A common inquiry we have at AppArmor is why we use a suite of apps, as opposed to a single safety app. The initial question customers have is how are they going to get students to download more than one mobile app. We prepare the suite of apps in an App Bundle, which is featured on the App Store. App bundles allow you to communicate with other apps, directing user communication through your school's mobile safety app.
Take Microsoft Office, an example of a suite of apps. There are different capabilities of each single application, so it makes sense to purchase them in a bundle so you can use Word, Excel, Powerpoint, etc. This also applies to AppArmor because the different mobile security features that are included in a bundle are all important for your students’ safety. There are many reasons why app bundles are the best option for your school’s safety application, but we have narrowed them down to 3.
- More Room for Support Resources
Having a suite of apps provides more ways to change and update a mobile application. This also allows for more safety features to be included into your school’s safety app. With a dedicated custom safety app, students have a greater breadth of safety information, resources, and support.
- Safety Specific Mass Notifications
As mentioned in our previous article, push notifications are an incredibly powerful communication tool of our safety apps. Push messages travel over both wifi and cellular networks, meaning that it chooses the most efficient channel to reach each user. Having only a native app as a campus’ mobile safety device would either not be able to support this or be potentially difficult to access by emergency personnel during a crisis. This creates a potential obstacle for students being able to access important safety information during a time of need.
- Security Team Control
The app can also be managed, monitored, and whatnot by the security team; they don’t have to rely on IT or any other department to make changes or to send out communications in time of crisis. This is a valuable distinction; unlike in some single-school apps, no security department is relegated to a position of no control and limited features. Your safety app can be a valuable asset which your team can understand and utilize effectively.
App bundles focus on specific topics which allow for different, more precise functionalities. What this means for mobile safety is that we can tap into more campus safety resources and create more functionally specific apps. Having a suite of apps is what let’s us design a mobile safety application that is customized for your school’s campus and resources. Using a suite of apps places you in full control of your school’s mobile safety application because you have complete editing capability. This means you can make changes that are effective immediately.
The benefits of using a suite of apps, or app bundle, for your school’s mobile security app create a clear advantage over single application options. At AppArmor, our objective is to take the most effective approach towards campus safety.
