[sbrother]

Be careful with the satellite SOS feature. I accidentally left my 14 pro on the roof of my car when way outside of cell reception in rural Utah; it fell off and triggered the crash-triggered SOS feature. Wasted a bunch of emergency responder's time, which I felt awful about. Manually triggered SOS is great but I think enabling the crash triggered one is irresponsible.

[addaon]

It's a trade-off. I'll probably have the feature on when I'm in the small plane (although the chance of it getting a signal post-incident is nearly zero, I imagine), but yeah, I don't think it's the appropriate trade-off for me on regularly-trafficked roads.

It sounds like the emergency features enable two-way communication, which is great, but I wonder if the procedures around that lead to more false positives. If they get an emergency signal and no further response, I suppose the appropriate assumption is to assume the worst, and send out responders. The PLB is unidirectional, so the procedures involve using the (regularly updated) contact info to see what the heck is likely going on. That'll get them to my cell phone (wouldn't have worked for you) and, failing that, to my emergency contacts -- and my parents (in my case) can reasonably say "try calling so-and-so, he should be with them", etc. Still takes responder time, but at least not a physical response until all other avenues are exhausted.

[ReptileMan]

>although the chance of it getting a signal post-incident is nearly zero, I imagine

Not at all. The phone probably will be mostly intact - it has your soft squishy body to absorb the sudden deceleration.

[bpye]

Surely it’s pretty hard to use satellite SOS by accident since you need to point it at the satellite overhead? Was yours the normal crash or fall detection?

[katbyte]

You are supposed to but there was a story about it working in a canyon after a car crash 400ft down (https://www.macrumors.com/2023/07/24/iphone-14-saves-man-at-...) saved his life and I’ve shared location and just tossed it down on a picnic table in a forest and it eventually sent.

It definitely makes it connect faster (a min or two) vs the 10-20 it can take when you don’t

I’m impressed and it’s nice to have that additional level of safety

[perbu]

If the skies are clear and the phone falls of the car it shouldn't have any problem reaching a satellite.

[kanbara]

people who’ve been saved due to automatic crash detection would beg to differ

[teaearlgraycold]

I sometimes feel like the only person that never drops or misplaces their phone in these ways.

[pvinis]

That doesn't say much. People use their phones in many ways. Some are clumsy, some are more risky.

I've been on a bicycle with a loose pocket or used it to check the map while biking. Great idea? Probably not. Happens to everyone? Absolutely not. Happens? Very much yes.