Apple has spent years looking after safety, both for our data and for us, since the iPhone includes many features designed solely to help us when we need it most. And it really is worth keeping these options in mind, because they are there, ready to support us in a difficult moment or simply to give us more peace of mind in everyday life. Let’s look at the 6 most important ones.
Emergency SOS, Medical ID, and Crash Detection: fast help when every second counts
The first feature we should all keep in mind is Emergency SOS. With a quick gesture, the iPhone can call the emergency services of whatever country we are in. If we are travelling, there is no need to remember whether they use 112, 911, or any other number there. Our iPhone does it for us.
We can set it up so the call is triggered by holding down the side button together with either volume button, or by pressing the side button five times in a row. We can also choose a more deliberate option with an on-screen slider, to avoid calling by accident.
What is more, this feature includes an important detail: when we call emergency services this way, the iPhone automatically sends a message and a notification to our emergency contacts and shares our location with them.
Closely tied to this feature is the Medical ID card. From the Health app, we can fill in information such as allergies, medication, medical conditions, blood type, language, weight, height, or emergency contacts. It may seem unimportant, but it really can make an enormous difference. If someone ever needs assistance and cannot explain their situation, this information is available from the lock screen for emergency personnel.
And if we have an iPhone 14 or later, another very valuable tool comes into play: Crash Detection. Thanks to the accelerometer, gyroscope, and other sensors, the iPhone can identify a serious car crash. If it detects one, it emits an audible alert, starts a countdown and, if necessary, automatically calls emergency services.
Apple has refined this feature a great deal over time, and that shows in the confidence it inspires. It is one of those tools that goes unnoticed in day-to-day life, but that we are immensely grateful to know is there. It is worth going into Settings, reviewing the Emergency SOS section, and confirming that the option is enabled.
Sharing location and Check In so we can get around with greater peace of mind
The Find My app is also a great safety ally. With it, we can share our location with trusted family members or friends for one hour, until the end of the day, or continuously. Used well, this feature can bring a lot of peace of mind in everyday situations: when we are taking a long trip, when we are heading home late, when someone is waiting for us, or when we simply want them to know where we are.
From the People tab in Find My, we can see who we are sharing our location with, and we can also check this from the Settings app.
And if we want something more specific and guided, Check In in Messages is an excellent option. This feature is designed to let another person know that we are on our way and that everything is going well. We can set a specific destination, the estimated time it will take us to get there, or even link the tracking to a workout.
When we arrive, the process ends automatically. And if the expected time passes and the system detects that a check is needed, the other person receives an alert with useful information. This may include our route, the last known location, the battery level, the iPhone’s connection status, and even information related to the Apple Watch if we are wearing one.
Check In is a feature that, in certain situations, can give us greater peace of mind without feeling intrusive, since it allows us to choose between sharing data at a more detailed level or in a more limited way. Everything is designed to accompany us discreetly and with practical purpose.
Safety Check: a quick review of who can see what on our iPhone
The sixth feature we should all know better is Safety Check. It is found in Settings, under Privacy & Security, and it is used to review which people, apps, and devices have access to our information.
It is an especially useful tool because it brings together, in one place, a large number of permissions that can sometimes end up scattered throughout the system. From here, we can review who has access to our location, photos, calendars, notes, passwords, home devices, and other personal data. And if we want to do a quick clean-up, Apple includes an immediate reset option to cut off access and permissions all at once.
It really is an important feature. Because safety is not only about asking for help in an emergency. It is also about knowing, at any moment, which of our data is visible and regaining control in just a few taps.
These six features, among others, make the iPhone much more than a phone. It is a device that accompanies us, guides us, and looks after us intelligently when we need it most.
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