Suppose you’re considering visiting Gold Reef City, Sun City or any of South Africa’s amusement parks after purchasing your iPhone 14.
In that case, you might want to leave it at home … in case it dials 10111.
The new iPhone 14 series was launched on September 7, boasting a range of new features – one such feature is the iPhone 14’s new Crash Detection, which has falsely alerted authorities that iPhone 14 users had been involved in a severe crash.
Crash Detection has been included in the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro models, with the latest version of iOS, Apple Watch Series 8, Apple Watch SE (2nd generation), and Apple Watch Ultra with the newest version of watchOS.
The feature has been designed for your iPhone or Apple Watch to detect a severe car crash. Lately, it has been trolling emergency services and police in the US.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Warren County Communications Center in the US state of Ohio – in close proximity to Kings Island Amusement Park & Water Park – received six distress calls from iPhone 14 users’ smartphones while riding a roller coaster.
When triggered, the feature calls local authorities, stating: “The owner of this iPhone was in a severe car crash and is not responding to their phone,” and after that, says the latitude and longitude of the distress call.
The Wall Street Journal also reported similar triggers for amusement parks in the US. At the same time, journalist Joanna Stern posted a tweet with an example of the Crash Detection call that the iPhone 14 makes to local authorities.
Since the iPhone 14 went on sale, the 911 dispatch center near Kings Island amusement park has received at least six phones calls saying:
— Joanna Stern (@JoannaStern) October 9, 2022
“The owner of this iPhone was in a severe car crash...”
Except, the owner was just on a roller coaster.
🆕 by me: https://t.co/hp1fHZBIf6 pic.twitter.com/i0lZPoWzGz
Apple’s feature works when your iPhone detects a severe car crash. The device will display an alert and automatically initiate an alert phone call to local authorities, including emergency services and the police, after 20 seconds unless you cancel.
“If you are unresponsive, your iPhone will play an audio message for emergency services, which informs them that you’ve been in a severe crash and gives them your latitudinal and longitudinal co-ordinates with an approximate search radius,” Apple said.
While SA Apple fans are still waiting to sink their teeth into the iPhone 14 within the next few weeks when it arrives, the feature might prove useful.
In the wake of the April local floods, which severely affected KwaZulu-Natal, the iPhone’s five-tap emergency SOS call was thrown into the spotlight as a feature that could be used to alert authorities, even if the screen became wet and hard to use.
At the same time aslocal the flooding, the iPhone feature saved the life of British fitness influencer and personal trainer Tim Blakely.
Blakely plunged through a 5-meter gap of ice while snowboarding on a Swiss mountain, making his smartphone wet from dripping ice and difficult to use.
However, with just 3% of his smartphone’s battery life left, Blakely used the iPhone’s Emergency SOS, which allows users to activate an emergency distress call by pressing the side button five times.
IOL Tech