I’m Alright Overview

I’m Alright is a personal health alert app created for people who live alone and could benefit from an added communication mechanism to help protect against a person becoming disabled and going unnoticed. The app works by using the smartphone’s motion sensors. Each time the user makes a significant movement with the phone, such as handling the phone, walking with the phone, etc., the time of movement is noted. The detection of movement is taken as a sign that the user is active. If the duration of inactivity exceeds a user defined value, then alert(s) are sent via text messaging to contacts specified to the program. If available and enabled during app setup, the user’s location is included in the alert message. The recipients of the alert message can then take action to see if the phone owner needs help. Additionally, the user can send an “I’m Alright” reassurance message by a simple button press to let their contacts know all is well.

The app utilizes two components; the user interface (UI) that is visible on the screen, and the activity monitoring which continually runs in the background. Once the app is installed, configured via the user interface, and the background monitor started, it can be left unattended. The background monitor continues to run even after the visible portion of the app is closed (for example via swiped off screen, or Close All). The monitor is designed to automatically restart after a device restart. The monitor can be intentionally terminated at any time via the Stop Monitor button of the UI.

An example scenario is as follows. An individual lives alone with no routinely scheduled activities that would put them in contact with other people. Family members and friends try to keep in touch, but it is not necessarily on a routine schedule. The individual’s usual schedule would predict that they rise in the morning around 7 or 8 AM and go to bed around 10 PM. The individual makes at least some use of their smartphone during their waking hours, but it sits on the nightstand at night. In this case the longest inactivity period would be around 10 hours so the individual sets the I’m Alright inactivity limit at 12 hours (10 hours plus a safety margin). As long as activities are normal, the smartphone device resets the inactivity timer with each movement of the phone and the timer never reaches the alert level. When the inactivity period gets within 30 minutes of the alert level (11.5 hours) the app begins sending notifications of an approaching alert to the phone owner so that they can pick up the phone causing the alert timer to be reset. Should no activity be detected before 12 hours have passed, then text message alerts are sent to the contacts entered through the UI during app setup. If LOCATION services permission has been granted during app setup, then the longitude and latitude coordinates are included in the alert messages.

During normal operation, a daily operational verification text message is sent from the I’m Alright app to each of the emergency contacts to let them know that the app is indeed functioning and hasn’t been inadvertently turned off or stopped for some reason.

There are no embedded advertisements and no personal information is shared or visible outside the phone. Contact phone numbers are stored on the user’s phone only and not stored externally. Location information (if enabled) is only sent to the emergency contacts and not otherwise shared. This app is initially being offered at no cost while its usefulness and viability are being assessed. Future versions may be offered at a small cost.

Disclaimer: While I’m Alright can provide added security against disabling event that no one else is aware off, it is not a substitute for regular communication with friends and family, nor is it intended to take the place of active emergency alert call devices. While the app designed to run unattended in the background of a smartphone, it is possible that the program can stop for a variety of reasons such as hardware malfunctions, software errors, and device operating system actions such as system updates and memory reclamation. GSysApps makes no warranty and assumes no liability as to the suitability for use by any individual.