A group of college students have created an app to help people stay safe and informed during the pandemic.

Rutgers University senior Nihar Raval and his team received an email two weeks ago stating that their app, Bubbl had been approved by Apple to launch in the United States.

“I woke up and I was just elated to hear that,” Raval says.

The idea for the free app was born out of concern for Raval’s mother who is immunocompromised.

“People need to know how well places are social distancing before they leave the house,” he says. “Once they get to wherever they need to go, it’s already too late.”

Raval’s team built Bubbl in three months. The app uses crowdsourced information to help users understand if places are enforcing mask usage and social distancing protocols.

“You simply go into the app wherever you go, you report whether masks were enforced and if social distancing was enforced,” says Raval. “Anybody else who searches for it can go online, see if they’re social distancing well or now and then they can make an informed decision about where to go.”

Bubbl is supported by Dr. Hamid Movahhedian and North County Neonatology Specialists – a medical corporation located in North San Diego.

“When they spoke to me…I felt they put their heart to protect our community,” says Movahhedian. “I realized if I could be a part of this to help the community, I’ll be more than happy to do that.”

Raval says that helping the community is exactly what the app is meant to do.

“Even if we can help save one life through Bubbl, I’ll be happy and accomplished as a founder and my cofounders would tell you the same thing.”

Bubbl is set to go live on Monday at 5 p.m. It will be available in the Apple iOS store. An Android version of the app is in development.