I spent last Friday morning turning around in circles atop a hill in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park. I had an iPhone 14 in hand, and I was trying to catch a clear view of the sky so I could connect with a satellite. I wasn’t exactly alone or lost in the wilderness, but I pretended like I was in order to get a feel for Apple’s new Emergency SOS via satellite.
Apple’s Emergency SOS via satellite, put to the test
While this feature was announced back in September, it’ll officially start rolling out later today. The pitch is simple: if you’re in a sticky situation without Wi-Fi or a cellular signal, you can still send for help. However, it’s not exactly like a satellite phone. The main difference is you can’t make a voice call — you can only text.
Full disclosure: I didn’t actually text my local emergency dispatchers when testing out the feature. That would be a dick move and distract from people who need help. Instead, Apple gave me a demo phone, and any texts were sent to its own relay service center. In a real event, your texts are sent to the closest emergency services. If there aren’t any nearby that accept texts, Apple’s relay service will kick in to call them on your behalf. Also, while the service will be free for the first two years, you’ll eventually have to pay for it — though we don’t know pricing just yet.
Getting started
To start an emergency SOS text, you have to try calling 911