Apple has been very vocal about privacy and user safety. The new update for iOS brings with it a nifty little feature to get you out of trouble. The new emergency feature a.k.a. SOS feature is still in its beta phase but it has great potential to help you out in exigent situations.
We have already seen examples of Apple’s “Find My iPhone” feature saving lives. The new emergency feature is taking it to yet another level. Currently, it is working in countries like India, United States, Hong Kong, Italy, Brazil, Japan, Russia, Spain, France, Belgium, Spain, and Canada in its beta version but they plan to launch it worldwide very soon.
What exactly is the iPhone SOS feature?
In the case of an emergency, the SOS feature lets you contact your friends/family at the touch of a button. You can assign a handful of contacts as your emergency contacts, and when the feature is activated, it will automatically send an SMS or call them, depending on what your settings are.
Like all other iPhone features, the SOS feature is also very thoughtful and detailed to ensure it provides a great user experience. Since it’s an emergency feature, it needs to be designed in such a way that it can be accessed immediately. At the same time, you shouldn’t end up calling emergency services by mistake.
It will make its debut on the Apple watch OS3 with the iOS update of 10.2.
Main highlights of iPhone emergency feature are —
• Easy to turn ON the emergency feature by going to Settings.
• Countdown sound to give you enough time to cancel the emergency call if you mistakenly press it.
• Option to switch off the emergency feature in case you don’t want to use it.
• Working with the new update of iOS 10.2.
• Works perfectly with Apple watch.
• Possibility to add people as emergency contacts in iOS 10.2 health app. These contacts will be notified of your geographical location and will receive a message informing that you called the emergency services.
How to activate the SOS feature?
To activate the feature, you must be on iOS 10.2. So we suggest you go and download the beta for 10.2 from Apple.
After that, go to Settings>General and then slide on the Sleep/Wake to Auto Call. To use it, you just need to press the power button rapidly five times. It will start a countdown till five before making the call. This gives you the option to turn it off in case you did it by accident. As a final fail-safe, Apple also gives you the option to choose a distinct sound to be played during the countdown.
Apple never fails to surprise its users with new and exciting features. They have tried to ensure that all the loopholes in the emergency SOS feature are tied well. The additional feature of special sound for countdown timer really makes it stand out in the market. We’re yet to see how impactful it will be for the general public, and for that we’ll have to wait for the official launch of the feature.
