Starting with iOS 11, Apple added a new emergency feature to the iPhone, which is designed to allow you to quickly and discreetly place a call to emergency services. In the United States, SOS dials 911, and in other countries, it works with local emergency response teams.

Emergency SOS is activated through a series of button presses on an iPhone running iOS 11 or later, and the buttons you need to press will vary based on your device. On the iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, and older iPhones, rapidly press the Side button on the right of the device five times to activate Emergency SOS.

On the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone X, iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR, you will need to press and hold on the Side button while also holding one of the two Volume buttons at the same time.

When you use these gestures, it brings up a slider bar that allows you to slide a finger across the screen to quickly place an emergency call. While this slider screen is the default option and is in place to make sure you don't accidentally place a 911 call, there's also an option to enable "Auto Call" for initiating a 911 call as soon as you activate Emergency SOS.

touchiddisabled
When you use Emergency SOS on an iPhone, the feature also disables Touch ID, preventing a would-be thief or other person with malicious intent from accessing your device without entering your passcode. It also automatically alerts any emergency contacts you've set in the Health app, sending them an iMessage with your location.

Enabling Auto Call

SOS is automatically included on every iPhone running iOS 11 and there is no disabling it. Activate it by pressing on the sleep/wake button five times in rapid succession to bring up the swipe interface. If you want the feature to call emergency services automatically without the need for an extra gesture, here's how to toggle it on:

  1. Open the Settings app.
  2. Scroll down to "Emergency SOS."emergencysosiphone
  3. Toggle on "Auto Call."
  4. To turn it off, simply toggle off Auto Call.

With Auto Call enabled, your phone will dial "911" (or your country's emergency line) after a three second countdown that gives you enough time to cancel the call if it's placed accidentally.

SOS on the Apple Watch

On the Apple Watch, an emergency call can be placed when you press and hold down on the side button for several seconds in a row. When you set up your Apple Watch, Apple prompts you to turn it on, but if you didn't, you can still choose to do so later.

On the Apple Watch, it's a lot easier to accidentally make an emergency call if something presses against the side button, so many people may not want this feature on. Here's how to turn it on:

  1. Open the Apple Watch app on the iPhone.
  2. Scroll down to General and tap it.
  3. Look for Emergency SOS. It's the sixth option.
  4. Tap to the Emergency SOS interface. emergencysosapplewatch
  5. Toggle on "Hold to Auto Call."
  6. To turn it off again, toggle off Hold to Auto Call.

Setting Emergency Contacts

As mentioned above, whenever you use the SOS feature, Apple will automatically notify your emergency contacts if you have them set. Emergency contacts can be set up in the Health app:

  1. Open the Health app.
  2. Choose Medical ID.
  3. Select "Edit" in the top right corner.
  4. Scroll down to the Emergency Contacts section.
  5. Tap the "+" button to add an emergency contact.emergencycontacts

You can add multiple emergency contacts, each of which will receive a text message with your location if you ever use the Emergency SOS feature.

Related Forum: iOS 11

Top Rated Comments

sulpfiction Avatar
96 months ago
Countdown to people being stopped by the police sticking their hands in their pockets to secure their iPhones, and getting shot for it.
Way to take a good feature and twist it all up. That will never happen. Why the heck would u need to “secure” ur iPhone when a cop pulls u over?? Your comment makes absolutely zero sense.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Böhme417 Avatar
96 months ago
Countdown to people being stopped by the police sticking their hands in their pockets to secure their iPhones, and getting shot for it.
Don't be silly. Most of those people will already have their phone firmly in their hand. Pockets... ha! You can watch most people on the road and know their phones are far from being in their pockets.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Rajani Isa Avatar
96 months ago
Way to take a good feature and twist it all up. That will never happen. Why the heck would u need to “secure” ur iPhone when a cop pulls u over?? Your comment makes absolutely zero sense.
By secure, they mean disable Touch/FaceID. In part due to the fact that some mid-level courts have held that while passwords are protected by 5th Amendment protections, fingerprints (and most likely, faces) are not.

So you'd do this to prevent the cops from forcing you to unlock your phone for whatever reason with your fingerprint or Face.
[doublepost=1505982982][/doublepost]
I don't think that will happen much either, but look up 'civil forfeiture' and read up on it. It's a real, actual problem in a lot of US states.
I think it's more the forced unlock rather than civil forfeiture.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mattyj2001 Avatar
96 months ago
Way to take a good feature and twist it all up. That will never happen. Why the heck would u need to “secure” ur iPhone when a cop pulls u over?? Your comment makes absolutely zero sense.
I don't think that will happen much either, but look up 'civil forfeiture' and read up on it. It's a real, actual problem in a lot of US states.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
phillytim Avatar
96 months ago
Regardless, I love that Apple finally gives us this great feature.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
KazKam Avatar
96 months ago
If you are feeling awkward during a serious emergency for pressing a damn button 5 times, you shouldn’t.
It's not about "feeling" awkward, it's about "being" awkward. Maybe awkward is the wrong word... overly-fidley? In many emergency situations, time and timing is of the essence, three vs five button clicks might be the difference between activating the feature and not.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iOS 18

iOS 18.4 Will Include These New Features for Your iPhone

Wednesday February 5, 2025 7:15 am PST by
iOS 18.3 was released last month, so the first iOS 18.4 beta should be coming soon. iOS 18.4 is expected to be a more substantial update for the iPhone, with several new features and changes related to Apple Intelligence and beyond. Apple's website suggests that iOS 18.4 will be released in April, following beta testing. Below, we outline what to expect from the update so far. Apple...
General Apple Invites Feature

Apple Launches New 'Invites' App

Tuesday February 4, 2025 8:00 am PST by
Apple today announced the launch of a new app called "Invites," which is designed to allow users to plan events like birthday parties, graduations, vacations, baby showers, and more. "With Apple Invites, an event comes to life from the moment the invitation is created, and users can share lasting memories even after they get together," said Brent Chiu-Watson, Apple's senior director of...
App Store vs EU Feature 2

Apple Says It Doesn't Approve of EU Porn App

Monday February 3, 2025 1:15 pm PST by
Apple does not approve of the "Hot Tub" pornography app that was released for the iPhone in the EU using alternative app distribution, Apple said in a statement to MacRumors. Further, Apple is concerned about the potential user safety risks with a pornography app, and says that it undermines consumer trust in the Apple ecosystem. We are deeply concerned about the safety risks that hardcore...
maxresdefault

An Apple TV Refresh is Coming in 2025 - Here's What You Should Know

Wednesday February 5, 2025 10:17 am PST by
Apple hasn't refreshed the Apple TV since 2022, but rumors suggest that we're finally going to get an update in 2025. We don't have a full picture of what to expect yet, but we have some hints on what's coming. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Updated A-Series Chip The current Apple TV 4K uses the A15 Bionic chip that was in the iPhone 13 lineup, and it's time for...
applecare apple care banner

Apple Raises Monthly AppleCare+ Subscription Price for All iPhones

Tuesday February 4, 2025 9:35 am PST by
Apple this week increased the prices for its monthly AppleCare+ subscription prices for the iPhone, raising the cost by 50 cents for all models in the United States. Standard AppleCare+ for the iPhone 16 models is now priced at $10.49 per month, for example, up from the prior $9.99 per month price. The 50 cent price increase applies to all available AppleCare+ plans for Apple's current...
iOS 18

iOS 18.3.1 Update Coming Soon for iPhones

Thursday February 6, 2025 7:31 am PST by
Apple is internally testing iOS 18.3.1 for iPhones, according to our website's analytics logs, which have been a consistently reliable indicator of upcoming iOS versions. The software update should be released within the next few weeks. iOS 18.3.1 should be a minor update that addresses software bugs and/or security vulnerabilities. Apple Intelligence notification summaries for news and...
iCloud General Feature Redux

'Apple Invites' Leaked on iCloud Website

Tuesday February 4, 2025 7:11 am PST by
Update: The new Apple Invites app has officially been announced. The main iCloud.com page has seemingly confirmed Apple's rumored invites tool, which has yet to be officially announced by the company. The page says "Apple Invites" will be an iCloud+ feature:Upgrade to iCloud+ to get more storage, plan events with Apple Invites, and have peace of mind with privacy features like iCloud...
disney

Disney+ Loses 700,000 Subscribers Following Price Increase

Wednesday February 5, 2025 3:34 pm PST by
Disney+ lost 700,000 subscribers worldwide in recent months, according to Disney's earnings results for the first quarter of 2025. Disney said it now has 124.6 million Disney+ subscribers, a decrease of 0.7 million compared to its subscriber numbers in the fourth quarter of 2024. The drop in subscribers comes after Disney+ prices increased in the fall. Disney+ with Ads went from $7.99 to...