Panic Button (Unsupported)
Free App
Advertisements
About Panic Button (Unsupported)
Panic Button is no longer supported. Read more about why on theengineroom.org/blog
Panic Button is a free and beta application that turns your mobile phone into a secret alarm for when you're in trouble. When triggered, it will sends alerts every 5 minutes with your location. Anyone in the world who is concerned about facing risk because of their human rights work can use the Panic Button alert application on their Android phone.
→ Panic Button sends alerts automatically every 5 minutes
Once Panic Button is triggered, it will send alerts every 5 minutes to your contacts to keep them informed about your location.
→ Panic Button alerts can only be deactivated with a Pin code
To prevent deactivation by someone else, you will need to enter your chosen pin code to deactivate the automatic sending of the alert every 5 minutes.
Panic Button can only facilitate emergency assistance when a user's contacts are in a position to act. The disguise delays the discovery of the application for as long as possible so that the app can send location updates to their chosen contacts. However, this does not prevent a competent adversary from accessing the content or recipient of the message through the network operator. Users are encouraged to visit our help pages to understand more about the general security risks of using their mobile phone.
Some users have reported important problems and this is really helpful during the beta phase, in order to allow us to improve Panic Button:
a/ Accidental Alert Triggering: Unwanted triggering of the alert has cost money and caused worries. We’re really sorry for this. Sometimes answering a call is triggering the alert, but it also seems that when devices have covers that turn the phone on automatically, it can lead to triggering the alert as well. We are looking into the problem and which devices it appears on (it seems that mostly Samsung Galaxy models, Google Nexus 5 and HTC Evo have been affected).
b/ Cannot Trigger: On the other end for some, the alert couldn’t be activated. It seems the issue concerns users with Android 2.3. We are looking into the issue as well.
c/ Stopping the Alert: Many of you couldn’t stop the alert when it was triggered (voluntarily or accidentally). This app, when activated, will send messages every 5 minutes, thus incurring SMS costs. The installation wizard also could better explain that the procedure to unlock the disguise - opening the calculator disguise, long press on a calculator button, PIN entry - is needed to deactivate the alert. This is a security feature, but we realise it should be better explained in the app.
d/ Continues Alerting after Phone Restarts: Panic Button will also continue sending messages even if you turn the phone on and off. This is an intended feature (as if you are arrested and your phone is turned off by the people arresting you, we want to make sure that your location or message will be sent when and if they turn it on again).
To turn off the Panic Button please follow these steps:
→ Open the application (It should be called "Calculate!")
→ A calculator should appear.
→ Click and hold any button of the Calculator (for instance 5) for 5 seconds.
→ Enter your secret PIN (which you chose during the setup). Then click on "Stop the Alert". That's it! Now your phone should stop sending the SMSes.
If you run into further problems while we are still in Beta phase, you can then uninstall the application in the following manner:
→ Go to the Settings menu
→ Go to the Apps or Application menu.
→ Here go to the Installed Apps tab
→ You should see Calculate! here (or Panic Button). Click there.
→ An Uninstall button should be on the screen and you can click it and confirm to uninstall the app.
Panic Button is a free and beta application that turns your mobile phone into a secret alarm for when you're in trouble. When triggered, it will sends alerts every 5 minutes with your location. Anyone in the world who is concerned about facing risk because of their human rights work can use the Panic Button alert application on their Android phone.
→ Panic Button sends alerts automatically every 5 minutes
Once Panic Button is triggered, it will send alerts every 5 minutes to your contacts to keep them informed about your location.
→ Panic Button alerts can only be deactivated with a Pin code
To prevent deactivation by someone else, you will need to enter your chosen pin code to deactivate the automatic sending of the alert every 5 minutes.
Panic Button can only facilitate emergency assistance when a user's contacts are in a position to act. The disguise delays the discovery of the application for as long as possible so that the app can send location updates to their chosen contacts. However, this does not prevent a competent adversary from accessing the content or recipient of the message through the network operator. Users are encouraged to visit our help pages to understand more about the general security risks of using their mobile phone.
Some users have reported important problems and this is really helpful during the beta phase, in order to allow us to improve Panic Button:
a/ Accidental Alert Triggering: Unwanted triggering of the alert has cost money and caused worries. We’re really sorry for this. Sometimes answering a call is triggering the alert, but it also seems that when devices have covers that turn the phone on automatically, it can lead to triggering the alert as well. We are looking into the problem and which devices it appears on (it seems that mostly Samsung Galaxy models, Google Nexus 5 and HTC Evo have been affected).
b/ Cannot Trigger: On the other end for some, the alert couldn’t be activated. It seems the issue concerns users with Android 2.3. We are looking into the issue as well.
c/ Stopping the Alert: Many of you couldn’t stop the alert when it was triggered (voluntarily or accidentally). This app, when activated, will send messages every 5 minutes, thus incurring SMS costs. The installation wizard also could better explain that the procedure to unlock the disguise - opening the calculator disguise, long press on a calculator button, PIN entry - is needed to deactivate the alert. This is a security feature, but we realise it should be better explained in the app.
d/ Continues Alerting after Phone Restarts: Panic Button will also continue sending messages even if you turn the phone on and off. This is an intended feature (as if you are arrested and your phone is turned off by the people arresting you, we want to make sure that your location or message will be sent when and if they turn it on again).
To turn off the Panic Button please follow these steps:
→ Open the application (It should be called "Calculate!")
→ A calculator should appear.
→ Click and hold any button of the Calculator (for instance 5) for 5 seconds.
→ Enter your secret PIN (which you chose during the setup). Then click on "Stop the Alert". That's it! Now your phone should stop sending the SMSes.
If you run into further problems while we are still in Beta phase, you can then uninstall the application in the following manner:
→ Go to the Settings menu
→ Go to the Apps or Application menu.
→ Here go to the Installed Apps tab
→ You should see Calculate! here (or Panic Button). Click there.
→ An Uninstall button should be on the screen and you can click it and confirm to uninstall the app.
All Application Badges
Free
downl.
downl.
Android
2.3.3+
2.3.3+
Android app
App History & Updates
What's Changed
Public Beta Release 1.4.0 (build 137).
With this release we have tried to address one of the major pain points of Panic Button so far which was unwanted triggers.
IMPORTANT: Note that the trigger mechanism has changed! You now need to confirm with one extra power button press after the first repeated presses.
See the detailed release notes here: https://github.com/iilab/PanicButton/releases/tag/1.4.0
Public Beta Release 1.4.0 (build 137).
With this release we have tried to address one of the major pain points of Panic Button so far which was unwanted triggers.
IMPORTANT: Note that the trigger mechanism has changed! You now need to confirm with one extra power button press after the first repeated presses.
See the detailed release notes here: https://github.com/iilab/PanicButton/releases/tag/1.4.0
Name changed Name changed! Panic Button (Beta) now is known as Panic Button (Unsupported).
More downloads Panic Button (Unsupported) reached 10 000 - 50 000 downloads
Version update Panic Button (Unsupported) was updated to version 1.4.0
What are users saying about Panic Button (Unsupported)
N
by N####:
by N####:
It is use full it works
W
by W####:
by W####:
Love it it seemed to work
W
by W####:
by W####:
البته این اپ از طرف سازمان عفو بین الملله ک خیلی عالیه براخبرنگاران فعالان اجتماعی و باگرها و.. ک زمان بازداشت بزاحتی با این نرم افزار میتونن بقیه رو مطلع کنن.
E
by E####:
by E####:
یک اپ ضروری برای گوشی همه بخصوص خانومها
N
by N####:
by N####:
This Panic Button would be great if it worked properly. Instead, it has gone of twice now in as many days when I hadn't so much as touched my phone. I'm not sure if it's a problem with the application or the phone hardware, but I've scared my Dad too many times now.
Q
by Q####:
by Q####:
Good idea, but today it decided to text my contacts incessantly and I couldn't figure out how to stop the texts without uninstalling the app. Problem#1: I didn't set off the panic alarm so I don't know what set the app off. My phone screen was off, and I didn't press the power button at all. Problem#2: Even if I was in danger, it seems the app is set up to text your contacts every few minutes. It's overkill and seems like more of an annoyance to my contacts than being helpful.
P
by P####:
by P####:
Doesn't detect successful Power Button test when returning to app. Need a skip test button (perhaps saying - Not Recommended) but at least it would let me continue setup - or separate testing from first time setup. This did not occur with 1.28 on F-Droid repository - only 1.30 on Play?
K
by K####:
by K####:
This is THE ONLY practical app out there thanks to the power button module. I wouldn't imagine having the luxury of opening an app to press some button. Its far more practical to simply feel the power button to send alert. I'm definitely introducing this app to our housing community that features some 1000+ households.
K
by K####:
by K####:
Just what I needed. Wanted something for when I am out with my dogs alone, and feel nervous of someone near or following me. Love that u activate it by the power button aswell. So can do it discreetly. Haven't needed it yet thankfully but will test it out later to be sure it all works. But it looks great and seems to do what it should do.
K
by K####:
by K####:
Great concept. I tested to see how it would work and so those on my notifications would know what they were receiving, it crashed several times trying to turn it off. I'm also noticing a significant battery drain since install, it's no use if it's bleeding my battery and the phone is near dead when I really need it
M
by M####:
by M####:
I got attacked the other day and I am scared to leave the house so I am hoping this will help and make me feel better about leaving the house. Will keep my phone close by until I have to confidence to not have to use it
Q
by Q####:
by Q####:
Works well for me! What would be great, is to add an option to uninstall (or clean data of) certain apps upon panic! A panic button user, would really prefer not to get caught with anti-gov related apps/data on their device. Thanks!
K
by K####:
by K####:
I like that this is a disguised app. I wish that after the panic was issued that the phone would automatically start an audio recording in case it is needed.
K
by K####:
by K####:
We used this for emergencies at work and it doesn't send the texts! It puts people in real danger! Totally unacceptable
X
by X####:
by X####:
It's much better than my native one - it never deletes the number when I want to do a new calculation, just keeps adding more numbers. This calc is perfect. I'll be honest though, the set up was intense.
G
by G####:
by G####:
Pro: Simple; discrete activation; accurate address. Con: Needs email, phone and social media alerts as well as SMS.
X
by X####:
by X####:
seems to do the job perfectly
K
by K####:
by K####:
I can't use it
K
by K####:
by K####:
How to Uninstall this App?
K
by K####:
by K####:
Gt8 app
G
by G####:
by G####:
Works great for me. It's well thought out and comprehensive. My guess is that some of the bad ratings came from an earlier version. I tried a number of similar apps and this one was best.
X
by X####:
by X####:
The on/off button has other 3 purposes, so adding a 4th panic button function is no good.. I may suggest under the air a proposition, may be it will solve the crucial problem.
D
by D####:
by D####:
Going on panic mode without anything
X
by X####:
by X####:
Please add a custom beep as confirmation
K
by K####:
by K####:
It keeps spamming my three contacts with my GPS location even after deleting the app.
A
by A####:
by A####:
They made it too difficult and complex to operate. Other than that the app stopped working form time to time
X
by X####:
by X####:
Sent my family into a panic today when this auto-activated. No thank you!
X
by X####:
by X####:
No text messages sent during test run. Worthless.
X
by X####:
by X####:
It sends false messages and does not work. Serious did they really spent $160,000 on this worthless app that is not properly tested.
M
by M####:
by M####:
Good for help
T
by T####:
by T####:
This Panic Button would be great if it worked properly. Instead, it has gone of twice now in as many days when I hadn't so much as touched my phone. I'm not sure if it's a problem with the application or the phone hardware, but I've scared my Dad too many times now.
T
by T####:
by T####:
This is THE ONLY practical app out there thanks to the power button module. I wouldn't imagine having the luxury of opening an app to press some button. Its far more practical to simply feel the power button to send alert. I'm definitely introducing this app to our housing community that features some 1000+ households.
K
by K####:
by K####:
Keeps going off, no prompt. Also knocked out my Nova launcher and took me back to default Android layout until after I checked my apps list, then the launcher returned.
Z
by Z####:
by Z####:
I had not touched the phone and it sent my emergency contacts TWENTY TWO messages and had people searching all over for me. This is unnecessary stress. Deleted.
T
by T####:
by T####:
Sent my family into a panic today when this auto-activated. No thank you!
Q
by Q####:
by Q####:
Gօօɖ. Nօt ɮaɖ
N
by N####:
by N####:
Going on panic mode without anything
A
by A####:
by A####:
Funzionale e semplice.solo qualche piccolo bug.consigliato.
H
by H####:
by H####:
It has no option to change settings, to deactivate the app or change the person you are notifying. It triggers each time you press the power button or when you get a call. The so called deactivation description is useless.
by N####:
Great work guys I wish to be part of this great work one day as I am developer too