How Emergency SOS Works on iPhones
An emergency SOS solution provides valuable peace of mind, safety, and security. By notifying emergency contacts of your location and sharing it with them, this feature enables them to alert local emergency services of their presence as soon as needed. On iPhone 14 series and later devices, Emergency SOS can be activated using both volume buttons. A countdown begins, and if it remains unchanged it automatically calls emergency services for you – something Apple refers to as Auto Call. What is it? Your smartphone likely comes equipped with an emergency feature designed to assist in times of dire distress. This feature can alert local authorities as well as emergency contacts about the situation, record audio or video depending on its capabilities, and even alert local emergency contacts if necessary. Emergency SOS features on smartphones can be activated by pressing quickly on either of their power or volume buttons five times in succession or holding down both simultaneously, with any one pressing triggering it and sharing your location with emergency contacts. It will call 911 in the United States or your emergency service of choice before sharing that data with them. On Pixel phones, you have the ability to tailor how the SOS feature works by customizing its settings. For instance, you can decide whether a loud alarm sound should play when activating SOS slider, as well as enable or disable location sharing with emergency contacts. Although we hope we never have to use this feature ourselves, it's always good to know how it works just in case it ever becomes necessary. How do I use it? Though we hope we never need it, the Emergency SOS feature of iPhone can be lifesaving in an emergency situation. It allows for fast communication with authorities without having to fumble around with your phone while sharing your location automatically with responders. To activate Emergency SOS, press your power button five times or quickly press both power and volume buttons simultaneously. Your device will call local emergency services (911/999 in the US) as well as notify all emergency contacts with your current location – unless you cancel it first. Before leaving home, be sure to set up your Medical ID and emergency contacts in the Health app. It is vital that this information remains up-to-date, so make sure it's checked regularly. Furthermore, ensure you find an area in which it can be activated with just two taps on its power button without obstruction from tall buildings or trees that might block satellite communications. What happens if I don’t use it? Activating Emergency SOS without realizing it will send an SOS text message with your location to emergency contacts on your iPhone, which can then be cancelled before being sent. When your iPhone 14 series or later detects an accident, it will offer to activate Emergency SOS and automatically call emergency services. Your phone may ring and flash briefly prior to making this call so you're aware what's going on and have an opportunity to cancel this action if desired. falling alarm You can disable shortcut buttons under Settings > Emergency SOS to reduce accidental activation of Emergency SOS, making it more challenging to trigger by pressing power five times or holding down side and volume buttons simultaneously. This is important, as accidental triggering wastes police resources by alerting emergency responders of false alarms; additionally, only use Emergency Sos in true emergencies.
How do I cancel it? An emergency SOS typically initiates a phone call to 911 (or its equivalent number in your country). It also alerts emergency contacts of your location. By default, this feature is enabled; you can customize its settings in the Settings app if needed – however if accidentally activated and cannot cancel immediately afterwards emergency services could become suspicious of you and become more vigilant against threats in future. On older Android phones, Emergency SOS is activated by rapidly pressing the power button three or five times within seconds. On more modern devices, however, a separate Safety and Emergency screen within the Settings app allows users to set emergency contacts as well as select how they'll activate Emergency SOS. If your phone is set to auto-call mode, it will ring and flash briefly before automatically dialing 911 in case of accidents or injuries, giving you time to cancel it before making the call. This feature is intended as an early warning in case of physical violence towards you or others.