Apple Is Adding Emergency Satellite Capabilities To iPhones Soon. Here’s What We Know.
Apple is pushing its way into the future once again.
Future iPhones may have emergency satellite capabilities, which means users will be able to communicate with other people, even if the user is not in a “service area.”
Right now, the focus is going to be on satellite capabilities for emergency situations only.
If there is a crisis, Apple wants you to be able to notify someone who can help with the situation.
If the iPhone user comes upon an emergency situation, and they are not in an area with cell service, they will be allowed to send texts to first responders or emergency contacts.
How cool is that?!? The phone will use satellites to get messages through in emergency situations.
This emergency text feature is something that will be built into the Messages app.
You know when you normally text, and the text bubbles are green and blue? In emergency situations, the text bubbles will appear grey.
These emergency texts will be limited to a smaller smaller size (less characters) — just enough to get the emergency message through to an emergency contact or someone who can help.
The texts will automatically push through to an emergency contact’s phone, even if the do-not-disturb setting is on. One planned design will let a user send the message by typing “Emergency SOS” where they would usually input a contact name. In addition to delivering texts, the service may eventually be able to handle some phone calls too.
Bloomberg
Apple is talking about a second feature that will let a user report a crisis situation to the correct authorities.
This is not a text feature, but a feature that will be pre-built into the phone.
The phone will ask what kind of emergency is happening, such as whether it involves a car, boat, plane or fire.
Bloomberg
Then, the phone will ask for further information based on what kind of crisis you are witnessing. It will ask things like, “Is search and rescue needed?” or “Are weapons involved?”
Another cool feature that they are talking about, the phone can collect information you have stored in your Health app — height, weight, medical history, what medications you are on, etc — and send a copy to emergency services.
None of these features are a done deal yet. Apple is still working on them.
To make these features successful, Apple phones will have to rely on having satellites available. The phones will also need a special chip that will communicate with these satellites.
They’re not designed to work in every country, and Apple has created a mechanism that will ask users to be outdoors and walk in a certain direction to help the iPhone connect to a satellite. Linking to a network also won’t always be instantaneous, with testing of the feature indicating that it could sometimes take up to one minute to work.
Bloomberg
Now, it’s important to note that these really awesome additions to the iPhone are complete conjecture — simple speculation on the part of “a person with knowledge of the situation.”
But, wouldn’t it be a cool thing if these features became a part of the iPhone system in the near future? It’s just one more reason that I love my iPhone, and I’ll never switch!!
