Features
What ResQNet actually does.
Every capability below is built. Each one carries its honest status, because much of ResQNet still has to be proven on real phones in the field.
Emergency SOS
The fastest way to say "I need help", designed to work even when nothing else does.
Status: Working in automated tests
- One tap, a category (medical, fire, flood, earthquake, trapped, rescue or general) and an optional message, then a 5-second countdown with Send now and Cancel.
- Saved on your phone before any transport is tried, so a failed send isn't lost.
- Can be sent without signing in, over the mesh and by SMS.
- Cancel or mark yourself safe at any time; nearby phones get a signed cancellation notice.
Offline mesh
Phone-to-phone relay for when towers or the Internet are down.
Status: Tested in simulation; needs real-device field tests
- Nearby phones connect directly over Bluetooth and Wi-Fi Direct, with no Internet or cell network between them.
- Store-and-forward: a phone that receives an SOS keeps it and passes it to phones it meets later, until one with Internet uploads it.
- Signed hop limit and expiry (24 hours by default), with duplicate detection that survives app restarts.
- Relays can't alter the text or location: phones reject an SOS that doesn't match its signature.
- "I am safe" broadcasts to ResQNet phones around you.
- Range is not fixed and is not claimed. On iOS the mesh works only while the app is open.
Location sharing
A starting point for anyone trying to reach you.
Status: Needs real-device GPS testing
- Your GPS position and its accuracy are attached to an SOS when the phone has a fix.
- You can share your location in a chat message.
- Optional: let the server use your last location to alert you about emergencies nearby (deleted after 30 days without updates).
- Exact SOS location is visible to phones that receive the SOS over the mesh, and to authorized responders; other staff see it rounded to about 1 km.
Trusted contacts and notifications
The people who should know first, ready before you need them.
Status: SMS and push need production verification
- Add contacts with a name, phone number and relationship; they're cached on your phone for offline use.
- On SOS, the app opens a pre-filled text to your trusted contacts and local police or disaster numbers. It needs cell signal, and you send it.
- Contacts who use ResQNet get a push notification with your name, the category and your location, but never your message.
- Groups for family or teams, built from your trusted contacts.
Disaster awareness
Local hazard information that also spreads without the Internet.
Status: Partial; no official feed connected yet
- Report hazards such as floods, fires, landslides, fallen power lines or blocked roads; reports spread between nearby phones.
- Official alerts keep their "official" label only if the server's signature verifies; anything else is shown as a community report.
- Emergency map with hazards, safe zones and SOS markers.
- Local emergency numbers for the country you're in, where included in the app.
- The integration for official disaster feeds exists; no source is connected yet.
Automatic emergency detection
A backup for moments when you can't reach your phone.
Status: Needs field testing
- Crash detection and earthquake detection run on the phone and can start an SOS after a countdown you can cancel.
- Earthquake readings can be cross-checked against public USGS and EMSC feeds; server-side corroboration across phones is built but not yet deployed.
- Detector scores are not validated probabilities: expect missed events and false alarms until field testing is done.
Responder operations
An operations portal for the people who answer the SOS.
Status: Built and tested; not yet deployed
- Incident queue with an enforced workflow: reported, acknowledged, assigned, en route, arrived, assisting, resolved, or stood down with a reason.
- Assignment and reassignment, an incident timeline, map, alerts and disaster-source management.
- Separate permissions to monitor, respond and assign; every staff action is audit-logged.
- See For Responders for details.
Privacy controls and data retention
Clear limits on who sees what, and for how long.
Status: Implemented; retention schedule is configured per deployment
- Medical details (blood group, allergies) go into an automatic SOS only if you opt in. The setting is off by default and resets on sign-out.
- Mesh SOS payloads are signed, not encrypted.
- Personal SOS data (message, exact location) stops being served 90 days after a responder closes the incident and is then redacted; the link to your account is removed after 730 days. Backups can hold copies for up to about 8 weeks longer.
- Profile photo visibility: private, contacts only or public.
- See Safety & Privacy for the full picture, including limitations.
What ResQNet does
The core capabilities, as they work today.
Each of these is implemented in the app. Where something has only been tested in simulation or still needs real devices, we say so.
Emergency SOS
One tap, a category (medical, fire, flood, earthquake, trapped, rescue or general), and a 5-second countdown you can cancel. The SOS is saved on your phone before anything is sent, so it survives a failed attempt.
Offline mesh relay
Nearby phones exchange the SOS over Bluetooth and Wi-Fi Direct, keep a copy, and pass it on to phones they meet later, up to a signed hop limit. Tested in simulation; multi-phone field tests are still to come.
Location sharing
Your GPS position and its accuracy travel with the SOS when the phone has a fix, so people looking for you have a starting point instead of a description.
Trusted contacts
The people who should know first. ResQNet opens a pre-filled text to them and local police or disaster numbers (needs cell signal), and the server sends a push notification to those who use ResQNet.
Hazard awareness
Flood, fire, landslide and blocked-road reports spread between nearby phones. Official alerts stay labeled "official" only if their server signature verifies; everything else shows as a community report.
Automatic detection
On-device crash and earthquake detection can start an SOS for you after a countdown. They still need field testing, so treat them as a backup, not a guarantee.
Situational awareness
Disasters are local. ResQNet starts with Nepal and India.
The Himalaya and South Asia face earthquakes, floods and landslides, often in places where coverage is thin. The map below is an illustration, not a live hazard feed.
World → South Asia → Nepal and India. Drag to rotate.
Hazard layer
Region
Illustrative data. The markers above are example locations, not a live hazard feed — no authority disaster-alert source is connected yet. See below for what's real today.
Real today
ResQNet cross-checks its on-device earthquake detection against USGS's and EMSC's real public earthquake feeds — never as the trigger itself, only to confirm a local reading after the fact. Peer-reported hazards (flood, fire, landslide, and more) relay directly between nearby devices over the mesh, with no server involved.
Architecture, not yet connected
The app already has a single integration point built for a real government or authority disaster-alert feed — today it's an empty placeholder. Once a real feed exists, it flows through the same hazard and map system peer reports already use, with no rebuild required.
Concept: a risk-interpretation layer
Rainfall, terrain, seismic readings, and historical data could feed a layer that interprets conditions into a simple low/moderate/high read for a given area. That layer doesn't exist yet — it's a direction, not a feature.
Understanding a situation only matters if it reaches the people who need to know. That's where the app itself takes over — trigger an SOS, and ResQNet gets it to your trusted contacts, nearby devices, and local responders.
See how it worksSee how these capabilities work together
Read the step-by-step walkthrough, or check how ResQNet handles the data behind these features.