The best way to protect yourself, your family and your home is with a home security system. However, how do you minimize the chances of becoming a victim of violent crime when you’re alone and away from home?

The fact is if you own a mobile device, you’re never truly alone. If you’re worried about your safety when you’re out alone late at night, or you have to walk through a high crime neighborhood, there are a number of personal safety apps to help you stay safe.

Here are three of those personal safety apps:

Watch Over Me: This app was developed after co-founder Xin-Ci Chin escaped a kidnap attempt in 2012. After her frightening ordeal, she became involved with Watch Over Me to give people, particularly women, peace of mind. This app lets your emergency contacts follow you on your journey remotely.

You can specify how long you want the app to track your GPS location, until you check in at your intended destination. If you don’t check in, the app will send an emergency alert to your contacts. In addition, if something bad happens, all you have to do is shake your phone to trigger an emergency alert. The camera on your phone will then turn on automatically and start recording what’s happening.

Another feature of the app informs you if you’ve entered a high crime rate area so you can be more aware of where you are. You can also report any crimes you might see as well as warn others about potentially dangerous situations. Currently, this feature is available in seven cities, including New York City and London.

The iOS version of Watch Over Me is available for free on the Apple App Store. The Android app is available for no charge on Google Play. All the features are free with the exception of SMS emergency alerts to your contacts.

EmergenSee: This app is similar to Watch Over Me as it also allows you to alert a group of pre-selected contacts with your GPS location and stream video when you’re in trouble. You just tap the app once, and your contacts can immediately see, hear and follow the incident as it unfolds and effectively respond with situational awareness. However, this personal safety app also allows users on select campuses to add campus security and professional responders to their contact lists as well, through partnerships with certain colleges and cities.

EmergenSee is available as a free download for iPhone, and Android users. However, you need a subscription for some of the advanced features, including 9-1-1 integration, and campus use.

React Mobile: This safety app also turns your smartphone into a lifeline. The app has a Follow-Me feature that lets you share your location with friends and family. This allows them to track your whereabouts in real-time and follow you to ensure you make it to your destination safely.

You can let your emergency contacts know where you’re going and how long you’re going to be gone. You can also include a personalized message. If the duration of a Follow-Me session expires, the app will automatically send a message to your emergency contacts alerting then that they should check in with you.

If you have an emergency you can slide the app control to the Help Me position, which will send an alert to your emergency contacts letting them know where you are and that you need help. As soon as you activate a React alert, the app automatically dials the local authorities.

The React Mobile safety app is available as a free download on the App Store and Google Play.

While these personal safety apps can help you alert others if you need help, it’s important to note that in any emergency situation, it’s always better and safer to dial 9-1-1 directly.

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