contacts.
2. Power Button Activation: The best thing about this app is that it can be activated by pressing the power button on the Android device. So there’s no need to unlock the phone, search for the app and then activate it. User can instantly activate it using the phone’s physical power key. For this, the person in danger needs to press the Power Button five times within 2 seconds. Of course, the app can also be accessed through the usual way in case the user just needs to change the preferences or use other features.
3. Message: By default, the message that the app sends to the pre-selected contacts would notify that the user is in need of help and would include the user’s current location. However, if the situation is not very urgent, the person in need of help also has the option to change this default message and send customized message including more appropriate details.
4. Location: imShakti gets the location from the GPS, cell-towers, and Wi-Fi. If the device is able to determine the user’s approximate location, the details would be included in the Emergency SMS. If, however, the phone is unable to determine the location , the SMS would be sent without the location. But the app will keep on searching for the location. And when it manages to find the location, another SMS would be sent to the chosen contacts. If the situation permits, the user can also access the app and customize the Emergency SMS by manually adding the location.
5. Other Pre-defined Messages: If the situation permits, the user can also add some other pre-defined messages by simply selecting from the list. These messages are “Don’t call back, not safe, Pick me up, will wait here, I’m very low on battery”).
6. Power Saving: The app also provides the user with some quick power saving options in case the user’s phone is low on battery. Using this feature, the user can turn off all connectivity services, dim the Home Screen and kill all running applications.
7. Silent Mode: The app also offers a shortcut to quickly put the phone on silent mode. All the user needs to do is to just open the app, and tap the large tile that says “Enable Silent Mode.”
8. Quick Access: The app can be quickly accessed right from the notification panel on the Android phone.
9. Activation Alert: The user has the option to enable or disable the audio notification for the activation of Emergency SMS. This sound alert is to notify the user that the app has been activated and that the Emergency SMS would now be sent.
10. User Interface: The user Interface is really simple. The user can send the Emergency SMS just by pressing the power key 5 times in 2 seconds. And when the user accesses the app, it shows a simple screen with four big and bold tiles. By just tapping on these screens, the user can Create Emergency SMS, Send Emergency SMS, Access Battery Saving Options, or Enable Silent Mode.
By pressing the menu key on the phone, the Preferences can be set by customizing the Emergency SMS and selecting the persons to be contacted in emergency.
11: Privacy: As per Notion Ink, although the app notes the location of the user, this information is sent to only the person’s chosen by the user. This information is not stored. As per Notion Ink, “There is NO back up taken on the location or phone numbers, or number of times the application was used to send SMSes. The application is self sustaining and does not require or utilize a server on the backend to run.”
12: Free: Oh yes, this Android app is absolutely free. Although, the Emergency SMS sent through it would cost as per the user’s bill plan
Overall, this is one app that can prove to be very handy in times of urgent need. It is a very lightweight app (less than 1 MB). It is easy to use and I really liked the quick activation through the physical Power Key. However, I had to try three times before I could activate the app to send the emergency message. For the first two times, I think, I pressed the Power Key a bit too quick. And I do wish the app could be activated by 3 key presses, instead of 5. There might be situations when the user is just too frantic to really be able to press upto five times, without being too quick or too slow at it.
The app is, as yet, available only for Android devices. Here’s its Google Play Download Link.
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How far can a person go to fulfill the dreams of someone else?
Find out in the pages of Dream’s Sake,
a general fiction novel by Jyoti Arora.
For more information and free preview of first chapter click visit: www,jyotiarora.com
