BeeSafe, an I.C.E. (In Case of Emergency) app
by Antonio Wells
Sep 18, 2012 2:10 PM –
Install
BeeSafe is an I.C.E. (In Case of Emergency) app. One in which you can save your emergency and medical contacts inside to access quickly plus send your GPS location to contacts. This is one of those child or family safety apps that you only need to setup and never have the true means to use it, but rest assured it’s there. Or is it? Read the review…
Price: Free, $1.99
Tested on: Samsung Galaxy S3
Content Rating: Medium Maturity
Pros & Cons:
Pros
- Save and alert ICE contacts in case of emergency with GPS location by text message or email!
- Widget offers quick access to ICE contacts!
Cons
- Seems to require your Gmail or Yahoo username and password.
- Hit and miss with locking GPS location.
- User interface needs work.
Features:
BeeSafe is an app intended to help you in the case of an emergency by allowing you to save your close and/or medical contacts in one place, therefore, if you need to notify them of your location, you can with a few clicks. Alerts are sent via email or text message and the contact receives your GPS location that can be viewed with accuracy on Google Maps (web or mobile app). There is also a homescreen widget that offers quick access to ICE contacts.
The intentions of the app are great, however, the execution is poor. For starters, I cannot understand why the app requires either your Gmail or Yahoo username and password, luckily there is a way of getting around this by entering fictitious information. Though it states that it is securely encrypted, I just cannot understand why it is a necessity when the email functionality of the app hands off to the available choice of email apps you may have on your phone. 
No other place within the app is it used nor states why it’s necessary.
Secondly, I had real trouble trying to get the app to locate me on the map. As initially it located fine (see the screenshots) and with supreme accuracy, however, it failed to locate me afterward. I then opened Google Maps to see if there was an issue with GPS but it located me, yet when switching back to the ICE app… sadly it could not. Even after a few restarts and re-installs- it could not locate me. 
Lastly, the user interface needs a lot of work. The graphics, to be honest look cheesy and lack polish, but this is a minor personal preferential complaint, the real quibble is in determining which icons are actionable buttons. To get you acquainted, under the Safety tab you have your location map, then the large “ICE Emergency Contact” button which leads you to your list in the second tab. The “Track” button toggles GPS tracking on the map (when it works). Use caution tapping the “Urgent” button as it will send an alert to your ICE contacts, but this can have some handy uses if applied differently. Then there is the “Exit” button to stop GPS tracking. The two icons in the center are not clickable and only denotes GPS and Compass are activated. One final note, the app is for U.S. users only.
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BeeSafe ICE Emergency Contact Locator
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BeeSafe Homescreen Widget
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BeeSafe Requires Gmail or Yahoo Email Access
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BeeSafe Create New ICE Emergency Contact
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BeeSafe List of ICE Emergency Contacts
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BeeSafe Additional Options
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BeeSafe Send Alert by Email
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BeeSafe Text Message Alert
Usefulness:
That safe and just in case reassurance the app offers makes it more than useful, however, in its current state of intermittent GPS functionality, I’m not so convinced it will be available 100% of the time in the (hopefully) rare time you will need it.
Ease of Use:
The app is straightforward and easy to setup. One small gripe I have is when entering contacts, it does allow you to choose from your contacts but does not pull all the information. In my case, I had to manually enter some phone numbers when they were already attached to a contact.
Frequently Used:
Hopefully this is an app you set once and forget about but remember to use it in the case of an emergency though, the Urgent feature can be something that you use more often to let close contacts know your location. For example, a traveler can alert their family of arrival to a destination all at once with a few taps.
Interface:
As previously stated, the user interface could use some organization and polish.
Tags:
Android App,
Android Apps,
AndroidTapp.com App Review,
BeeSafe,
Child Safety,
I.C.E.,
I.C.E. app,
ICE,
In Case of Emergency app
Categorised in: Lifestyle, Tools
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