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You’re hardly a true Saffa if you haven’t anxiously demanded that someone “text me when you’re home safe”.

This kind of system has been embedded in people’s consciousnesses the world over, but it seems to be particularly pertinent in South Africa, where crime is rampant and nobody feels that safe when out and about.

In a country where femicide is nearly the norm, I as a woman have my safety front of mind, and I have yet to meet someone who hasn’t required a mutual check-in status when leaving each other, whether that’s in the day or after a night out.

The sad reality has influenced technology, at least, making it easier for us to follow each other’s movements without much labour.

One of the new iMessage features announced at the 2023 Apple Worldwide Developers Conference allows for a seamless check-in experience. The only negative is that it is iPhone-only, possible only in the iMessaging app, so anyone with another kind of phone will need to use alternative means or, possibly, get themselves an iPhone and have peace of mind.

A reminder that Digicape, South Africa’s largest independent Apple retailer, is the best stopover for all your Apple needs. You can even trade in your old iPhone and other goodies at Digicape to secure a huge discount when upgrading.

Back to safety. The new Check In feature lives in iMessage’s new expandable app menu, seen by the little plus sign to the left of the text field, per TechCrunch:

Open the thread with the person or people you want to be alerted when you get home. Tap the plus, and in the list of apps that pops up, choose Check In.

Image: TechCrunch

Your iPhone almost certainly already knows where you live, since that’s where you spend the most time. It’ll check where you are now and give an estimate of how long it will take you to get home — whether you’re walking or driving. If it assumes wrong (maybe it’s a long walk or a short drive), hit the big “Edit” button and you can adjust that time.

Image: Apple

Even when you want to pop into the store late at night, or take an early morning run, and want your partner/friend/parent to know when you’re back safe, you can just estimate the length of the trip and it’ll alert them when you get back.

Your phone will monitor your progress and if something seems off, it’ll ask you if things are OK — if not, you can send an alert.

While Check In doesn’t share your location in real-time, your friends will be able to see your current location, the route you took getting home and your phone’s battery and signal levels if you don’t disable the feature.

All that info is encrypted, by the way, because you know, safety and privacy is the name of the game here.

When you return, everyone you’ve included on your Check In thread will get a notification that you’re back. That means you can go straight to sleep or forget to text when you’re home safe and the other person won’t end up worrying over you, because the Check In feature will have kicked in automatically.

How nifty. I feel better already.

[source:techcrunch]