Emergency SOS
Emergency SOS is a feature designed to help you more easily call for help in an emergency. You don’t have to unlock your phone or dial numbers to use SOS. SOS can notify your emergency contacts and send them your location using Maps. Emergency SOS works in many areas, including other countries, where you may not know who or how to call for help. And finally, you can use Emergency SOS without taking your iPhone out of your pocket, a feature that may come in handy if you need to call for help without appearing to.
If you share your medical ID, your iPhone can send that information to emergency services (US only).
Not all features of emergency calls will work in all areas, and cellular service must be available. Not all phones work on all networks. Also, some jurisdictions may not have the supporting technology to track locations from your iPhone.
Using Emergency SOS on the iPhone 7 or earlier
- Rapidly press the Side button five times. If Call with Hold is turned on, a warning sound will play and the 3-second countdown will begin before a call to emergency services is initiated. You can tap Stop Calling to abort the call.
- If you do not have Call with Hold turned on, you’ll need to slide the Emergency SOS button.
Using Emergency SOS on the iPhone 8, iPhone X, or later
- Press and hold the Side button and one of the Volume buttons until Emergency SOS is activated. Continue holding the buttons until the iPhone beeps and begins a countdown (Call with Hold turned on), or slide the Emergency SOS button.
- You can also opt to use the five-click mode of the Side button to activate Emergency SOS (like other iPhone models) in Settings
> Emergency SOS > Call with 5 Presses. Pressing and holding the Side button and one of the Volume buttons will still work with this option turned on. - If you do not have Call with Hold turned on, you’ll need to slide the Emergency SOS button to call emergency services.
Enabling Call with Hold
If you enable Settings > Emergency SOS > Call with Hold and you make an Emergency SOS call, a countdown timer will begin, and a call will be initiated unless you cancel. You’ll hear a loud alarm during the countdown if Countdown Sound is enabled.
Emergency SOS is also available on the Apple Watch!
When you make a call using Emergency SOS without Call with Hold enabled, you must swipe the slider to the right to activate the call.
Remember you can also use Siri to dial 9-1-1 with voice commands.
In some areas, you may need to choose the service you need – police, fire, or ambulance. If you have added emergency contacts, your iPhone will alert your emergency contacts at the end of the emergency call with a text message. However, you can cancel the alert to your emergency contacts if you wish. Your iPhone will send your present location to your emergency contacts and will continue sending updates for a certain period if your location changes.
Add your emergency contacts, allergies, and other important health information to your iPhone in the Health app.