A way to stay in touch when everything else goes down.
When an earthquake, storm, or outage takes out cell towers and Wi-Fi, the phone in your pocket usually goes silent too. Crisis Connect keeps it talking to the phones nearby.
We are a small team in Istanbul, building for the days most apps pretend will never happen. The current public app is free, has no ads, and ordinary nearby messaging does not require creating a named account. Signed-in responder, field-team, and admin workflows are separate. Whether it's reaching your family after a disaster or coordinating a rescue team in the field — Crisis Connect is meant to be already on your phone, ready before you need it.
What's there today
A quick look at what we've shipped and what you get when you install it.
On Google Play
The Android app is live and free to download.
Open in store
On the App Store
The iPhone app is live and free to download.
Open in store
Only you and them
Ordinary nearby messages are encrypted on your device and are not stored on our servers. Responder and admin records are handled separately.
About 100 meters
Direct Bluetooth reach between two phones in the open. Nearby phones can pass messages further along.
Free public app
No subscription, no premium tier, and no ads in the current public app.
Open source
The full source code is on GitHub, so anyone can check how the app actually works.
What you can actually do with it
Three things the app does, all of them without needing internet, Wi-Fi, or cell service.
Talk to people nearby
Message, call, and share voice notes or photos with people around you, even when the network is gone.
- Text messages with delivery and read marks, just like you're used to
- Real-time voice calls over Bluetooth
- Send voice notes, photos, and files
- Messages can hop through nearby phones to reach someone farther away
- Add a contact by scanning their QR code once
- One-tap SOS to let nearby people know you need help
Coordinate a response team
A dedicated mode for volunteers, first responders, and rescue crews working together in the field.
- Separate roles for team leads and field members
- Share your live location with the rest of your team
- Keep the whole team in sync without any cell coverage
- Only verified responders can join the response channels
Survive the first hours
A small kit of tools that keep working when you can't reach anything online.
- Offline maps you can download in advance
- Compass for getting your bearings
- Metal detector, useful for rubble searches
- A loud emergency whistle tone
- A built-in survival guide with checklists
What we care about
A few ideas that shape every decision we make about the app.
Your phone first, the cloud second
Ordinary civilian message content stays on devices and travels directly over nearby links. We do not run a central chat inbox for the public; signed-in field-team, diagnostics, and rescue coordination records are separate.
Simple before clever
The basic case — two people near each other — has to work perfectly. Anything fancier, like passing messages through other phones, is there to help but never gets in the way.
Gentle on your battery
In a real emergency, battery is everything. The app is built to do its job without draining your phone or running hot in the background.
You decide who you trust
You add contacts by meeting them once and scanning a QR code. There's no public directory, no friend suggestions — just the people you chose to trust.
A small team in Istanbul.
Crisis Connect is made by Auralis Industries, based in Istanbul. We started this because we live in a place where earthquakes are not a theoretical problem — and the moment it really matters, the cell towers are the first thing to go. We work with search-and-rescue teams, NGOs, and everyday volunteers to test the app under real conditions and make it something people can actually rely on.
See the source on GitHubWe publish the full source code openly, so anyone — a journalist, a researcher, a curious developer — can verify that the app does what we say it does.
Want to work together?
If you're with a rescue organization, a public agency, or an NGO and you'd like to try Crisis Connect in the field, we'd love to hear from you.
Get in touch