First Look: Emergency SOS via Satellite on iPhone 14 - PCMag

I'm an avid hiker and bask spending clip exploring the northwest hills of New Jersey not acold from my home. Luckily, successful the galore years I've traversed those rooted and rocky trails, I've ne'er been injured, nor person I encountered anyone who needed assistance on the way. But we each instrumentality risks each clip we locomotion retired the beforehand door, and that includes our excursions into much distant parts of the state wherever modern necessities specified arsenic cellular sum aren't ever available.

If there's 1 happening to cognize astir immoderate emergency, it's that communications are captious for the champion imaginable outcome. This is portion of the thought down Apple's caller Emergency SOS via satellite service, a diagnostic exclusive to its latest iPhone 14 family of smartphones. The basal thought is to marque it imaginable to get assistance erstwhile it's needed the most.

Apple precocious gave PCMag aboriginal entree to the work to behaviour a trial tally successful Brooklyn's Prospect Park up of its motorboat today. This is what we experienced.

SOS 101: How Emergency SOS via Satellite Works

Emergency SOS via outer is meant for existent emergencies, erstwhile beingness and limb are astatine risk. It launches successful the US and Canada contiguous and volition scope France, Germany, Ireland, and the UK adjacent month. It lone works wherever determination is nary different wireless sum disposable to your iPhone 14. That means nary cellular sum and nary Wi-Fi.

(Credit: Apple)

Dialing 911 should ever beryllium the archetypal step, arsenic wireless networks prioritize exigency calls and if there's the faintest sliver of a transportation available—even erstwhile the telephone shows nary coverage—it's imaginable the telephone volition find a mode through. More importantly, the iPhone 14 needs a failed 911 telephone to trigger the Emergency SOS via outer dialog box. Once you person a failed 911 call, you'll spot a caller "emergency substance via satellite" enactment look successful the telephone app. Press that to footwear disconnected your exigency call.

To beryllium clear, you're not really making a telephone call—you don't person sat-phone work with the iPhone 14. The Emergency SOS via outer diagnostic is tally wholly by substance message. The app walks you done a bid of questions specified arsenic whether you are lost, what your wounded is, and what landmarks are adjacent that mightiness assistance responders find you much easily. You tin see details astir your aesculapian conditions, arsenic good arsenic connect your aesculapian ID if you've created 1 connected your iPhone, and adjacent take to notify your exigency contacts truthful they tin travel along. After you've completed this archetypal bid of steps, which are arsenic casual arsenic tapping immoderate options connected the screen, the telephone helps you find a satellite.

(Credit: Eric Zeman)

You request a reasonably unfastened presumption of the sky. That means you request to beryllium distant from trees oregon structures, hills oregon mountains, and different gangly objects that whitethorn basal successful betwixt you and immoderate imaginable satellites. A line-of-sight transportation to the outer is necessary. The iPhone volition usher you, telling you to crook near oregon close to find the satellite. This process is not instantaneous but is reasonably intuitive. Once the iPhone finds and connects to a satellite, it volition automatically nonstop the substance connection you've created.

(Credit: Eric Zeman)

Where does that connection go? One of 2 places. The exigency substance volition spell to the nearest (or astir appropriate) exigency services section that accepts 911 calls via text. Not each 911 telephone centers judge exigency substance messages yet.

If the substance does not spell done directly, it is routed to a Relay Center. Such centers are staffed by trained specialists composed of Apple employees and 3rd parties who guarantee that 911 substance messages are connected to the due authorities. Your full acquisition with the work connected the iPhone 14 volition beryllium via substance message.

(Credit: Eric Zeman)

The messages bash instrumentality immoderate clip to send, truthful don't expect instantaneous communications. Outgoing messages tin instrumentality 15 seconds oregon much to propulsion done erstwhile connected to a satellite.

You volition person a effect erstwhile the connection has been accepted and routed to an exigency responder. That effect whitethorn see follow-up questions pertaining to your injury, location, landmarks, telephone artillery life, and more. This connection dialog container remains progressive passim the duration of your exigency and you tin proceed to supply updates arsenic needed to facilitate a rescue.

(Credit: Eric Zeman)

One happening to support successful mind: Satellites determination truly fast. The satellites being utilized for this work tin tally from skyline to skyline successful arsenic small arsenic 15 minutes. This means you whitethorn suffer your transportation and beryllium forced to hunt retired a caller outer erstwhile 1 comes into view. In fact, portion investigating the work 1 outer passed retired of presumption and we were guided to link to a caller one. The process isn't immoderate much hard than rotating yourself astir 180 degrees. Don't interest astir losing the transportation for a moment, arsenic it won't interrupt your communications with exigency services.

Apple is making a mates of different tools disposable on with the motorboat of Emergency SOS via satellite. The archetypal allows to you marque a trial tally of the service. Tapping the Emergency SOS enactment successful the iPhone Settings paper calls up the test, which walks you done the process of making an exigency call/text—without really placing the call. The basal thought present is to fto iPhone 14 owners familiarize themselves with the work up of immoderate imaginable emergencies, which mightiness assistance velocity up the process erstwhile needed.

(Credit: Eric Zeman)

The 3rd instrumentality allows you to nonstop your determination to your exigency contacts utilizing the Find My app. You tin instrumentality vantage of the "send determination via satellite" feature, which volition propulsion your determination successful longitude and latitude to whichever contacts you choose. This tin beryllium utilized erstwhile you are mislaid to assistance searchers pinpoint you, oregon to service arsenic a elemental "here I am" benignant instrumentality erstwhile you cognize you'll beryllium disconnected the grid for a while.

(Credit: Eric Zeman)

Putting Emergency SOS to the Test

In our speedy hands-on with these exigency tools, we recovered that they bash work. They are nonstop and elemental to use, though the dilatory quality of the outer effect times tin beryllium a situation erstwhile you're nether the duress of an emergency.

Of course, each exigency is unique. Some injuries whitethorn not let you to determination to find a bully signal. The cardinal present is to support trying. Even if you can't link to a fixed outer erstwhile it is debased successful the sky, it whitethorn lone beryllium a substance of waiting for it to walk straight overhead to connect. Other emergencies mightiness forestall you from typing. In those instances, specified arsenic if your manus is injured, utilizing voice-assisted typing whitethorn beryllium necessary.

Surely these caller features volition interaction the lives of outdoor adventurers sooner alternatively than later. They aren't a cleanable solution, but successful matters of beingness and death, adjacent a fewer substance messages whitethorn beryllium each that's needed.

Apple volition alteration Emergency SOS via outer for the iPhone 14 household automatically aboriginal today. No bundle update is required.

For more, spot our reviews of the iPhone 14 family, including the iPhone 14, the iPhone 14 Plus, the iPhone 14 Pro, and the iPhone 14 Pro Max.