Although Apple’s iPhone 14 has many improvements over the previous model, it has a unique feature. With the latest iPhone 14 series, you can use Emergency SOS via satellite to text emergency services when you’re out of cellular and Wi-Fi coverage. Just a couple of weeks after Apple’s new Emergency SOS service went live in the US and Canada, the first success story is here. A man used his phone to signal a rescue team via satellite after becoming stranded in Alaska.
iPhone 14 saved a man from freezing to death thanks to SOS satellite feature
“On December 1, 2022, at around 2:00 am, the Alaska State Troopers were notified that an adult male traveling via snowmachine from Noorvik to Kotzebue had activated an Apple iPhone Emergency SOS via satellite on his iPhone after becoming stranded. Working with local search and rescue teams, the Apple Emergency Response Center, and the Northwest Arctic Borough Search and Rescue Coordinator, the NWAB SAR deployed four volunteer searchers to the Nimiuk Point area directly to the GPS coordinates provided by the Apple Emergency Response Center. The adult male was located and transported to Kotzebue by the volunteer search team. “There were no injuries reported to troopers,” reads a post by the Alaska Department of Public Safety.
How to use emergency SOS satellite
According to Apple emergency SOS via satellite can help you connect with emergency services under exceptional circumstances when no other means of reaching emergency services are available. If you call or text emergency services and can’t connect because you’re outside the range of cellular and Wi-Fi coverage, your iPhone tries to connect you via satellite to the help that you need. Samsung has recently announced that a similar feature will appear in the new Galaxy S series.
- You need iPhone 14 or iPhone 14 Pro with iOS 16.1 or later.
- To use iPhone 14 SOS satellite feature, open the Settings app.
- Tap Emergency SOS.
- Under Emergency SOS via satellite, tap Try Demo, then follow the onscreen instructions.
The service is free for the first two years with every iPhone 14 activation. Unfortunately, it is currently unclear how much the price will be after and is also expected to make its way outside North America, to France, Germany, Ireland, and the UK later this month.
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(via)
