Emergency contacts, set once and stored on your device
The hardest moment to decide who to contact is the moment you need to contact them. Emergency contacts are chosen in advance — up to five people — and every alert the app sends goes to all of them at once.
They are picked through the standard Android contact picker, which hands the app one contact at a time. The app never asks for permission to read your address book, because it never reads your address book.
Contacts are stored on your device and selected from your address book. Setting them up needs no connection at all.
Why it matters
No address book permission
Contacts are chosen through the system picker, so the app receives only the one contact you selected. It has no ability to browse, read or upload the rest of your contacts.
One alert, everyone informed
SOS messages and I’m Safe check-ins go to every saved contact simultaneously, so nobody is left waiting for second-hand news.
Stored on the phone, not a server
Contacts live in the app’s local storage on your device. There is no account, no sync and no backend holding them.
An all-clear is one tap
The I’m Safe button sends a short reassuring message to the same list — useful when plans change, not only when something goes wrong.
What it does, precisely
- Save up to five emergency contacts
- Pick contacts through the system picker — no address-book permission requested
- All saved contacts receive SOS alerts together
- One-tap “I’m Safe” check-in to the same list
- Contacts stored locally on the device, never uploaded
- Separate country emergency number, detected from your SIM
Permissions
Requested when you first use the feature — never at install.
- SEND_SMS
- Delivers alerts and check-ins to your saved contacts. Requested when you first send, not when you save a contact.
Limits
Stated plainly so you know what this feature does not do — not just what it does.
- Up to five contacts — alerts go to that fixed list, not to the emergency services.
- Messages need cell signal to reach your contacts.
Answers
Emergency contacts: common questions
How many emergency contacts can I save?
Up to five. All of them receive your SOS alerts and I’m Safe check-ins at the same time.
Does the app read my whole contact list?
No. It uses the Android system contact picker, which returns only the single contact you tap. The app does not request the READ_CONTACTS permission, so it has no access to the rest of your address book.
Are my emergency contacts uploaded anywhere?
No. They are stored in the app’s local storage on your phone. There is no account and no server holding them. Clearing the app’s data removes them.
What is the “I’m Safe” check-in?
A single button that texts all your saved contacts a short message telling them you are okay. It is useful for the far more common situation where nothing went wrong but somebody is expecting to hear from you.
Related features
- SOS alertsA deliberate three-second countdown, then an SMS with your coordinates, a siren, and a location log.
- Medical informationBlood type, allergies, medications and conditions — stored on your device and attached to SOS alerts.
- Emergency numbersEmergency numbers for more than 130 countries, detected from your SIM and stored on the device.
- For familiesMedical details for each person, contacts that actually get reached, and a check-in that takes one tap.
- For travellersThe local emergency number, your medical details and a downloaded map — before you need any of them.
- For hikingCompass, coordinates, a downloaded map and an SOS that sends a position rather than a guess.
Related guides
- What information should you give your emergency contacts?Naming someone as your emergency contact does almost nothing on its own. The value comes from a conversation most people never have.
- How to prepare your Android phone for an emergencyA concrete setup walkthrough rather than a list of principles. Twenty minutes now, and most of it never needs revisiting.
Get emergency contacts and 10 more tools
Free on Google Play. No account, no subscription, and the core tools keep working when the signal does not.
- 4.8 MB download
- Android 8.0+
- No account required