Does Emergency SOS on Android/iOS work in practice?
January 9, 2025 2:27 PM Subscribe
Android and iOS have seemingly near-identical "Emergency SOS" features that call emergency services, record a video, and/or share your current location with emergency contacts you've set up. I don't trust that these features are effective and safe. Should I trust the Android version? The iOS version? Both? Neither? Which configuration options should I use/avoid and why?
Here are my concerns:
- Accidental activations (online searches indicate this is definitely a common problem).
- Take too long to activate because other processes are consuming system resources.
- Not able to activate without looking at the phone. (This seems essential when a potential assailant demands to know what you're doing with your phone.)
- Obviously signaling (through sound, finger motion, or screen content) to a potential assailant that you're activating Emergency SOS.
I am especially interested in hearing from anyone who has actually tried to use these features in an emergency situation, and whether they succeeded or failed.
Because of the accidental activations problem, I am planning to set my Google Pixel up to message my emergency contact(s) only, not call 911. I figure my contact(s) can then make the decision to call 911 (or not).
Here are my concerns:
- Accidental activations (online searches indicate this is definitely a common problem).
- Take too long to activate because other processes are consuming system resources.
- Not able to activate without looking at the phone. (This seems essential when a potential assailant demands to know what you're doing with your phone.)
- Obviously signaling (through sound, finger motion, or screen content) to a potential assailant that you're activating Emergency SOS.
I am especially interested in hearing from anyone who has actually tried to use these features in an emergency situation, and whether they succeeded or failed.
Because of the accidental activations problem, I am planning to set my Google Pixel up to message my emergency contact(s) only, not call 911. I figure my contact(s) can then make the decision to call 911 (or not).
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posted by knapah at 4:29 PM on January 9 [1 favorite]