Built-in Cell Phone Safety
iPhone X, iPhone 8, or iPhone 8 Plus:
- Press and hold the side button and one of the Volume buttons until the Emergency SOS slider appears.
- Drag the Emergency SOS slider to call emergency services. If you continue to hold down the side button and Volume button, instead of dragging the slider, a countdown begins and an alert sounds. If you hold down the buttons until the countdown ends, your iPhone automatically calls emergency services.
iPhone 7 or earlier:
- Rapidly press the side button five times. The Emergency SOS slider will appear.
- Drag the Emergency SOS slider to call emergency services.
- After the call ends, your iPhone sends your Emergency contacts a text message with your current location, unless you choose to cancel. If Location Services is off, it will temporarily turn on.
For Androids, SOS Messages:
- Open your phone’s settings, go to “Personal,” select “Privacy and Emergency,” and click “Send SOS Messages.”
- First, enable the feature by clicking the toggle at the top right. It will prompt you to agree to a disclaimer. Once you accept the terms, you will be able to set up SOS Messages.
- Next, click “Send messages to” to select up to four emergency contacts to receive your emergency alerts. You can add new contacts for this or select from contacts already on your phone.
- And finally, in addition to sending your location, you can choose to enable two additional SOS messaging features.