Skip to content
In danger right now?15 1122

Offline-first safety · Pakistan

Help that reaches you when the signal doesn’t. 

Muhaffiz is an Android safety app for women and children. One tap sends your location to family, and when there’s no internet it goes by SMS. Danger detection runs on the phone, so no audio ever leaves it.

See how it worksFollow the build
0 KB
data needed for an SMS SOS
20 s
to cancel a false alarm
0
seconds of audio uploaded
  • SOS by SMS at zero signal
  • محافظ
  • Detection on the device
  • آپ کی حفاظت، آپ کے ہاتھ میں
  • Sharing only with consent
  • Decoy screen under pressure
  • مدد، جب انٹرنیٹ نہ ہو
  • Evidence kept encrypted on your phone

Why we’re building it

Most safety apps stop working exactly when you need them.

We asked people in Pakistan what keeps them from using one. Only 1 of 31 had ever used a dedicated safety app. The answer we heard most: it needs the internet, and that’s the first thing you lose in a basement, a lift or a rickshaw on the edge of town.

  • 0%

    worry about their safety often or almost always

  • 0%

    said “needs internet” is what stops them using a safety app

  • 0%

    use nothing at all to share where they are

  • 0%

    would use an app like Muhaffiz

  • Survey of 73 people. Percentages come from the first 31 responses analysed; the full set mirrored them. Backed by four in-depth interviews.

How an SOS reaches someone

Built for the moment the bars drop to zero.

  1. 01 · Trigger

    However you can, it starts the same way.

    Hold the SOS button, use the lock-screen shortcut, say your safe phrase, or let detection notice. Every trigger feeds one engine, so they all behave the same.

    • SOS button
    • Lock screen
    • Loud phrase
    • Silent duress phrase
    • Auto-detection

  2. 02 · Check the signal

    The phone works out what it can reach.

    Muhaffiz sorts the connection into three tiers: none, some, or good. It never waits on a network that isn’t there.

    • Tier 1 · no connection
    • Tier 2 · any connection
    • Tier 3 · good connection

  3. 03 · Deliver

    SMS first when it has to, everything when it can.

    With zero data your location goes out by SMS. With a connection it also goes by WhatsApp, push and email. Anything queued offline is sent the moment you’re back.

    • SMS
    • WhatsApp
    • Push
    • Email
    • Queue & retry

  4. 04 · Escalate

    If nobody answers, it doesn’t stop there.

    When no one acknowledges within 3 minutes, a 30-second warning gives you a chance to cancel. Then the alert goes to the authority numbers you choose, Police 15 and Rescue 1122 by default.

    • 3 min timer
    • 30 s cancel
    • Police 15
    • Rescue 1122

Automatic danger detection

For when you can’t reach the button. Nothing leaves the phone.

Off by default. You switch it on, and you can switch it off.

threshold

  1. 01 / 05

    Asleep until something is loud.

    A low-power service waits for a sudden spike in volume. Until then it isn’t listening for words, and it isn’t recording.

  2. 02 / 05

    A sudden spike wakes it up.

    Only a sharp jump past the threshold passes the gate. Everyday noise like traffic, TV or a busy bazaar stays below it.

  3. 03 / 05

    The phone decides what it heard.

    An on-device sound model labels the short burst: screaming, shouting, or neither. There’s no transcript, and the audio is thrown away.

  4. 04 / 05

    Movement has to agree.

    The accelerometer and gyroscope look for a sudden drop or struggle. Sound and motion together cut false alarms.

  5. 05 / 05

    You get 20 seconds to say no.

    The phone vibrates gently. One tap cancels and nothing happens. If you don’t tap, the SOS goes out.

What’s inside

Everything a bad night might ask of a phone.

Nineteen modules, designed together around one rule: the phone should keep helping you even when the network, the battery or the person next to you won’t.

Principles we won’t trade

A safety app should never become another thing to fear.

  1. I

    Off until you say so.

    Detection, voice triggers, location sharing and recording all start switched off. Onboarding tells you what each one records before you turn it on.

  2. II

    No audio leaves the phone.

    Sound classification and keyword spotting run on the device. No transcripts. Evidence is encrypted and stored locally, never uploaded.

  3. III

    No hidden tracking.

    Sharing needs both people to agree, and the status is always visible. Anyone can stop, privately, with a single phrase.

  4. IV

    Made for real phones.

    Low-end Android, patchy coverage, bright sun, one hand, a racing heart. Big targets, high contrast, English and Urdu.

Who’s building it

A final-year project at Air University, Islamabad.

BS Software Engineering, class of 2027. Muhaffiz is in development for Android, and we’re building it in the open.

  • Muhammad ShamoilDeveloper
  • Ali RazaDeveloper
  • Kanwal BatoolSupervisor

محافظ

Safety that doesn’t wait for a signal.

We’re building Muhaffiz now. Follow along on GitHub to see it take shape.

Follow the build on GitHub