Did an SOS satellite icon just appear on your iPhone? Here's why - ZDNet

Image: Apple

A mates of readers got successful interaction with maine the different time wondering wherefore a outer icon and the words SOS abruptly appeared connected their iPhones, successful the presumption barroom astatine the top. They'd not seen it earlier and were disquieted that their iPhone was making an exigency SOS telephone and they could beryllium billed for it, oregon get into trouble.

Weird!

Apple rolled retired Emergency SOS via satellite to a fig of countries precocious past year to the iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max.

If you person 1 of these handsets and unrecorded successful the US, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, oregon the UK, you tin trial this retired by tapping connected Settings > Emergency SOS, scrolling to the bottommost of the leafage to Emergency SOS via Satellite and tapping connected Try Demo.

Also: How to usage iPhone 14's exigency SOS outer substance feature

But this isn't what was happening here.

Now, I'm a dense iPhone idiosyncratic my iPhone 14 Pro Max hardly leaves my manus -- and I'd not seen this, which got maine wondering if it was immoderate benignant of circumstantial bug.

After a spot of backmost and forth, I came up with a mode that I could replicate this.

• I had to beryllium extracurricular of a cellular and Wi-Fi sum (I had Wi-Fi turned off), either successful the wilds oregon successful a building.
• Have a mapping app specified arsenic Google Maps oregon Waze moving (it mightiness enactment with different apps, but this is what worked for me).
• Wait! It whitethorn oregon whitethorn not popular up.

And determination it is!

Emergency SOS icon appears successful the presumption barroom of my iPhone -- but I'm not making an exigency SOS call

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes/ZDNET

In the Control Center panel, I tin lone spot a satellite.

The outer appears successful the Control Center sheet too

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes/ZDNET

I reached retired to Apple method enactment astir this issue, and aft having immoderate tests carried retired connected my iPhone, I was told its mean behavior, adjacent though nary exigency SOS telephone is being made and nary information tin beryllium sent oregon received implicit the outer web (other than erstwhile making a genuine exigency SOS call).

I asked if determination was a accidental that this would outgo maine wealth oregon get maine into immoderate benignant of occupation due to the fact that my handset was looking similar it was making an SOS outer call, and I was told determination was nary information of that.

Also: Best outer phones

So, if you spot "SOS satellite" appearing connected your iPhone, don't panic. It's apt happening due to the fact that you're retired of awesome coverage, but you're not really making an SOS call, and you won't get billed oregon get into trouble.  

As to whether this is simply a bug oregon a feature, I'm not sure. Maybe Apple is investigating something. Maybe it's thing to bash with Find My. Maybe it's thing unusual happening erstwhile moving mapping apps.