What Does SOS in the iPhone Status Bar Mean? - TidBITS

After I acceptable up my caller iPhone 14 Pro, it took implicit my T-Mobile cellular program from my iPhone 13 Pro, arsenic expected. What I didn’t expect was the SOS indicator that appeared successful the iPhone 13 Pro’s presumption bar. I experienced a momentary pang, reasoning it was my soon-to-be-returned iPhone crying retired for help, but past I convinced myself that the Apple trade-in radical would find it a bully home.

It turns retired that SOS successful the presumption bar is however Apple present indicates that the telephone isn’t connected to a cellular web but tin inactive marque exigency calls. You whitethorn besides spot “SOS Only” wherever the bearer sanction usually goes. This diagnostic works successful Australia, Canada, and the United States.

Here successful the US, exigency calls enactment adjacent erstwhile a telephone has nary program associated with it, acknowledgment to regulations from the Federal Communications Commission. The FCC’s basal 911 rules necessitate cellular carriers to transmit each 911 calls to a 911 telephone center, careless of whether the telephone has immoderate program oregon subscribes to different carrier’s service. So a telephone without a plan, similar my migrated iPhone 13 Pro, could inactive marque a 911 call. Plus, adjacent if a telephone shows “No Service” but tin entree compartment towers from different carriers, it tin inactive implicit an exigency call. I presume Australia and Canada person akin regulations.

Anyway, if you spot SOS oregon SOS Only successful your iPhone’s presumption barroom erstwhile it should beryllium moving normally, determination are 2 apt possibilities:

• Your bearer has nary accessible service, but different carrier’s compartment towers would inactive alteration you to spot an exigency call.
• There could beryllium thing amiss with your iPhone oregon relationship specified that the bearer doesn’t admit your iPhone arsenic having service.

In the archetypal situation, there’s thing to beryllium done, but if you fishy the second, Apple suggests possible fixes. They see toggling cellular information disconnected and on, restarting the iPhone, checking for a bearer settings update, toggling cellular work disconnected and connected (Settings > Cellular > Turn On This Line), resetting Network Settings, updating iOS, and contacting your carrier.