Ever promised to let your family know you made it somewhere in one piece, only to forget to check in by the time you’ve arrived? Spare your loved ones the worry (and yourself the guilt) with Kitestring, a free—and totally genius—personal-safety service that alerts your emergency contacts if you suddenly go MIA.

The web-based service works on any type of phone that has a browser: Androids, iPhones, or BlackBerrys. Sign up and enter your nearest and dearests’ phone numbers. Then log on to the Kitestring website, tell it when you’re leaving, and provide a timeframe of when to check in with you. After the designated check-in time, you’ll get a text asking if you arrived safely. If you respond with “OK,” Kitestring will do nothing. If you don’t respond within five minutes (or if your phone dies), it will text your emergency contacts to let them know you might be in trouble.

If your trip happens to take longer than you thought, just text Kitestring something like “15 minutes” to extend your travel time by fifteen minutes. Unlike similar apps like bSafe or Nirbhaya, which both alert your emergency contacts if you’re in trouble, Kitestring doesn’t require you to touch anything or shake your phone to send the distress signal.

The service isn’t only beneficial for those of us prone to forgetting to check in. It’s a foolproof precaution for staying safe when you’re on your own (because, let’s be honest: if you’re truly in danger, you probably won’t have time to enter your iPhone password and then call for help). One woman recently said Kitestring could have prevented her friend’s rape, had it existed a few years ago.

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