Everyone knows emergency services contact numbers in India. In case you aren’t aware it’s 100 for the police, 108 for ambulance and 101 for fire brigade. But did you know that your iPhone and your Apple Watch also come packed with features that enable you to seek help in case of an emergency. Also Read – Apple to host its World Wide Design Conference from June 6 to June 10
To use the emergency SOS feature on your iPhone you need to first designate an emergency contact who will be informed about your location and the situation after the emergency services have been notified. Also Read – Apple AirPods, AirPods Pro and AirPods Max prices increased in India: Check new pricing
How to set an emergency contact
Here is a step-by-step guide that will help you set your emergency contact. Also Read – EV maker NIO wants to build its own smartphones to take on Apple’s iPhones
Step 1: Open your phone book.
Step 2: Open contact details of the person whom you want to designate as your emergency contact.
Step 3: Tap Add to Emergency Contacts option.
How to use emergency SOS feature on your iPhone
Once you have set your emergency contact, here’s what you need to do to use the feature on your iPhone:
If you are using iPhone 8 or later here’s what you need to do:
Step 1: Press and hold the side button and one of the volume buttons until the Emergency SOS slider appears.
Step 2: Drag the Emergency SOS slider to call emergency services. If you continue to hold down the side button and volume button, instead of dragging the slider, a countdown begins and an alert sounds. If you hold down the buttons until the countdown ends, your iPhone automatically calls emergency services.
If you are using iPhone 7 or an older model here’s what you need to do:
Step 1: Rapidly press the side (or top) button three times. The Emergency SOS slider will appear.
Step 2: Drag the Emergency SOS slider to call emergency services.
After the call to the emergency service ends, your iPhone will send your emergency contacts a text message with your current location, unless you choose to cancel. If Location Services is off, it will temporarily turn on and if your location changes, your contacts will get an update.
How to use emergency SOS feature on your Apple Watch
Users will have to designate a contact as their emergency contact in order to use emergency SOS on their Apple Watch. Once they have designated their Emergency Contact, here’s what they need to do:
Step 1: Press and hold your watch’s side button until the Emergency SOS slider appears.
Step 2: Drag the Emergency SOS slider to start the call immediately. Alternatively, you can keep holding the side button. After a countdown, the Apple Watch will call emergency services automatically.