When Apple launched his iPhone 14 Smartphone series in 2022, the company also introduced a new feature: Emergency SOS via satellite. The feature, which allows users to send an emergency message even without cellular connectivity, was launched in November 2022and was enabled free of charge for all buyers of iPhone 14 phones, for two years.
Now, Apple has extended free access to Emergency SOS via satellite for another year.
The caveat here is that this is only valid for existing iPhone 14 users. From Apple advertisement: “The free trial will be extended for iPhone 14 users who have activated their device in a country that supports Emergency SOS via satellite before 12 a.m. PT on November 15, 2023.”
as for iPhone 15 Buyers get two years of free access to the service when they activate their phone.
The feature is available in 16 countries and regions; For a complete list, check the Apple website.
Apple’s Emergency SOS feature for iPhone has already proven its worth; Only in August, A woman and her dog were rescued. after a flash flood in Utah thanks to the feature, and a family trapped in a van during the Wildfires on Maui used the function to ask for help.
“Satellite SOS emergency service has helped save lives around the world. From a man who was rescued after his car fell off a 400-foot cliff in Los Angeles, to lost hikers found in the Apennines in Italy, We continue to hear stories of our customers being able to connect with emergency services when they otherwise would not have been able to,” said Kaiann Drance, vice president of worldwide iPhone product marketing at Apple.
Apple never said how much it plans to charge for the service. Right now it has no competition; None of the Android manufacturers offer this functionality, although there are rumors that Samsung and Google’s Pixel phones will be among the first to get a similar feature.
