iPhones have a lot of settings that make users’ lives easier, including 4 hidden features designed by Apple in disaster situations. We will show you these features that could make a real difference between life and death.
Medical ID
Medical ID is not new to iPhone users, but most people ignore it. Medical ID contains information that may be useful in situations such as allergies, medical conditions, and emergency contacts. This information can be displayed on the iPhone so that it is available to paramedics in the event of an accident.
To activate this feature, go to the Health app, click on your profile picture, then click on Medical ID. All you have to do is fill in the information and you are ready to go. Medical ID must be updated regularly, including emergency contacts.
Satellite Emergency Service
This feature was introduced on the iPhone 14 and later, which allows you to contact emergency services “SOS” via satellite when you are out of the network, as this feature does not require a cellular signal or Wi-Fi network to work.
For this feature to work, all you need is to stand in a wide area where the sky is visible without obstacles or walls, and establishing the connection may take a few seconds to a minute.
To activate the feature, go to Settings, then SOS Emergency. Here you can try the trial version of the feature, which teaches you to establish a satellite connection so that you are ready if you need it one day.
Reassurance
Check In was added to iPhones in the iOS 17 update in 2023, and is designed to automatically notify a friend or family member when you arrive at a location.
You can also choose which details you want to share with this feature, for example, a contact can view your location, battery percentage, and phone signal.
According to Apple’s website, you and your friend will need to enable Check In by activating iMessage, signing in with your Apple accounts, and enabling two-factor authentication. Your destination and estimated arrival time will be shared with your friend when you start a destination session.
This feature will monitor your journey and alert your contact if your iPhone stops moving or doesn’t reach your destination. If you do reach your destination, your friend will receive an alert telling them that you’ve arrived safely.
Collision Detection Management
Apple has added a crash detection feature to iPhone 14 and later, as well as newer Apple Watches, designed to detect severe car crashes, such as frontal collisions, side collisions, rear collisions, and rollovers.
This feature is on by default, so you don’t need to go into settings and activate the feature, but it’s worth checking that you’ve never turned it off.
When a serious car crash is detected, the iPhone will sound an alarm and display an alert, and it will read the alert out loud if you can’t see the screen.
Here, you can choose whether to call emergency services or decline it, and if you don’t respond for some reason, the iPhone will automatically call emergency services after 20 seconds.
If you set up emergency contacts using your Medical ID, your iPhone will send a text message to your friends or family with your location and tell them what happened.
If you want to check that everything is set up correctly, go to Settings, then Emergency SOS, and make sure that the calling feature after a serious incident is turned on.