How to Use iPhone Emergency SOS and Satellite Features

Your iPhone has built-in emergency features that most people have never explored — and that is understandable, because hopefully you will never need them in a real emergency. But taking five minutes to set them up now could matter a great deal later.

Emergency SOS is available on all iPhones. There are two ways to trigger it. On iPhone 8 or later, press and hold the side button together with either volume button until the Emergency SOS slider appears. On older iPhones, press the side or top button five times quickly. Once the slider appears, drag it to call 911. Your phone will also automatically share your GPS location with emergency services, and after the call ends, it will send a text to any emergency contacts you have set up.

Setting up emergency contacts is done through the Health app, not the Phone app. Open the Health app, tap your profile photo in the top right, and tap "Medical ID." In Medical ID, tap "Edit" and scroll down to "Emergency Contacts." Add family members or close friends here. These contacts will be automatically notified with your location if you trigger Emergency SOS.

Crash Detection is available on iPhone 14 and all iPhone 16 models, and also on Apple Watch Series 8 and later. If the sensors detect a severe car accident, the phone automatically calls 911 after a 20-second countdown — giving you time to cancel it if it was a false alarm (like dropping your phone hard, or a roller coaster ride).

Emergency SOS via Satellite is available on iPhone 14 and later in the United States, Canada, and several other countries. This feature works when you have no cell signal and no Wi-Fi. Point your phone toward open sky — away from buildings and heavy tree cover — and the app guides you through answering a series of questions about your emergency. That information is relayed via satellite to a response center, who then contacts the appropriate emergency services. The satellite connection is slow — expect each message to take 15 seconds to a minute — but it works when nothing else does. This feature is free for two years with a new iPhone purchase.

Finally, Medical ID (set up in the Health app) displays your name, blood type, allergies, medications, and emergency contacts on the lock screen — accessible to first responders without unlocking your phone.