🆘SOS satellite feature on new iPhone 14 🆘

[Patriot]

We recently had to retire our iPhone 7’s as Apple is no longer going to push IOS updates out for our older phones and our phones could not be updated.
Our phones kept getting “No service” icons and Apple could not fix the issue. Planned obsolescence?? (We learned this icon signaled a failure of an iPhone component.) So, the dreaded and costly update to new phones had to happen.

We decided to bite the bullet and purchase outright (2) new iPhone 14’s and continue with our Verizon plan. I attached a tutorial video of the new iPhone 14 SOS feature. There maybe other better tutorials out there, but this pretty much covers the basics. The SOS feature is provided “free of charge” for the first two years and it’s a subscription after that. It will be interesting to see what Apple charges for the subscription service.  Needless to say the SOS feature could really come in handy in an emergency situation where no cell service is available and we need emergency services. 

Just passing this info forward in the event anyone is looking at purchasing a new iPhone. Naturally we hope we never need the SOS feature, however it is a peace of mind to know that we have it available in an emergency. 

Happy and Safe Travels!

Patriot🇺🇸
 

 

[topgun2]

My condolences on the passing of your old phones 😇.

Certainly for the two "free" years this feature could really help in those situations where you might be without any cell service.  It would be interesting to see how strong the connection is to their satellites over time - if it is presently "slow" then what might it be like when more users start taking advantage of the feature?  Satellite locators such as the Garmin InReach are obviously better but they come at a cost and you have to carry another device.

Hopefully you never have to use this, but, it brings at least a bit of ease to the mind knowing the feature is there just in case.

Bill 

[Mike and Carol]

I discovered this last fall when we were somewhere with no cell service.  My phone prompted me through the connection process to the satellite, then I had a little satellite icon where the cell bars were.  Could come in handy, both the 911 feature and the location service.  Mike

[Bill and Nancy]

Thanks for the info I have a new I phone and every-so often I would see the sos feature pop up on the screen. I asked my wife what it was and she had no idea and said that it doesn't do it on her phone.  Thanks for the answer and the video link. Hopefully we will never use it.

Bill and Nancy

[Wolfepack]

Be advised the Crash Detection feature was enabled to the "Call after severe crash" on my phone iPhone 14 when i received it.  How do I know?  I went riding on my dirt bike outside of cell service for several hours while camping with my phone secured in my jacket.  Upon returning to the camper I had multiple calls and texts from both the Florida Highway Patrol and Okaloosa County Sheriff.  They had been notified via 911 that I had crashed and they were looking for me.  The off road riding had triggered the crash detection which automatically, and without my knowledge, had started notifying 911.  I made a couple calls to let the police know I was fine, and told them my phone had done this on its own because iPhone doesn't know how awesome I can ride. 😂

Anyway, I turned off this setting to prevent this in the future, it can be found under "Settings->Emergency SOS->Crash Detection".  It probably makes sense to have this enabled for most folks, just not me.  Just be aware that on my phone this setting was defaulted to the "Call after severe crash" position...my wife's phone was also triggered while she was running and fell.  She was fine and didn't require 911.  Be safe out there.

[Katjo]

Thank you for sharing the video. I have the iPhone 14 pro-max and knew the SOS satellite feature was available but wasn’t sure how it worked. I think it’s a great feature and definitely gives some added piece of mind when going off grid. 

[Patriot]

21 minutes ago, Katjo said:

Thank you for sharing the video. I have the iPhone 14 pro-max and knew the SOS satellite feature was available but wasn’t sure how it worked. I think it’s a great feature and definitely gives some added piece of mind when going off grid. 

You bet and you are welcome! I think it does give a peace of mind should cell service not be available. 👍🏻👍🏻

[Patriot]

@Wolfepack thanks for sharing all those important details. The more we learn and share the better it gets. 👍🏻👍🏻
 

Patriot🇺🇸

[Bill and Nancy]

1 hour ago, Wolfepack said:

  I went riding on my dirt bike outside of cell service for several hours while camping with my phone secured in my jacket.  

 

 

[Bill and Nancy]

Just now, Bill and Nancy said:

Would have been nice if i finished what I wanted to say before hitting send. Just wondering how you cary your bike I have a BMW1200 GS and I have withdrawals leaving here home when we are out with the Oliver.

 

[taylor.coyote]

We spend a good deal of time off the grid and have been investigating various SOS soultions. Please find link to information about  SOS if you are an Android users.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/01/qualcomm-says-it-built-a-better-satellite-messaging-system-than-apple/

 

 

[Zodd]

It will be interesting to see this space (no pun intended) grow. T-Mobile and SpaceX announced plans to get into this space as well. It is still early and it seems 2023 may only bring the ability to send text messages. A start is allowing every mobile phone to have no dead spots. Good and bad IMHO as some times it is really nice to be totally disconnected. Even if speeds are slow the ability to have an SOS connection to get word out is nice. 

Quote

The service will be able to provide voice, messaging, and basic web browsing at theoretical peak speeds of up to either 3.0Mbps or 7.2Mbps peak upload … and up to either 4.4Mbps or 18.3Mbps on the downlink,” SpaceX wrote

 

[Wolfepack]

On 1/14/2023 at 11:36 AM, Bill and Nancy said:

 

Hi Bill and Nancy,

I cross load it into the bed of my truck so I can close the tailgate.  I had to watch the payload weight, but have since purchased a GMC2500 which should resolve those worries.  1200GSA may be a tough load-out, I'm riding a DRZ400 which only weighs 320lbs.  Use to have an Africa Twin Adventure Sports, it was too big and heavy to load single handedly into the bed.  Really love having the smaller bike combo with the Ollie since I no longer need to ride the long distances to the ADV spots.  Very happy with the setup.

[BBL]

On 1/14/2023 at 9:58 AM, Wolfepack said:

because iPhone doesn't know how awesome I can ride. 😂

“2022 LE II Tail #22-1052” Patrick “Wolfpack”, do I detect a former, and fellow, Airman here?  Love the tail number, I may steal the concept - we are waiting on Tail #23-1351 to roll out of the hangar sometime in early March. 

I was aircrew on AWACS and Joint STARS now retired (21 years) and looking forward to some serious down time. Still need to shake these pesky second and third career moves. Looking forward to pulling the plug in May of this year though.

Re the phone…my Apple Watch has tried to “save me” a few times out on the mountain bike trails but, to its credit, I had taken a tumble but needed no assistance. 

Hope to see you guys at the rally in May.

Brian

[bhncb]

33 minutes ago, Brian and Brandelyne said:

Airman

Airmissioner

[BBL]

24 minutes ago, bhncb said:

Airmissioner

I apologize, I am not familiar with that term.  You have very little (no) information on your profile that would give me additional information about your location, rig, TV, etc…. Please elaborate.

 

BL

[Jps190]

36 minutes ago, bhncb said:

Airmissioner

😆 The new woke FAA.

[Jps190]

12 minutes ago, Brian and Brandelyne said:

I apologize, I am not familiar with that term.  You have very little (no) information on your profile that would give me additional information about your location, rig, TV, etc…. Please elaborate.

 

BL

The FAA recently changed the term  for NOTAMS from "Notice to airmen" to "Notice to air missions"

[BBL]

1 minute ago, Jps190 said:

The FAA recently changed the term  for NOTAMS from "Notice to airmen" to "Notice to air missions"

Thank you for that update, I missed that one. Although I must say, I don’t like it, it doesn’t make clear sense. A debate for another thread.

BL

[bugeyedriver]

 

"The FAA recently changed the term  for NOTAMS from "Notice to airmen" to "Notice to air missions""

"Thank you for that update, I missed that one. Although I must say, I don’t like it, it doesn’t make clear sense. A debate for another thread.

Or NOT, since we want to stay away from any sort of political discussion on the forum.

Signed,

Bugeydriver

(who relied on NOTAMS for 34 years when I was a working stiff)