Apple’s Emergency SOS via Satellite is now available for iPhone 14 and 14 Pro users in France, Germany, Ireland, and the United Kingdom.
The feature was initially rolled out in Canada and the United States of America a month ago.
Emergency SOS via Satellite is a safety system that lets users connect to satellites to message emergency services and share their location with friends and family via the Find My app when there’s no cellular or Wi-Fi coverage.
The new feature will be accessible right from the Phone app if there is no cellular connectivity at the moment of dialing. Users will see an Emergency Text via Satellite button right on the call screen, which will take you to the emergency questionnaire to fill in the details of your status. That will all be sent to Apple’s relay centers to get in touch with local authorities.
“Emergency SOS via satellite makes emergency communications over satellite more accessible, which is very exciting,” said Gary Machado, CEO of the European Emergency Number Association.
“In practice, it means that many more people will be able to contact 112 when they have no mobile coverage and need urgent assistance. We are confident that this will save many lives and offer significant help to emergency services dealing with these often very complicated rescues.”
