Halloween is a bit of a crazy holiday. We take our kids out to do all of the things we almost never let them do at any other time. “Let’s go walk around in the cold, talk to strangers, take candy from them, and then eat most of it in one night.” It may sound a bit crazy to let our kids do all that, but we do it. I’m recommending, though, that you don’t throw all of your safety concerns out the window. Use these three “tech guy” tips to help your family be safe during this Halloween.
Get GPS Tracking
First of all, it’s important to know where you are and where your kids have run off to. In the hustle and craziness of Halloween trick or treating it’s easy for our kids to get lost in the fun of it all and get out of sight. Also, your older kids want to head out with friends and enjoy a Halloween party or maybe just go trick or treating but you could be concerned about where they’ll end up going. Technology has you covered. Start tracking their location with the GPS chip that’s already included on their mobile device.
Accountable2You has a great GPS tracking option that you can set up easily within their mobile browser app. It will send location reports and allow you to check in at any time from the dashboard on their site. This feature is available for Android AND iOS.
On your iOS devices, you can use the built-in messaging app to share location as well. You just have to use their phone to set up permissions for that device to share their location with you. When you go to your messaging app you’ll be able to click on the (i) on the upper right-hand corner and it will take you to their information. There will be a map with their current location on it right up top.
Have a Good Flashing Light
Walking around in the dark can be scary at Halloween. Not just because of ghosts and ghouls but cars driving and not paying attention. My advice is to shed some light on the situation. Don’t bother heading to buy some kind of flashing light when a simple app can give you the same effect from the LED in your smartphone. Here is one we found forAndroid and one for iOS.
LED Flashlight Selene & Flash (Android)
Full disclosure, I’m not able to test this app since I don’t have an Android device. It is, however the highest rated strobe app in the Google Play store. This app features adjustable strobe speed. It has simple controls and, according to reviews, just works. GET IT HERE
“Light” LED Flashlight and Strobe (iOS)
I did try this app out and it works well enough to use on Halloween. If you depended on your phone to multitask while you’re using your strobe light, this isn’t the app for you. When you close the app, the light stops. I didn’t find an app that didn’t shut off when closed, though, so this one made my list. I mostly decided to recommend it because the controls are simple, intuitive, and very responsive. You can set the brightness of the light and adjust the speed of the strobe with simple buttons on the right and left of the on-off switch. There are also settings to make the light flash to music and translate type to morse code. This is, overall, a pretty neat app. CHECK IT OUT
Light your nighttime neighborhood trick or treating with some kind of strobe light. This will keep you and your kids visible and safe.
Go “Old School” with a Walkie-Talkie
No, don’t buy some cheap thing that won’t let you communicate unless you’re still in earshot anyway. Get an app. Really, I have one recommendation for this one, it’s Heytell. This app works cross-platform which means you can use your Android phone to send a quick voice message to someone with an iPhone, no problem. A walkie-talkie app is perfect for Halloween because it uses your data connection, so you’re never out of range. It lets you ask for that quick location update or schedule that meeting time with your kids by sending them a notification when you’ve sent a message. The message is then saved until they open the app to listen to it. Just like a voicemail, just without the annoyance of a phone call.
Install HeyTell or the walkie-talkie app of your choice onto your and your kids’ phones and be amazed at how connected you can be while they’re out having fun, getting candy, and talking to strangers. Just make sure they’re visible in the darkness with some sort of flashing lights, and of course, have that GPS connected so you can get an update on their location with a simple glance at your phone.