New app lets friends virtually walk you home at night

It’s a situation we’ve all been in before. You’re walking late at night and you just don’t feel very safe. Or, you’re worried about someone walking alone at night. Thanks to a new app, you’ll never have to walk home alone again.

“I just always make sure I have my phone on me, on. Making sure that at least they see me with my phone,” UTEP student Marianna Gutierrez said.

For most people, your phone serves as a bodyguard in potentially dangerous situations.

“I usually just have my phone with me just in case,” one UTEP student said.

A new app, created by a group of University of Michigan students, provides an extra layer of security.

It’s called “Companion” and it allows your friends to virtually walk you home.

Here’s how it works, before you leave, input your destination.
Then, you add as many contacts from your phonebook as you’d like–whether they have the app or not. Those people are then sent a text with a link to a GPS tracker and online map.It’ll notify your companions or police if it senses any trouble.
If you fall, or run, it’ll start to beep, and call 911.

“We’re all glued to our phones, on a daily basis, 24/7, so it just makes sense that we’d have an extra layer of security on our phones,” Companion co-founder, Lexie Ernst, said.

UTEP and NMSU campuses do a lot to keep students safe with self defense classes and escorts to locations on campus 24/7.

“I’m always seeing security all day especially at night,” UTEP student, Andres Delgado said.

Students at UTEP say for the most part, they feel pretty safe, especially with safety programs in place and emergency light phones located throughout campus, but having an app like Companion on their phone, definitely helps.

Abc-7 spoke with several students who said they would download the app.

Immediately, we realized that people all over the world were feeling this issue on a daily basis–and people of all demographics, not just young, college students,” Ernst said.

“To be honest, you never know who is going to be around, especially at night, so I’d rather be safe than sorry,” Delgado said.

The app is free and it’s available for all Iphone and Android users.