Now that everyone’s connected, we don’t have to rely on friends and family for favours; often there are plenty of strangers who’d apparently bend over backwards to help and there are an increasing number ways of to find and employ these good Samaritans.

Wakie is a new alarm clock app that wakes you up with a phone call from a complete stranger. After signing in to Wakie with your phone number, the app splits users into two groups; Wakies (who want to wake a stranger) and Sleepyheads (who want to be woken by a stranger). Wakie tries to pair you with a caller of similar age and of the opposite sex for best results but if it can’t find a suitable match the app reverts back to the good old-fashioned beeping alarm. Wakie has cultivated a strong international following, especially in Russia, and reports that 1.5 million users have placed 30 million wake up calls.

Somebody is another app that outsources your dirty work. When you send a message through Somebody, it goes – not to your friend – but to the Somebody user nearest your friend. This person (more than likely a stranger) is then tasked with delivering the message verbally, acting as your stand-in.