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SafeCam: SOS Background Record

Welcome to the official documentation for SafeCam, a personal-safety app for Android that helps you record evidence in an emergency, starting in a single tap, press or gesture, without you needing to unlock your phone and dig through menus first.

What is SafeCam?

SafeCam turns your phone's camera, microphone and screen into a background recorder you can start almost instantly, from a floating icon, a tap on your notch or status bar, a shake of the phone, a home screen shortcut or a Quick Settings tile. It's built to help you document your own situation quickly, a commute, a delivery, an uneasy encounter, and to keep the recording running even after your screen locks.

Key Features

  • Six recording actions - record video from the front or back camera, take a photo with the front or back camera, record audio, or record your screen
  • Six ways to trigger an action - a floating on-screen icon, a tap or swipe on your notch or status bar, a shake of the phone, a long-press of a volume key, a home screen shortcut, or a Quick Settings tile
  • Keeps going with the screen off - camera and audio recordings run inside SafeCam's Accessibility Service, and Screen Recording runs as a background service, so both continue after you lock your phone
  • Recordings stay on your device - saved locally with a time-stamped filename; the App does not upload them anywhere
  • Auto-stop timers and notification control - set an action to stop itself after a set time, and choose whether SafeCam shows its own notification for camera, photo and audio actions
  • Can pause on incoming calls or in chosen apps - turn on Disable on Call to pause triggers while an incoming call rings through to hang-up, or blacklist specific apps to stop triggers while one is in the foreground

Recording other people is regulated by law. Read Your Responsibility When Recording before you record anyone else.

Quick Start

  1. Install SafeCam from Google Play and open it
  2. Turn on Accessibility Service when prompted - every trigger in SafeCam depends on it
  3. Pick an action from the Home screen, such as Silently Record Front Camera
  4. Choose how to trigger it - the floating icon, a notch or status bar gesture, a shake, a shortcut or a Quick Settings tile - and grant the permissions it asks for
  5. Fire the trigger to start recording; fire the same trigger again to stop

Requirements

  • Android 7.0 or later

Each action asks for its own permissions, such as camera, microphone or notifications, only when you first set it up. See the User Guide for the full list.

Documentation

Support

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