New in version 2.18.0
New modern interface and appearance controls:
- Complete visual redesign across all screens
- Four color themes: Indigo, Teal, Clay and Slate
- Follow system, always light or always dark appearance
- Correct status and navigation bar contrast when overriding the system mode
- Clearer monitoring state, permissions and navigation
- Existing monitoring, security and location behavior remains unchanged
SOS Ring forces your phone to ring at full volume when you receive a call from a VIP contact, even if your phone is in Silent, Vibrate, or Do Not Disturb mode.
Perfect for families where someone always keeps their phone on silent but needs to be reachable in emergencies.
HOW IT WORKS:
• Add your VIP contacts (family, partner, etc.)
• Enable the monitoring service
• When a VIP contact calls, SOS Ring overrides Silent/DND mode, plays the ringtone at your chosen volume (50-100%), and vibrates
• After the call ends (answered, missed, or rejected), your phone is restored to its original state — silent mode, DND, volumes, everything
WHY THIS APP EXISTS:
Android 14+ removed per-contact DND exceptions. No built-in way exists to let specific contacts bypass silent mode. Google restricts READ_CALL_LOG on the Play Store, so this type of app can't be published there. SOS Ring is free, open source, and works where others can't.
FEATURES:
• Pick VIP contacts from your phonebook or enter manually
• Configurable override volume (50-100%)
• Works in Silent, Vibrate, AND Do Not Disturb mode
• Full state restore after call (including alarm volume)
• Survives phone reboots (auto-start)
• Minimal battery usage (event-driven, no polling)
• Dark mode support
• No ads or tracking
LOCATION SHARING (optional, peer-to-peer):
• No SOS Ring server required — you pick a UnifiedPush distributor app (e.g. ntfy on F-Droid); it relays only encrypted data
• End-to-end encrypted using Web Push encryption; the distributor never sees your location
• Each message is signed with a per-device key in the Android Keystore, so the recipient can verify the sender
• Pairing is explicit via QR code — no automatic connections
• Location sharing is off by default per contact; you control who can see your location
• Live tracking streams your position roughly every 10 seconds for a chosen duration, shown on an OpenStreetMap map in the app
• Tracked path is saved locally on the requester's device only — no data leaves without your explicit action
• No server, no analytics, no tracking
PERMISSIONS EXPLAINED:
• Phone State & Call Log: detect incoming calls and identify the caller
• Contacts: pick VIP contacts from your phonebook
• Do Not Disturb access: override DND when a VIP calls
• Notifications: show a small persistent notification while monitoring
• Location (including background): used only to answer location requests from paired contacts you explicitly authorized, even while the app is not on screen; nothing is collected or sent otherwise
SOURCE CODE: https://github.com/JackRushante/SOSRing
Versions
Although APK downloads are available below to give you the choice, you should be aware that by installing that way you will not receive update notifications and it's a less secure way to download. We recommend that you install the F-Droid client and use that.
Download F-Droid
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arm64-v8a
This version requires Android 10 or newer.
It is built and signed by the original developer, and guaranteed to correspond to this source tarball.
Permissions
-
access location in the background
This app can access location at any time, even while the app is not in use.
-
access approximate location only in the foreground
This app can get your approximate location from location services while the app is in use. Location services for your device must be turned on for the app to get location.
-
access precise location only in the foreground
This app can get your precise location from location services while the app is in use. Location services for your device must be turned on for the app to get location. This may increase battery usage.
-
view network connections
Allows the app to view information about network connections such as which networks exist and are connected.
-
access Do Not Disturb
Allows the app to read and write Do Not Disturb configuration.
-
view Wi-Fi connections
Allows the app to view information about Wi-Fi networking, such as whether Wi-Fi is enabled and name of connected Wi-Fi devices.
-
take pictures and videos
This app can take pictures and record videos using the camera while the app is in use.
-
run foreground service
Allows the app to make use of foreground services.
-
run foreground service with the type "location"
Allows the app to make use of foreground services with the type "location"
-
run foreground service with the type "specialUse"
Allows the app to make use of foreground services with the type "specialUse"
-
have full network access
Allows the app to create network sockets and use custom network protocols. The browser and other applications provide means to send data to the internet, so this permission is not required to send data to the internet.
-
change your audio settings
Allows the app to modify global audio settings such as volume and which speaker is used for output.
-
show notifications
Allows the app to show notifications
-
read call log
This app can read your call history.
-
read your contacts
Allows the app to read data about your contacts stored on your phone. Apps will also have access to the accounts on your phone that have created contacts. This may include accounts created by apps you have installed. This permission allows apps to save your contact data, and malicious apps may share contact data without your knowledge.
-
read phone status and identity
Allows the app to access the phone features of the device. This permission allows the app to determine the phone number and device IDs, whether a call is active, and the remote number connected by a call.
-
run at startup
Allows the app to have itself started as soon as the system has finished booting. This can make it take longer to start the phone and allow the app to slow down the overall phone by always running.
-
control vibration
Allows the app to control the vibrator.
-
prevent phone from sleeping
Allows the app to prevent the phone from going to sleep.
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com.lorenzomarci.sosring.DYNAMIC_RECEIVER_NOT_EXPORTED_PERMISSION
Download APK
30 MiB
PGP Signature
|
Build Log
New in version 2.17.0
Live tracking reliability fixes:
- Sessions now end on time even after the phone was in deep sleep
- Fixed GPS updates silently stopping mid-session (update budget corrected, automatic restart)
- New alerts when live updates stall on either side
- The map clearly shows when a session has ended; the path stays visible
- Start/stop messages are retried and recovered after reconnections
-
arm64-v8a
This version requires Android 10 or newer.
It is built and signed by the original developer, and guaranteed to correspond to this source tarball.
Permissions
-
access location in the background
This app can access location at any time, even while the app is not in use.
-
access approximate location only in the foreground
This app can get your approximate location from location services while the app is in use. Location services for your device must be turned on for the app to get location.
-
access precise location only in the foreground
This app can get your precise location from location services while the app is in use. Location services for your device must be turned on for the app to get location. This may increase battery usage.
-
view network connections
Allows the app to view information about network connections such as which networks exist and are connected.
-
access Do Not Disturb
Allows the app to read and write Do Not Disturb configuration.
-
view Wi-Fi connections
Allows the app to view information about Wi-Fi networking, such as whether Wi-Fi is enabled and name of connected Wi-Fi devices.
-
take pictures and videos
This app can take pictures and record videos using the camera while the app is in use.
-
run foreground service
Allows the app to make use of foreground services.
-
run foreground service with the type "location"
Allows the app to make use of foreground services with the type "location"
-
run foreground service with the type "specialUse"
Allows the app to make use of foreground services with the type "specialUse"
-
have full network access
Allows the app to create network sockets and use custom network protocols. The browser and other applications provide means to send data to the internet, so this permission is not required to send data to the internet.
-
change your audio settings
Allows the app to modify global audio settings such as volume and which speaker is used for output.
-
show notifications
Allows the app to show notifications
-
read call log
This app can read your call history.
-
read your contacts
Allows the app to read data about your contacts stored on your phone. Apps will also have access to the accounts on your phone that have created contacts. This may include accounts created by apps you have installed. This permission allows apps to save your contact data, and malicious apps may share contact data without your knowledge.
-
read phone status and identity
Allows the app to access the phone features of the device. This permission allows the app to determine the phone number and device IDs, whether a call is active, and the remote number connected by a call.
-
run at startup
Allows the app to have itself started as soon as the system has finished booting. This can make it take longer to start the phone and allow the app to slow down the overall phone by always running.
-
control vibration
Allows the app to control the vibrator.
-
prevent phone from sleeping
Allows the app to prevent the phone from going to sleep.
-
com.lorenzomarci.sosring.DYNAMIC_RECEIVER_NOT_EXPORTED_PERMISSION
Download APK
29 MiB
PGP Signature
|
Build Log
New in version 2.16.0
• Ring reliability: DND and volume self-heal after a crash, international and landline VIP numbers now match, fallback ringtone when the custom one is unavailable
• Monitoring no longer requires location or contacts permissions
• Privacy: revoking location sharing stops a live share instantly; every inbound request is logged, including denied ones; daily live-tracking budget per contact
• Hardened peer identity and key validation
• Battery optimization guidance and UI polish
-
arm64-v8a
This version requires Android 10 or newer.
It is built and signed by the original developer, and guaranteed to correspond to this source tarball.
Permissions
-
access location in the background
This app can access location at any time, even while the app is not in use.
-
access approximate location only in the foreground
This app can get your approximate location from location services while the app is in use. Location services for your device must be turned on for the app to get location.
-
access precise location only in the foreground
This app can get your precise location from location services while the app is in use. Location services for your device must be turned on for the app to get location. This may increase battery usage.
-
view network connections
Allows the app to view information about network connections such as which networks exist and are connected.
-
access Do Not Disturb
Allows the app to read and write Do Not Disturb configuration.
-
view Wi-Fi connections
Allows the app to view information about Wi-Fi networking, such as whether Wi-Fi is enabled and name of connected Wi-Fi devices.
-
take pictures and videos
This app can take pictures and record videos using the camera while the app is in use.
-
run foreground service
Allows the app to make use of foreground services.
-
run foreground service with the type "location"
Allows the app to make use of foreground services with the type "location"
-
run foreground service with the type "specialUse"
Allows the app to make use of foreground services with the type "specialUse"
-
have full network access
Allows the app to create network sockets and use custom network protocols. The browser and other applications provide means to send data to the internet, so this permission is not required to send data to the internet.
-
change your audio settings
Allows the app to modify global audio settings such as volume and which speaker is used for output.
-
show notifications
Allows the app to show notifications
-
read call log
This app can read your call history.
-
read your contacts
Allows the app to read data about your contacts stored on your phone. Apps will also have access to the accounts on your phone that have created contacts. This may include accounts created by apps you have installed. This permission allows apps to save your contact data, and malicious apps may share contact data without your knowledge.
-
read phone status and identity
Allows the app to access the phone features of the device. This permission allows the app to determine the phone number and device IDs, whether a call is active, and the remote number connected by a call.
-
run at startup
Allows the app to have itself started as soon as the system has finished booting. This can make it take longer to start the phone and allow the app to slow down the overall phone by always running.
-
control vibration
Allows the app to control the vibrator.
-
prevent phone from sleeping
Allows the app to prevent the phone from going to sleep.
-
com.lorenzomarci.sosring.DYNAMIC_RECEIVER_NOT_EXPORTED_PERMISSION
Download APK
29 MiB
PGP Signature
|
Build Log
