Can I turn off amber alerts on iPhone?
July 19, 2023 11:36 PM Subscribe
I'm visiting Canada, and I've just been jolted awake by a horrible alert siren from my iPhone, which was on silent mode. It's an amber alert about a missing child, the third one today. I'm trying to find a way to turn it off but can't find one.
The internet is full of pages telling me to open the settings app, go no notifications, scroll down all the way and turn off alerts, but when I do, I find no such option. My iPhone is running iOS 16.6. Any help would be appreciated.
The internet is full of pages telling me to open the settings app, go no notifications, scroll down all the way and turn off alerts, but when I do, I find no such option. My iPhone is running iOS 16.6. Any help would be appreciated.
According to this Roberts forum post, you cannot disable government alerts in Canada.
posted by meowzilla at 11:54 PM on July 19, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by meowzilla at 11:54 PM on July 19, 2023 [4 favorites]
Response by poster: I also found webpages claiming that it’s impossible to turn off, i just found it so hard to believe. Could that possibly be true? While composing my message and this reply, TWO MORE amber alerts popped up. They were all identical and contained no new information about the missing children (but at least they were silent).
Yes, I’m using an eSim in addition to my existing (Israeli) SIM card. So I guess my only recourse is to turn off my phone? Do people just accept this? I’m at a loss for words.
posted by Silky Slim at 12:10 AM on July 20, 2023
Yes, I’m using an eSim in addition to my existing (Israeli) SIM card. So I guess my only recourse is to turn off my phone? Do people just accept this? I’m at a loss for words.
posted by Silky Slim at 12:10 AM on July 20, 2023
On my android the emergency broadcast messages respect the do not distrub function. No sound or vibe, but if I look at the phone it is there.*
That said, these don't happen often. You can opt into text/email ones sent at the city level, but these provincial level ones using the EMS we see only a handful of times a year and usually just tests of the system.
There is some controversy about using this system for amber alerts. Some think child endangerment should qualify and others think the system should only be used for natural disaster/state of emergency type things. You can probably expect to see some opinion pieces in the news media within a few days.
*I was awoken by the most recent one, but it wasn't from me. Irritatingly it was my neighbour's phone blasting the message.
posted by forbiddencabinet at 12:40 AM on July 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
That said, these don't happen often. You can opt into text/email ones sent at the city level, but these provincial level ones using the EMS we see only a handful of times a year and usually just tests of the system.
There is some controversy about using this system for amber alerts. Some think child endangerment should qualify and others think the system should only be used for natural disaster/state of emergency type things. You can probably expect to see some opinion pieces in the news media within a few days.
*I was awoken by the most recent one, but it wasn't from me. Irritatingly it was my neighbour's phone blasting the message.
posted by forbiddencabinet at 12:40 AM on July 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
Do people just accept this?
Mostly, yes. I mean we all complain about them especially if they go off in the night. A few idiots call 911 every time.
Canada is basically a collection of small towns, some of them mushed together like here in Toronto, the 4th largest city in North America where somehow I can’t go to certain areas without running into people I’ve known since 1979. As such, lots of us kind of want to go help rescue the kid in the well. So we both put up with them and go look at the pictures and see if they are found safe.
There will be another few news stories about whether Amber alerts work, and the police will assure us that they do because they find most of the kids, and the academics will point out that doesn’t mean the kids were being abused/murdered (most are family abductions) and everyone will point to that one time in 2019 and then we move on, slightly sleep deprived. Call it quaint village life.
In Ontario they are relatively rare. I looked it up and it looks like you’re in BC and they were updating some of the critical information like the vehicle description. I get how that’s annoying but just want to assure you it’s uncommon.
With climate change we are seeing more frequent alerts on the weather end; not sure if you’re getting the wildfire alerts as well.
Just to amuse you further as you visit, just before the pandemic really hit we got an alert that our nuclear power station had an incident with no release of radiation. Most of Toronto doesn’t remember the Pickering plant, but my family lives at the edge of the radius where we get iodine pills delivered automatically. My husband and I laid in bed debating whether to put anyone in the car long enough that they rescinded the alert - it was a mistake during a test of the system. That how we learned we’re slow and stupid if it’s before 8 am on a weekend.
posted by warriorqueen at 3:36 AM on July 20, 2023 [12 favorites]
Mostly, yes. I mean we all complain about them especially if they go off in the night. A few idiots call 911 every time.
Canada is basically a collection of small towns, some of them mushed together like here in Toronto, the 4th largest city in North America where somehow I can’t go to certain areas without running into people I’ve known since 1979. As such, lots of us kind of want to go help rescue the kid in the well. So we both put up with them and go look at the pictures and see if they are found safe.
There will be another few news stories about whether Amber alerts work, and the police will assure us that they do because they find most of the kids, and the academics will point out that doesn’t mean the kids were being abused/murdered (most are family abductions) and everyone will point to that one time in 2019 and then we move on, slightly sleep deprived. Call it quaint village life.
In Ontario they are relatively rare. I looked it up and it looks like you’re in BC and they were updating some of the critical information like the vehicle description. I get how that’s annoying but just want to assure you it’s uncommon.
With climate change we are seeing more frequent alerts on the weather end; not sure if you’re getting the wildfire alerts as well.
Just to amuse you further as you visit, just before the pandemic really hit we got an alert that our nuclear power station had an incident with no release of radiation. Most of Toronto doesn’t remember the Pickering plant, but my family lives at the edge of the radius where we get iodine pills delivered automatically. My husband and I laid in bed debating whether to put anyone in the car long enough that they rescinded the alert - it was a mistake during a test of the system. That how we learned we’re slow and stupid if it’s before 8 am on a weekend.
posted by warriorqueen at 3:36 AM on July 20, 2023 [12 favorites]
It's early and I'll freely admit that I don't have much of a sense of humour about this, but my best solution is to a) change your mind and b) stick it under a pillow across the room if it bothers you that much.
I used to think of those alerts as annoyances, but since 2020 in my area there has been an instance where an alert wasn't issued when a mass murderer was on the loose and many, many people tragically lost their lives, and another instance where the alert helped tens of thousands of people evacuate their homes at very short notice due to an out-of-control wildfire – but the alert helped ensure there was no loss of life.
So yes, we live with it, because the alternatives are not great. Sure, it sucks waking up to a siren blaring on the bedside table...but it's better than not waking up at all.
posted by notquitejane at 5:53 AM on July 20, 2023 [7 favorites]
I used to think of those alerts as annoyances, but since 2020 in my area there has been an instance where an alert wasn't issued when a mass murderer was on the loose and many, many people tragically lost their lives, and another instance where the alert helped tens of thousands of people evacuate their homes at very short notice due to an out-of-control wildfire – but the alert helped ensure there was no loss of life.
So yes, we live with it, because the alternatives are not great. Sure, it sucks waking up to a siren blaring on the bedside table...but it's better than not waking up at all.
posted by notquitejane at 5:53 AM on July 20, 2023 [7 favorites]
Sure, it sucks waking up to a siren blaring on the bedside table...but it's better than not waking up at all.
The thing is, though, other governments provide ways for you to turn off Amber Alerts (or the local equivalent) *without* turning off other emergency warnings. I imagine I'm like most people in that if I receive an Amber Alert in the middle of the night, all it does is wake me up and frighten me - I don't immediately go out and start canvassing the neighborhood for missing children.
posted by mskyle at 6:25 AM on July 20, 2023 [11 favorites]
The thing is, though, other governments provide ways for you to turn off Amber Alerts (or the local equivalent) *without* turning off other emergency warnings. I imagine I'm like most people in that if I receive an Amber Alert in the middle of the night, all it does is wake me up and frighten me - I don't immediately go out and start canvassing the neighborhood for missing children.
posted by mskyle at 6:25 AM on July 20, 2023 [11 favorites]
Amber alerts are very rare where I am (Toronto.) They tend to be effective in that soon after the alerts go out the situation is resolved. The situation you are experiencing is unusual I'd say, with so many alerts in a row like that. I'm sure you are not the only complaining about it. People complain and other people shout them down and then another big bunch of months go by without an amber alert. It will pass.
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 6:43 AM on July 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 6:43 AM on July 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
Yes, it IS surprising when you encounter things like this in a completely different country, isn't it?
They are annoying, no we can't turn them off, but I'm in the camp of it's a minor inconvenience so deal with it. If it helps a kid get found and helped, I can deal with an annoying alert on my phone at random times. (As posters upthread have said, we don't get them all the time. I think it's happened twice this year for me in my part of Ontario.)
posted by Kitteh at 6:46 AM on July 20, 2023 [2 favorites]
They are annoying, no we can't turn them off, but I'm in the camp of it's a minor inconvenience so deal with it. If it helps a kid get found and helped, I can deal with an annoying alert on my phone at random times. (As posters upthread have said, we don't get them all the time. I think it's happened twice this year for me in my part of Ontario.)
posted by Kitteh at 6:46 AM on July 20, 2023 [2 favorites]
If you set your phone to silent, the shrill alarm won’t go off, at least. No one I know even looks at these things anymore, so if there’s ever a real emergency we’re fucked I guess, since they’ve trained us so effectively to ignore them.
posted by rodlymight at 6:59 AM on July 20, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by rodlymight at 6:59 AM on July 20, 2023 [5 favorites]
I remember that Pickering nuclear incident alert. Got me checking wind direction lol.
One that pissed me off was an Amber alert around 4AM for Thunder Bay , a 15 hour drive away.
That one caused some changes to the system due to the number of complaints.
Here's a link showing the number of alerts for 2023 by province.
Alberta leads the way with 246, mainly wildfires.
Ontario has 112, mainly all tornado warnings.
posted by yyz at 7:11 AM on July 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
One that pissed me off was an Amber alert around 4AM for Thunder Bay , a 15 hour drive away.
That one caused some changes to the system due to the number of complaints.
Here's a link showing the number of alerts for 2023 by province.
Alberta leads the way with 246, mainly wildfires.
Ontario has 112, mainly all tornado warnings.
posted by yyz at 7:11 AM on July 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
Mod note: Comment removed. Please stay focused on answering the question and not whether Amber Alerts are necessary, thank you.
posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) at 7:39 AM on July 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) at 7:39 AM on July 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
I would urge the posters to distinguish between amber alerts, which concern only missing or abducted children, and other government emergency alerts, which warn the general public about dangerous situations.
posted by JimN2TAW at 8:06 AM on July 20, 2023 [6 favorites]
posted by JimN2TAW at 8:06 AM on July 20, 2023 [6 favorites]
Looking at the timestamp of this ask, I know exactly why you're asking; my iPhone went off too and woke me up. There's a lot of BC that is feeling your pain, we're not super excited about it either. At least this was an actual emergency this time, as opposed to just another test of the system. Now those will make you contemplate throwing your phone in the river. But we get maybe 1 or 2 actual Amber alerts a year, so I'm ok with the idea. They generally give us descriptions and license plates to be aware of and it's really one of the most effective ways to get that info out to the public, even if it makes some of them angry.
However, I didn't get the beeping this time, just the vibrations for each of them that went off. So it is possible to change something in the settings, but I don't recall offhand how I did it - sorry thats not more useful.
posted by cgg at 9:02 AM on July 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
However, I didn't get the beeping this time, just the vibrations for each of them that went off. So it is possible to change something in the settings, but I don't recall offhand how I did it - sorry thats not more useful.
posted by cgg at 9:02 AM on July 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
I would urge the posters to distinguish between amber alerts, which concern only missing or abducted children, and other government emergency alerts, which warn the general public about dangerous situations.
In Ontario, it’s a moot point from a user perspective because it’s the same behaviour and system. You can’t as far as I know opt out of one or create different behaviours (happy to be wrong.)
posted by warriorqueen at 9:30 AM on July 20, 2023 [3 favorites]
In Ontario, it’s a moot point from a user perspective because it’s the same behaviour and system. You can’t as far as I know opt out of one or create different behaviours (happy to be wrong.)
posted by warriorqueen at 9:30 AM on July 20, 2023 [3 favorites]
My iPhone is running iOS 16.6
I thought 16.6 is still in Beta, so if you're really running 16.6 you've probably found a bug and should report it. Mainstream users (with auto-update) are mostly still running 16.5.1(c).
posted by aramaic at 10:20 AM on July 20, 2023
I thought 16.6 is still in Beta, so if you're really running 16.6 you've probably found a bug and should report it. Mainstream users (with auto-update) are mostly still running 16.5.1(c).
posted by aramaic at 10:20 AM on July 20, 2023
Do people just accept this? I’m at a loss for words.
No, it's horrible. Especially when you're on the streetcar and everyone's goes off at once. Framing it as a blaring, high pitched alert vs not noticing at all is false - it's possible to have a gentler alert that'll wake you up but not be terrifying.
People who consider these "a minor inconvenience" seem to refuse to understand that not everyone experiences them that way. They go straight to the fight or flight system. I've heard of one case where they went off in the cardiology ward at a hospital and caused health problems for people.
posted by wheatlets at 10:54 AM on July 20, 2023 [4 favorites]
No, it's horrible. Especially when you're on the streetcar and everyone's goes off at once. Framing it as a blaring, high pitched alert vs not noticing at all is false - it's possible to have a gentler alert that'll wake you up but not be terrifying.
People who consider these "a minor inconvenience" seem to refuse to understand that not everyone experiences them that way. They go straight to the fight or flight system. I've heard of one case where they went off in the cardiology ward at a hospital and caused health problems for people.
posted by wheatlets at 10:54 AM on July 20, 2023 [4 favorites]
Amber alerts can be issued at three different levels/tiers. On Android at least only the lower two tiers observe DND settings. BC appears to only go to the highest tier for Amber and Silver alerts. The highest tier is not blockable - I expended considerable time trying a couple years ago when two alerts on consecutive nights caused me to miss a day of work.
I'm of the belief that the accidents caused by lack of sleep, people being startled while performing dangerous tasks including driving and the outing of "secret" phones like say those hidden by domestic violence victims out weigh the benefits of unblocable Amber alerts so commiserate with you. However those risks are distributed and are tough to quantify where the occasional amber alert success is high profile and here we are.
posted by Mitheral at 1:27 PM on July 20, 2023 [3 favorites]
I'm of the belief that the accidents caused by lack of sleep, people being startled while performing dangerous tasks including driving and the outing of "secret" phones like say those hidden by domestic violence victims out weigh the benefits of unblocable Amber alerts so commiserate with you. However those risks are distributed and are tough to quantify where the occasional amber alert success is high profile and here we are.
posted by Mitheral at 1:27 PM on July 20, 2023 [3 favorites]
→
Nope they all come through as worst. alert. evar. in Ontario, at least.
posted by scruss at 3:52 PM on July 20, 2023
You can’t as far as I know opt out of one or create different behaviours
Nope they all come through as worst. alert. evar. in Ontario, at least.
posted by scruss at 3:52 PM on July 20, 2023
Canadian wireless carriers are required by law to push through all Ready Alert alerts, which includes Amber Alerts. And they will BYPASS "do not disturb" modes.
So far, research turned up a couple possibilities, but they are NOT recommended
* Turn on airplane mode (then you won't get calls, PERIOD)
* Turn on silent mode (cannot turn off the vibrations) -- NOT TESTED
* Force your device into 3G mode (if you possible) and lose high-speed data like 5G or LTE.
posted by kschang at 5:06 PM on July 20, 2023 [2 favorites]
So far, research turned up a couple possibilities, but they are NOT recommended
* Turn on airplane mode (then you won't get calls, PERIOD)
* Turn on silent mode (cannot turn off the vibrations) -- NOT TESTED
* Force your device into 3G mode (if you possible) and lose high-speed data like 5G or LTE.
posted by kschang at 5:06 PM on July 20, 2023 [2 favorites]
A mild tangent, but you may wish to complain to the CRTC. They will almost certainly try to fob you off on someone else, but this is ultimately their responsibility and they are supposed to respond to your complaint. Plenty of people online have been filing their objections, which of course hasn't changed anything yet, but it's probably still worth pursuing just for the principle of the thing.
posted by aramaic at 6:01 PM on July 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by aramaic at 6:01 PM on July 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
No way around it.
posted by cotton dress sock at 6:04 PM on July 20, 2023
posted by cotton dress sock at 6:04 PM on July 20, 2023
You can't turn them off. I'm in Toronto and if you told me that we've had even one per month in the past year I'd call you a liar. So frequency depends on where you are.
And to that note: I lived in Culver City, California, in 2018, for 2 weeks. To this day I still get 4th of July texts from the government reminding me fireworks aren't legal in the city. I have no idea how to turn it off. The number is 415 (San Francisco) and I've had it for decades. No idea how Culver City highjacked it. Admittedly, they're just texts so I could block them, but my point is every government will use the tech at their disposal if they can.
posted by dobbs at 8:44 AM on July 27, 2023
And to that note: I lived in Culver City, California, in 2018, for 2 weeks. To this day I still get 4th of July texts from the government reminding me fireworks aren't legal in the city. I have no idea how to turn it off. The number is 415 (San Francisco) and I've had it for decades. No idea how Culver City highjacked it. Admittedly, they're just texts so I could block them, but my point is every government will use the tech at their disposal if they can.
posted by dobbs at 8:44 AM on July 27, 2023
@dobbs > You probably subscribed to a phone alert. Did you try sending to that text number that sent you the alert commands like STOP?
posted by kschang at 5:16 PM on July 27, 2023
posted by kschang at 5:16 PM on July 27, 2023
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(Sorry, no actual solution on offer.)
posted by mskyle at 11:48 PM on July 19, 2023