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Allianz TravelSmart™ | Allianz Global Assistance
Platforms supported
:
Android, iOS
TravelSmart is the official app for insurance provide by Allianz Global Assistance but it can be useful even if you don’t use their insurance because it provides emergency contact information (police, fire, and ambulance) by country, translations of medical terms for first aid and medication into 18 languages, and an international hospital search feature (no doubt meant for use with their insurance but probably useful regardless).
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Army Survival Handbook – Offline Manual
Platforms supported
:
Android
The app is based off the Army Survival Manual and is extremely helpful for camping and backpacking and more. Available in offline, this army guide can really make instant change in how you experience your outdoor adventures. Available in PDF too.
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GeoSure Global
Platforms supported
:
Android, iOS
GeoSure combines country, city, and neighborhood crime statistics; health, economic and political data feeds; tourism and travel alerts; real-time reports; mapping technologies; and more to yield the safety ratings across seven categories (Overall safety, Women's safety, Physical harm, Theft, Health and medical, LGBTQ safety, and Political freedoms). All safety scores are assigned a number between 1 and 100 (1 being the safest). There are standalone mobile apps available or, if you use the TripIt app, the same information is incorporated for any event or activity you add that has a street address.
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Offline Survival Manual
Platforms supported
:
Android
This survival guide contains info on how to make fire, build a shelter, find food and water, medical tips and treatments, information on plants and animals, tips for specific climates and terrain, and other useful content in a case of emergency. It works offline.
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RedZone Map
Platforms supported
:
Android, iOS
RedZone Map is the first navigation app that includes crime data sourced from the government and by users and will help craft the safest rather than the most direct travel route to your destination.
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Safetipin
Platforms supported
:
Android, iOS
Safetipin is a personal safety app that help you to take safer decisions, based on the safety score of an area. Get alerts when you are in an unsafe location. As long as the app is running in the background, it checks if you have entered an unsafe location. You will receive an alert and can choose to invite friends or family to track you. You can also view alternate routes from one place to another, and select the safest route. It will then transfer control to Google maps so you can reach your destination safely. Planning to go out for the evening? Check how safe a neighborhood is, by touching the place on the map. You will see the safety score, for that area. You can see why it is safe or unsafe as well. Safetipin calculates the safety score of a place based on 9 parameters, and your contribution helps the app continuously update safety scores.
NOTE
: I like the concept but it doesn’t yet seem to have caught traction and only has safety information for select cities in five countries.
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SAS Survival Guide
Platforms supported
:
Android, iOS
For over twenty years, the SAS Survival Guide has been the definitive guide to surviving any situation, anywhere in the world. Written by former SAS soldier and instructor, John "Lofty" Wiseman, this application brings you the elite training techniques of Britain's toughest fighting force. Contains: full text of the bestselling book (over 400 pages); free download of 16 videos providing invaluable survival tips; photo galleries of edible, medicinal and poisonous plants; Morse Code signaling device; 100+ question quiz to test if you've got what it takes to survive; Survival checklists; sun compass; search tool to scan entire book by subject; sections on surviving extreme climate situations; and a comprehensive First Aid section.
NOTE
: the lite (free) version doesn’t include most of those features; the premium version ($5.99) does.
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Smart Traveler Enrollment Program
Platforms supported
:
Android, iOS, Web
The Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) is a free service to allow U.S. citizens and nationals traveling and living abroad to enroll their trip with the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate. Enrolling will let you receive important information about safety conditions in your destination country, help the U.S. Embassy contact you in an emergency, and help family and friends get in touch with you in an emergency. You can enroll online or via the mobile app (available for Android and iOS but strangely not referenced on the official website).
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TripWhistle Global SOS
Platforms supported
:
iOS
There are 196 countries in the world with more than 70 different emergency numbers. TripWhistle will allow you to quickly dial local emergency police, fire, and ambulance phone numbers in any of those countries with a single touch. You will be able to quickly provide critical information to emergency respondents with in-app access to your street address and GPS coordinates.
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Trusted Contacts
Platforms supported
:
Android, iOS
This app from Google lets you share your location with family or friends if you feel that you’re in an unsafe situation, and also allows your contacts to request your location if they’re worried about you. You can even schedule a location alert for a future time so nobody will worry if you forget to check in manually.
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U.S. Department of State Travel Advisories
Platforms supported
:
Web
I somewhat hesitate to list this resource since I think they are overly fearful of the world and issue travel warnings for places that don’t merit them. Spend too much time on this site and you’ll likely think the whole world should be avoided. Still, it has its merits. Be aware that an alert is different than a warning. Pay especial attention to the latter as your insurance company may not cover any incident that occurs in relation to a warning (especially emergency evacuation).
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Urgent.ly | Roadside Assistance Reimagined
Platforms supported
:
Android, iOS
Urgent.ly is a 24/7, on-demand, roadside assistance app for the U.S. No membership dues, no hidden fees, no waiting on the phone. Just up-front flat-rate pricing due only when service is complete. It’s just like Uber, only for roadside assistance. Urgent.ly's service is faster, more accurate, and more convenient than your traditional roadside assistance clubs. Urgent.ly’s free app lets you travel with confidence and peace of mind, so you'll never have to wait and wonder when help will arrive. Urgent.ly provides fast and efficient tow trucks for on-demand jump starts, tire changes, towing, lockouts, gas delivery (out of gas), and even help you if your car is stuck in a ditch.
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