Emergency SOS Now on iPhone 14 Lineup

Announced earlier during the iPhone launch, now enabled and live, via a software update for all iPhone 14 users:

iPhone 14 users can now connect with emergency services when cellular and Wi-Fi coverage are not available; the service extends to France, Germany, Ireland, and the UK in December.

Obviously I haven’t tried this feature yet, but this could be a potential game changer for how technology can help in the backcountry. The ability to SOS in the backcountry of course has existed for a long time, via satellite phones and other dedicated devices. But this is the first time a feature like this is available on everyone’s daily device, their phone in their pocket.

Currently the feature is free and takes users through a short questionnaire describing the situation they find themselves in, I’d love to see Apple extend this feature and offer a preset message to someone in one’s contact list. Not every situation requires full emergency operation, but a short “I’m running late” could ease a lot of worries for the folks back home. That’s where Garmin still has a leg up… and is charging for. Apple could add this for your iCloud family and make it part of Apple One?