Glossary
Plain-language definitions
Every term used in SafeCircle, defined without jargon.
A
- Author
- The user who created a plan. Authorship is set automatically and isn't transferable today. The author can edit, delete, share, and add collaborators.
C
- Calm Mode
- The /calm page. Breathing exercises, 5-4-3-2-1 grounding, and a checklist of small actions for when things feel overwhelming.
- Circle
- A small group of people who can see each other's status and any plans shared with the group. Family, flatmates, neighbours — keep them small and trusted.
- Code word
- A single word agreed in advance by your circle. Used to verify a message is genuinely from a circle member, not someone impersonating them.
- Collaborator
- Someone the plan author has explicitly invited to edit a plan. Collaborators can change anything in the plan; they can always read it regardless of who it's shared with.
D
- Dashboard
- The home screen of the app once signed in. Shows your circle, your status, and quick actions (Safe / Help).
E
- Emergency contacts (UAE)
- Police 999, Ambulance 998, Civil Defence 997, Coast Guard 996, Electricity 991, Water 992. Listed on /emergency for one-tap calling.
H
- Help
- A status value meaning you need attention. Triggers a high-priority push to your circle, even if recipients have set notifications to 'Emergency only'.
I
- Invite link
- A URL the circle owner generates to add new members. Anyone with the link can join. Expires after 14 days. Send 1:1 — never post publicly.
M
- Member
- Any signed-in SafeCircle user. The default role. Membership of a circle is separate — you can have an account without being in any circle.
- Meeting point
- A specific physical location your circle agrees to gather at if you can't reach each other electronically. Walk to it before you commit to it.
N
- NCEMA
- National Emergency Crisis and Disasters Management Authority — the UAE federal authority for emergency communications. Their advisories are the ground truth during a crisis.
O
- Out-of-region contact
- Someone outside your immediate area you all phone first if you can't reach each other locally. They become the relay. Ideally in a different country.
- Owner
- The user who created a circle. Can invite, remove members, and delete the circle. Cannot leave the circle they own (must delete instead).
P
- Plan (emergency plan)
- A one-page document with meeting point, out-of-region contact, code word, and key contacts. Built once, reviewed quarterly.
- Push notification
- An alert sent to your phone or browser even when the app isn't open. Configured per device and per account preference (All / Emergency only / Off).
- PWA
- Progressive Web App. SafeCircle is a PWA — you can install it from the browser to your home screen, where it behaves like a native app.
S
- Safe
- A status value meaning you're fine. Routine. Triggers a normal-priority push to your circle.
- Service worker
- A background script the browser runs for SafeCircle. Caches the app for offline use and receives push notifications when the app isn't open.
- Shared with
- On a plan, the circle whose members can read the plan. Set to 'Just me' to make it private. A plan can be shared with one circle at a time.
- Sources
- The /sources page. Verified UAE government, police, civil defence, health, weather, education, and transport sources, grouped by category.
- Status
- A short signal you post: Safe, Help, or Unknown, plus an optional message. The most recent one is what your circle sees.
T
- Tier
- SafeCircle has no tiers. Single free product for every account.
U
- Unknown
- A status value meaning you don't know yet. Useful when something's happening but you haven't assessed your situation.
V
- VAPID
- Voluntary Application Server Identification. The cryptographic signature SafeCircle uses to authenticate push notifications. Internal — you never interact with it.
Missing a term you'd expect to find here? Email b.evariste@gmail.comand we'll add it.