Apple has unveiled a brand-new safety feature that is available for iPhone users in Australia and New Zealand.
The technology will enable anyone who has the iPhone 14 model to send an alert to emergency services even if they are outside mobile and Wi-Fi coverage areas.
Sorry if you’re still on a trusty old iPhone 11, guess you will just have to remain unsafe for now.
It comes as a particularly handy update considering reception black spots are commonplace among regional and remote areas in Australia.
The ground-breaking new feature also proves useful in emergencies by enabling users to activate the “Find My” app to share their location with contacts via satellite – to share their location with loved ones if they were travelling through a remote or off-grid area.
So how does the iPhone Emergency SOS via satellite work?
When set up and activated, Emergency SOS via satellite works by connecting you to emergency services via text to a relay centre with Apple-trained emergency specialists who can then connect to emergency call centres and give them all your info.
The caller must first attempt to call emergency services AKA 000, and when the call fails a user can tap to “text via satellite”.
A short, super simple questionnaire will appear for you to answer vital questions about the kind of emergency you’re in, your location, and if there are any or multiple casualties to treat.
Better hope your arm isn’t stuck between a rock and a hard place because this step requires some dexterity.
After the questionnaire is completed, you will be guided to point your phone in the direction of the nearest satellite to send the initial message to dispatchers.
The message contains all the info emergency services will need to locate you, including the answers to the questionnaire, your location (including altitude), your medical ID if it’s set up, and even your iPhone battery level.
This message can take as little as 15-seconds to send to emergency services if you are in clear conditions.
It will also automatically alert all your emergency contacts to your location, and you can choose to send a live transcript of the text messages with the relay centre to your emergency contacts too.
In a nutshell, Emergency SOS via satellites is like triage for off-the-grid emergencies, ensuring everyone has the best chance at an ideal outcome in any emergency situation.
The technology also works for non-emergencies, enabling you to share your location with your mates via satellite in the Find My app even if you don’t have service.
Just head to the “Me” tab in the Find My app on your iPhone 14, scroll down to “My Location via Satellite” and tap “Send My Location”.
You can test your phone’s satellite connectivity and test-run the new Emergency SOS safety feature by connecting to a real satellite but without contacting any actual emergency services.
Australia and New Zealand are the 13th and 14th countries to cop the brand spanking new technology, which was launched initially in the US and Canada on November 15, 2022 before moving to countries in Europe and the UK in December last year.
The safety feature has also already saved multiple lives, including two people trapped in a canyon after their car veered off the road in California, and another man who was rescued after getting stranded in the snow in Alaska.
Emergency SOS via satellite is available in Australia and New Zealand today (!!!) on every iPhone 14.
It will be also free for two years at the time of activating a new iPhone 14 model, and as an anxious girlie this new safety feature sure is music to my ears.
