What is the Satellite Emergency SOS function on iPhone 14 and how it works
When Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone in 2008, it was clear that Apple's core philosophy was to put groundbreaking technology at your fingertips. It's been more than a decade now, and Apple continues to do so every year. For the September 2022 event, Apple added an impressive feature to its new iPhone 14 lineup called emergency distress via satellite connection.
All of us love the adrenaline rush that comes with adventure in the wild or in the ocean. But there is a small part of us that fears situations where we might need help. That's exactly why iPhone 14 introduces emergency SOS via satellite connection. It allows you to connect to emergency services without a cellular connection.
What is the Satellite Emergency SOS feature on the IPHONE 14 series
There are many ambiguous areas where cellular towers cannot be reached. Connectivity in these areas can be achieved by communication satellites located hundreds of miles from the earth. However, the limited bandwidth is a major challenge and it becomes difficult to even send text messages. To overcome this problem, satellite phones used advanced technology that resulted in their large and bulky size.
But Apple being Apple found a solution. They designed custom software for iPhone 14 called Emergency SOS via Satellite. This latest security feature helps you contact emergency services when you have no other means of contact.
If you're out of cellular and Wi-Fi coverage and can't connect to cellular emergency SOS services, your iPhone will try to connect you to the help you need via satellite. It can take anywhere from 15 seconds to a minute to send a message in perfect conditions with a direct view of the sky. Let's learn more about this in the next section.
How the satellite connection works on your IPHONE
With the Emergency SOS via Satellite software, the iPhone 14 antenna can connect to the frequency of a communication satellite when pointed directly at it. Since the satellite is not visible to the human eye, this service will show where to point the phone to establish a connection and stay connected while the satellite is moving.
Once connected, the satellite will receive the message. Relaying it to earth stations and emergency services is a fairly easy task, considering their relatively better connectivity.
More importantly? Because the bandwidth of satellites cannot support standard messaging protocols, Apple created a custom short-text compression algorithm to reduce the size of messages to one-third of their actual size. Thanks to this algorithm, it can take less than 15 seconds to send a message if there are no other obstacles. Let's see how it works.
How to send an emergency distress signal via satellite on the IPHONE 14
Before proceeding, you must know that you can't make calls through the satellite feature; you can only send text messages.
First, you need to point your device at a clear sky and try to connect to the satellite. Once connected, your iPhone will ask questions to assess your situation. Once you're connected, it sends that information to emergency responders.
Apple says they've worked with emergency experts to find out which questions are most likely to be asked by people who need help. This service provides users with the most common responses. This allows people to quickly summarize the entire situation with as little information as possible.
Once the emergency services receive the information, they will reach out to you as soon as possible. In addition, once connected to them, you can have a text conversation with emergency personnel by sharing your medical ID and emergency contact information as well as the answers to the emergency questionnaire.
In addition, your location details and percentage of battery remaining can be shared. Developing a technology that sends so much information via satellite in a device like iPhone 14 is commendable. But there's more.
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