Since Apple introduced their Series 8 Watches and iPhone 14 with emergency SOS satellite connectivity, users have unintentionally activated this feature, leading to accidental 911 calls being made and even one Alaskan snowmobiler being saved by way of this service.
Apple provides users with emergency services via this feature by pressing either the side button or home button five times quickly, which then connects with satellites and sends emergency contacts your GPS coordinates, according to Apple.
1. Hold the Side button and Volume button at the same time
Emergency SOS on an iPhone can be lifesaving in certain circumstances, but pressing too hard or for too long could also trigger an accidental 911 call. You can turn this feature off on your device by going into Settings > Emergency SOS and disabling its Autocall option.
Pressing both volume buttons simultaneously until the sliders appear on screen can also quickly disable this feature, and simply dragging the top slider will power off your phone – perfect if you suspect being compromised by hackers! Using this method also gives you an alternative way of quickly shutting off your phone if the danger arises.
Emergency SOS has saved lives, yet has caused much confusion. It can easily activate by accident if your phone is kept in your pocket or bag; for example, during New Year’s Eve in Tennessee a woman accidentally activated it accidentally on her Apple Watch and ended up with several armed police officers responding.
Alaska was also home to another case of accidental activation when a snowmobiler used his iPhone 14’s SOS feature while lost without cell service, connecting via satellite to transmit GPS coordinates to Kotzebue’s emergency response center for further action by local authorities and volunteer search and rescue volunteers. Ultimately he was saved.
Apple introduced satellite connectivity with the iPhone 14 last fall and since then has gradually implemented it across certain countries for free use for two years. When enabled, users can activate it by long-pressing either power or volume buttons or rapidly pressing both together; once connected to a satellite network, an iPhone displays an interface which guides them through an SOS text message and live map of their location.
Apple has already implemented this feature in France, Germany, Ireland, and the UK and plans to roll it out globally shortly. Unfortunately, its easy to see how people could accidentally activate this feature when using their phone in low light environments or unfamiliar situations; skiers and snowboarders may inadvertently activate it by accident when taking to the slopes.
2. Hold the Volume button and the Home button at the same time
Apple’s Emergency SOS feature is designed to quickly connect you with emergency services. Utilizing Globalstar’s satellite network, the feature sends out an SOS message including your location and activating your camera phone if available, pre-recorded voice messages and photos taken from your device at the time of calling – ideal for situations that require urgent help in remote areas or when travelling alone.
However, unfortunately this feature has led to numerous unnecessary 911 calls. Apple users appear to be misusing it and accidentally sending their message to inappropriate recipients. There’s an easy solution that can stop this from happening: you should change how you use this feature when sending text messages or calls out of context.
Solution: If you don’t wish to utilize Emergency SOS on your iPhone, simply disable it from its settings by going into General Emergency SOS Turn Off Autocall and following steps 1-4 above. Alternatively, manually trigger it by pressing power button five times or drop your phone on its face; emergency contacts will receive notification.
Since introducing the iPhone 14 with Emergency SOS features in November, there have been multiple success stories of how the feature came to the aid of users. One man used his SOS feature to transmit an emergency alert via satellite to search and rescue teams after falling down an icy slope in Alaska.
Reports have surfaced recently that emergency response centers across the nation have been receiving reports about this feature accidentally sending false alarms to local police and rescue teams. Many of these reports come from Summit County, Colorado where emergency call centers have been overwhelmed with false 911 alerts caused by skiers and snowboarders accidentally activating it while skiing or snowboarding on slopes. Although phones vibrate for a few seconds before completing emergency SOS connections, heavy winter clothing combined with noisy environments seem enough to confuse sensors on devices and mislead sensors into activating SOS connections and trigger emergency SOS connection completion.
3. Hold the Side button and the Power button at the same time
Apple introduced this week with its iPhone 14s new features an emergency SOS via satellite feature that enables the user to communicate with a central server that sends GPS coordinates directly through its antenna – similar to beacons used by mountaineers or outdoor enthusiasts.
Unfortunately, this new feature has created some confusion among users and led to many accidental 911 calls. A repair shop specializing in iPhone repairs was inundated with calls from individuals who accidentally activated this feature during activities such as snowboarding or skiing – this may have been caused by both vibration and sound from pressing buttons as well as heavy clothing that made users susceptible.
Holding down the side button and power button together will activate an Emergency SOS call that connects to a central server and sends your GPS coordinates via your phone’s built-in GPS system. In addition, it sends your location and a message with photo from camera at time of call directly to a person you nominate in advance – for example your friends or family members that were set as your recipients of such calls. By default this feature is turned on, but can be disabled through settings.
iPhone SOS was implemented for safety reasons and designed to assist when out of range of cell towers or lost connection with GPS. To activate it, either press both power and volume buttons simultaneously or quickly press your screen five times; when active, the SOS will allow emergency responders access through its interface to contact you quickly.
If you wish to disable Emergency SOS, head to Settings and select “Emergency SOS.” Alternately, accessing Health app on iPhone will also let you create or modify emergency contacts as per prompts.
4. Hold the Side button and the Lock button at the same time
Apple introduced an emergency SOS feature into their iPhone 14 in November. Since its debut, many accounts of this feature’s use in helping stranded individuals have emerged; for example a man whose snowmobile crashed in Alaska was able to use his iPhone 14’s SOS feature and transmit GPS coordinates of where his vehicle had gone down to emergency responders, who eventually located and organized a helicopter rescue for him.
Emergency SOS features are usually utilized when an accident takes place, such as car crashes or falls, however it could also accidentally trigger itself or be misused by accident, leading to false alarms. This has been especially evident during ski season when hard stops and falls have activated this feature on iPhones and Apple Watches leading to numerous 911 calls coming through from these devices.
There are ways to disable the Emergency SOS feature, for instance on iPhone X and 8 users can turn it off by pressing both power button and one volume button simultaneously, as well as programping emergency contacts in their Health app.
Pressing both of the volume buttons simultaneously will prompt a screen allowing them to drag an emergency SOS icon across their GPS location and contact authorities directly, as well as choose whether or not they would like their name, contact info, and current map displayed onscreen.
iPhone 14 and later devices feature Fall Detection, an accelerometer-based feature which uses acceleration measurements to detect whether they have been tilted or moved, sending out an emergency SOS signal if more than 15 feet has passed from where they last connected with Bluetooth device. Users can also activate Emergency SOS via Satellite setting in Settings app on iPhone for use when their phone has been misplaced or dropped – using either prerecorded voice messages or photos taken with camera to describe their situation.