BuddySOS · Free on iPhone and Android
How to work with BuddySOS
BuddySOS is a free group safety app. One tap sends an alert and your live location to everyone in your group at once, and texts your emergency contacts with your location even if they never installed anything. Here is how to set it up and what to use it for.
Setup
Four steps, about ten minutes
Do these in order. Step two is the one most people skip, and it is the step that works when everything else fails.
Install it
Search the App Store or Google Play for BuddySOS, or open buddysos.app on your phone and tap the store button. It is free to download on both iPhone and Android.
Add your emergency contacts
These are the people who get a text with your location when you send an SOS. They do not need the app, and they do not need an account. This is the step people skip, and it is the one that matters most.
Make a group and invite people
Invite by phone number or by sending a link. Everyone in the group sees the alert and your location on a live map at the same time. You can run up to ten groups and pause any one of them.
Try it once before you need it
Tell your group you are testing, then send one SOS so everybody sees what it looks like on their phone. Nobody should be learning the screen for the first time during a real emergency.
How people actually use it
Four ways to set it up
At a service event or a large site
Put the whole shift in one group before the doors open. Staff spread across acres of parking lot, tents, and buildings can reach everyone with one tap instead of calling people one at a time. Draw a safe zone around the site so the group is notified when someone leaves it.
For a survivor and their care team
One button, one hand, and no talking required. The alert carries the location, so nobody has to describe where they are. Put family in one group and the care team in another, and pause whichever one is not needed that day.
For someone who lives alone
Set the emergency contacts to the people who actually check in, even if they are not app users. They still get a text with a location. Use scheduled sharing so it turns on and off on its own.
For families at a festival or fairground
One group for the day, a safe zone drawn around the venue, and everyone gets a notification when someone wanders out of it. When phones are hard to hear, the map does the work.
Be clear about the limits
In an emergency, call 911 first.
BuddySOS is not a medical alert device. It does not detect strokes, falls, or any medical event, and it does not contact 911 for you. What it does is make sure the people who care about you know something is wrong and know where you are, without you having to make a phone call or explain your location.
Questions
Common questions
Does it cost anything?
No. It is free to download and the safety features are free. There is an optional paid upgrade that removes ads and unlocks extra groups and safe zones, but you do not need it to send an SOS.
Do the people I add need the app?
Members of a group need the app to see the live map. Your emergency contacts do not: they receive a text message with your location whether or not they have ever installed it.
Will it work on my phone?
It runs on both iPhone and Android, so a group of people using whatever phones they already own will all work together.
Does it call 911?
No. BuddySOS is not a medical alert device, it does not detect strokes or falls, and it does not contact 911 for you. In an emergency, call 911 first. BuddySOS is for making sure the people who care about you know where you are.
Who can see my location?
The people in your groups, and the emergency contacts you list. Sharing can be scheduled to start and stop on its own, and any group can be paused.
For groups and organizations
Rolling this out to a team?
We have print-ready flyers and business cards you can download, print, and hand out at no charge. If you want a version with your own organization’s contact on it, ask.