While the majority of news regarding the
iPhone tends to be negative and surrounds the methods that
Apple utilize in order to rip off their customers, we finally have some positive news to bring you. Yes, the iPhone is expensive and, on the face of it, it is a rip-off. But, if you are an owner of an iPhone, you might be glad of this one useful feature that it does have.
If you are unfortunate enough to ever find yourself in an emergency situation, you will be glad of this little
iPhone tip which has begun circulating around the internet this week. It turns out that there is now a feature on iOS11 that allows users to quickly call for help and alert their emergency contacts at the push of a button.
For people with an
iPhone 7 or earlier, here's how the "Emergency SOS" feature works:
1. Make sure that your system has been updated to iOS11
2. Press the side button five times in quick succession
3. An 'Emergency SOS' slider will then appear, which you can drag across in order to call the emergency services.
If you have an
iPhone X (lucky you), iPhone 8 or an iPhone 8 Plus, this is how to instigate the "Emergency SOS feature":
1. Press and hold the side button and volume button at the same time until the 'Emergency SOS' slider appears on the screen.
2. Drag the slider across in order to call the emergency services
3. If you continue to hold down the buttons, a countdown will then begin and an alarm will sound.
4. Once the alarm has sounded, the phone will then automatically call the emergency services for you.
If, for example, you were in danger and would rather that the alarm didn't go off before the emergency call, you can toggle off the 'Countdown Sound' by going into 'Settings" then 'Emergency SOS'.
Regardless of which model you have, once the call to the emergency services ends, your iPhone will then send your emergency contacts a text message detailing your current location unless you choose to cancel. If you have your 'Location Services' turned off, the setting will turn back on temporarily.
If your location changes, your phone will update your contacts. You will get a notification 10 minutes after the call and then every four hours for 24 hours after that reminding you that you are currently sharing your location with your contacts. If you want to turn off these updates, you can do so by tapping the status bar and selecting 'Stop Sharing Emergency Location.'
If you haven't done so already, you should really add your emergency contacts to your phone. In order to do this, simply:
1. Open the Health app, then tap 'Medical ID' in the lower right corner.
2. From there, you can manually choose which of your contacts to add.
3. When you're finished, tap 'Done' in the top right corner in order to save your changes.
While iPhones get negative press, and rightly so in most cases, these features could help save a life in an emergency situation. If you haven't updated your emergency contacts or software, make sure that you do, you never know when you might need them.
