What3Words App for Safety

[LesBrass]

My husband sent me this link and suggested I download the App What3Words.

The developers have mapped 3 metre squares across the globe. Every square is identified by three random words. If you can send those words to any emergency service they will know where you are.

Here’s the article : https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-49319760

The app is free and easy to load... and it’s quite amusing to see what words each room of you home has been allocated!

If you have a smartphone... this app is a must!

 

[VNwalking]

There was a thread a few years back about this, and at the time I thought it was clever and quirky - but unlikely to catch on. I'm glad I was wrong. The website says it even works offline, so it would be useful in emergency situations where there is no internet connection. And it works in many languages: each language has its own addresses, so the English version and the Spanish version would be different.

It's also fun. Among my favorite places on this year's camino?
A toss-up between ///cavern.ballerinas.unlock, ///moreover.midgets.hidden, and ///perplex.massage.cynic.

 

[MikeyC]

Hesitation.ample.inked

Clue: lose weight, maybe a stone!

 

[Jeff Crawley]

I've been using the app for several years for various purposes but do you really want to reveal your home's location to everybody?
"Ground Zero" in the Praza do Obridoiro is emailed.songs.employer while Google's similar app gives it as a rather more prosaic VFJ3+6P Santiago de Compostela, Spain

 

[David]

Hi all - I think that this is important - I just put this app into my phone - what3words - the whole world has been divided into 57 Trillion 3m (10 foot) squares, my front door is at pardon.legal. index - break a leg out there and if you have a phone signal and this app you just tell them the three words of your 3m sq location and rescuers will come straight to you - Outstanding!!

Read here - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-engla...XmK5CNmuUlYKoy5BuxiCMsoZyVSc2UAU8O2iQOZ3RNjOY

 

[Peter Fransiscus]

Works great, already in use . PERFECT.

 

[Bradypus]

Just installed this and looked at the grid squares which include my house. Some wonderful and bizarre word combinations. Not yet totally convinced of the practical value but for sheer fun and the "found poetry" value it is certainly a winner

 

[linkster]

I am an iPhone user. Maybe I am just missing it, but why not the latitude and longitude from the compass app?

 

[David]

I am an iPhone user. Maybe I am just missing it, but why not the latitude and longitude from the compass app?

Many smart phones cannot run a compass app as they don't contain a magnetic sensor whereas this app is universal.

 

[Jean Ti]

Great that soud interesting!

But what access do I have to give on my cell phone to get this free service?

 

[Bala]

At the moment, my three words are Sabbatical Elbowing Millionaire. Oh, don't I wish!

Seriouy, I only see benefits in this. Hopefully it will catch on and be used and promoted by first responders. Thanks, Dave.

 

[David]

Great that soud interesting!

But what access do I have to give on my cell phone to get this free service?

I believe it is just location via your installed maps app plus your compass for offline (if you have one).

Here is more info from the app makers

Use the app to:
- Find your way to anywhere in the world, even where street addresses don’t exist
- Tell your friends precisely where your picnic is
- Always find your tent at festivals
- Tell your taxi exactly where you want to go
- Plan and share your off-roading or hiking waypoints
- Know exactly where you parked your car
- Get deliveries to a specific entrance

Key App Features:
- Compatible with navigation and messaging apps including Google Maps
- Search for 3 word addresses or street addresses
- Save your favourite locations
- AutoSuggest feature prevents mistakes
- Available in 20+ languages
- Offline navigation with compass mode

 

[Former member 59618]

Mind. Blown. What will they think of next? Thanks for passing this on to us.

 

[Jeff Crawley]

I am an iPhone user. Maybe I am just missing it, but why not the latitude and longitude from the compass app?

Ground Zero in the Praza do Obridioro is 42°52'49.76"N 8°32'44.57"W mistype it by ONE digit as 42°53'49.76"N 8°32'44.57"W and you'll be about 1800m out of position.

Roughly the same spot in What3Words is ///panels.fetch.farmed mistype THAT by one letter and you get to choose:



I know which one I'd bet the bank on!

 

[VNwalking]

There was already another thread about this - mods, can you please merge them?

https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/what3words-app-for-safety.63854/#post-774820

 

[VNwalking]

Roughly the same spot in What3Words is ///panels.fetch.farmed mistype THAT by one letter and you get to choose:

Imagine what could happen with auto-correct. I hadn't thought of that.
But then there is common sense....obviously if you were an emergency responder receiving a call in Spain, and Slovenia showed up as the location, you'd just ask for the person to double-check their spelling.

When faced with a whole new way of doing things most of us balk and prefer the familiar - and this is certainly different.

 

[dougfitz]

I am an iPhone user. Maybe I am just missing it, but why not the latitude and longitude from the compass app?

A great question. There are a couple of reasons that I know of relating to how the whole science of geo-location has developed over time. On my Garmin handheld, there are options for 43 different position formats, 112 different map datum sets and 22 different map spheroids. In Australia, the difference between a position recorded and reported using an earlier Australian Geodetic datum and being displayed using the WGS84 datum and spheroid could be as much as 700 metres. Even for providing a lat/long position, there are three different formats.

If you are passing information like to others, whether it is a taxi driver or an emergency responder, the complications of making sure that you are both using the same datum and spheroid is complicated. For example, my car GPS, also a Garmin, provides options for 14 position formats and only six datums. Google maps on my Android phone doesn't provide any options, and doesn't bother to tell you what options it is using.

The second reason that I can think of is that it is almost impossible on both the mapping applications that I currently use on my phone to determine precisely what location point I have selected. Even if the what3words location might seem to be less precise, I suggest that the way that have seen the app working, it is more consistent and accurate.

The third reason, already mentioned now in an earlier response to your question, is that it guards against simple transcription errors by having a high level of self correction.

No doubt lat/long will continue to be used. A 3mx3m square is far too imprecise for many types of land use measurement and reporting. But for what it is being promoted to do, I think it looks pretty good.

 

[wayfarer]

I have merged these two threads which were posted within hours of each other.

 

[Bradypus]

Given what @t2andreo has been telling us about the crowds in the pilgrim office recently I thought this was quite appropriate!

 

[linkster]

Hey not to take away from the excitement of the What3Words app, but iPhone users may want to familiarize themselves with Emergency SOS. Hopefully, neither are ever needed.

¡Buena suerte!

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

So you know, What3Words uses GPS to determine where you are. I don't know if it has its own algorithm for determining what three words to use based on the signals received or if it runs the signals through a program to get latitude and longtitude coordinates and then converts that into the three words (though I suspect the later).

Is what3words more accurate than GPS?

support.what3words.com

 

[Jeff Crawley]

Hey not to take away from the excitement of the What3Words app, but iPhone users may want to familiarize themselves with Emergency SOS. Hopefully, neither are ever needed.

¡Buena suerte!

Oh, I think we all know iPhone users are in need of help . . .

 

[Vaughan]

Great idea. Love mine: Speeding: ***** : Human Could be very useful on the Camino if you want to meet up with fellow pilgrims

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

I've been familar with What3Words for awhile and I like the idea. Because of the recent posts I downloaded the app to include with some other GPS apps I have. I'm not thrilled with it. If you have downloaded it I suggest that you do the following.

Using the stacked lines icon (a.k.a hamburger) choose Settings and then Shared settings. Pick the Explainer text, Weblink, Latitude and longtitude (I prefer Decimal degrees because many GPS programs and apps use it), then, for Share in another language, pick Spanish.

During this you should be shown what an email will contain if you want to share your location: the 3 words used in English, different 3 words that the Spanish police might prefer to use, and lat. and long. coordinates too in case your rescuers think about the three words, WTF?

 

[TatiLie]

I've just installed an app called "where ARE U" my husband heard in the Italian news.
It's an emergency button that will call the European Emergency Service (112) when you press it. It will give the responder your GPS location, your ICE (in case of emergency) number, your basic information (full name, gender, age and language), and indicate that you're calling from a "where are u" app.
You have also the option to indicate you are not able to speak and it will give you options of what time of intervention you need (ambulance, fireman, police).

 

[Former member 49149]

I've been familar with What3Words for awhile and I like the idea. Because of the recent posts I downloaded the app to include with some other GPS apps I have. I'm not thrilled with it. If you have downloaded it I suggest that you do the following.

Using the stacked lines icon (a.k.a hamburger) choose Settings and then Shared settings. Pick the Explainer text, Weblink, Latitude and longtitude (I prefer Decimal degrees because many GPS programs and apps use it), then, for Share in another language, pick Spanish.

During this you should be shown what an email will contain if you want to share your location: the 3 words used in English, different 3 words that the Spanish police might prefer to use, and lat. and long. coordinates too in case your rescuers think about the three words, WTF?

I used your tips, and discovered, like you did, that the 3words I used in my camino landed me somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. Google, maps.me - too much for them on my little old iphone, but apple maps came out of the closet and landed me right there! So then I picked up three other words: faith hope and charity. Apple maps pointed me towards 45 High Street London. So, what do I do now?!!! Thank goodness I am actually quite safe, at home, as it would take me so long to get the hang of this - just like the maps i did my best to follow with all the help I got, gps stuff. In the end, no gps was required. Elle Bieling and Johnnie Walker came up winners.

 

[Jeff Crawley]

I used your tips, and discovered, like you did, that the 3words I used in my camino landed me somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. Google, maps.me - too much for them on my little old iphone, but apple maps came out of the closet and landed me right there! So then I picked up three other words: faith hope and charity. Apple maps pointed me towards 45 High Street London. So, what do I do now?!!! Thank goodness I am actually quite safe, at home, as it would take me so long to get the hang of this - just like the maps i did my best to follow with all the help I got, gps stuff. In the end, no gps was required. Elle Bieling and Johnnie Walker came up winners.

Knowing you I'm not sure if this is a wind up or not

 

[Former member 49149]

Knowing you I'm not sure if this is a wind up or not

Hate to say it, but not a wind up! I once spent a fortune on classical guitar lessons. At the end of a year I was able to play this famous piece da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da, da-da-da-da-da-dada). That was it. Like a wooden top. I have a good ear, well not so good now in some conditions, and a sense of rhythm - but there is a breakdown between my brain and my hands. I am challenged. Some say stubborn...I think it is logic, yes! That is what is wrong with me! illogical. Does that fit, Jeff?

 

[Jeff Crawley]

Hate to say it, but not a wind up! I once spent a fortune on classical guitar lessons. At the end of a year I was able to play this famous piece da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da, da-da-da-da-da-dada). That was it. Like a wooden top. I have a good ear, well not so good now in some conditions, and a sense of rhythm - but there is a breakdown between my brain and my hands. I am challenged. Some say stubborn...I think it is logic, yes! That is what is wrong with me! illogical. Does that fit, Jeff?

Isn't that "Barwick Green"? As a poor guitar player and even worse ukulele one you have my sympathies.

With what3words you don't get to pick the words - they've been assigned by the company but you can use it to play an interesting game . . . pick three words and see where it takes you.

We used the app on a long, drawn out highway construction scheme here in the SE of England and it was especially useful to our Ecological Sciences Team except you'd get cryptic messages like "all heavy construction plant to be kept out of banana.cream.pie until GCNs have been relocated" (GCN - Great Crested Newts, a protected species in Europe, extremely rare except all over SE England whenever you want to carry out construction works)

I'm now going to have to look up ///banana.cream.pie to see where it really is before going for a walk in the woods from ///shippers.stack.dragons

 

[Former member 49149]

Isn't that "Barwick Green"? As a poor guitar player and even worse ukulele one you have my sympathies.

With what3words you don't get to pick the words - they've been assigned by the company but you can use it to play an interesting game . . . pick three words and see where it takes you.

We used the app on a long, drawn out highway construction scheme here in the SE of England and it was especially useful to our Ecological Sciences Team except you'd get cryptic messages like "all heavy construction plant to be kept out of banana.cream.pie until GCNs have been relocated" (GCN - Great Crested Newts, a protected species in Europe, extremely rare except all over SE England whenever you want to carry out construction works)

I'm now going to have to look up ///banana.cream.pie to see where it really is before going for a walk in the woods from ///shippers.stack.dragons

Just checked with my resident expert - Ode to Joy. Currently at pets.coherent. and another word. Can't give away my location, can I? not when I am safely at home. Have a good day. Just back from pool, off now to walk to get some fish - it is Friday after all. Just joking. I just love fish and it is a lovely day.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

That thing about the three words landing you somewhere in the ocean but difficult to zoom to find exactly where is one reason I suggested the the w3w settings have lat. and long. coordinates in the shares. You can use Google or other mapping programs to view the same location.

Just back from pool, off now to walk to get some fish - it is Friday after all. Just joking. I just love fish and it is a lovely day.

A Jewish friend in older times at the college cafeteria kept being mistaken for an observant RC. His reply was "I like fish and it is only on the menu Fridays".

 

[Jeff Crawley]

Just checked with my resident expert - Ode to Joy. Currently at pets.coherent. and another word. Can't give away my location, can I? not when I am safely at home. Have a good day. Just back from pool, off now to walk to get some fish - it is Friday after all. Just joking. I just love fish and it is a lovely day.

Sadly there's no ///banana.cream.pie the closest w3w gets to it is ///banana.dream.pine which turns out to be in Dumas, Texas (north of Amarillo, famed far and wide for the arrows it exports to Spain every year)