Emergency SOS feature availability
iPhone 14’s Emergency SOS feature is now available in France, Germany, Ireland, and the UK. It was previously available for users in the US and Canada. Every model in the iPhone 14 lineup — iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 14 Pro, and iPhone 14 Pro Max — can connect directly to a satellite through a combination of custom-designed components and deeply integrated software.
How Emergency SOS via Satellite works in Europe
iPhone users can already quickly and easily call emergency services if a user is in need of help with a long press on the power and volume buttons, or by rapidly pressing the power button five times.
If iPhone 14 users are unable to dial 112 (common emergency telephone number) they can use Emergency SOS via satellite to reach emergency services. Once the service is activated, a short questionnaire appears to help the user answer vital questions with a few simple taps, which are transmitted to dispatchers in the initial message, to ensure they are able to quickly understand a user’s situation and location.
This initial message includes the user’s questionnaire responses; location, including altitude; iPhone battery level; and Medical ID, if enabled.
Strengthening emergency response
Emergency SOS via satellite builds on existing features that are already available on iPhones. These features include Emergency SOS, Medical ID, emergency contacts, and Find My location sharing.
It is to be noted that since satellites move rapidly, have low bandwidth and are located more than a thousand kilometres away from Earth, it can take a few minutes for even short messages to get through.
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