> I don't even see how this one even helps anyone even in theory. Is it even any faster than dialing 911?
How do you dial if you can't see your phone? One of the things I miss about my old landline phone is that I could dial it entirely by feel. In any kind of accident or medical condition that makes me lose my vision I would not be able to dial a smartphone on-screen keyboard (or even pull up the phone app in the first place).
I realized this a few years ago when I suddenly had a black spot appear in one eye. The black spot expanded over the course of a few seconds until I could no longer see anything in that eye. Aside from one eye no longer working, I felt fine. As I was trying to decide if this was a "call 911" thing or a "drive to the emergency room" thing the black started contracting and went away. I felt find and did a few cognitive tests and coordination tests and passed so I decided to wait a bit and see if this was a one time thing. A month later it happened again, but since I was less surprised by it I was able to do some experiments and found that if I looked at a bright light I did see the black lighten and there was a particular spot off to the side where I could actually see (barely) the bright light. After that second incidence I did go to the doctor...and he found nothing. An MRI also showed nothing. So, still no idea what the hell it was, but it has not come back.
But it definitely made my realize it would be very useful to be able to summon help without having to see.
> If I were in an emergency, would I remember some weird trick like that at a time like that? Are they thinking that people in duress will rapidly and repeatedly squeez their phone naturally and so it dials when needed without you consciouly needing to?
I definitely remember at some point during setting up my iPhone (or maybe when I upgrade to the first OS that supported emergency calling?) there was a dialog that explained it and told me how to enable/disable it.
On my iPhone (iPhone X...I think there is some variation among different models) the settings (which are all on/off) are
• "Call with Hold" where if you hold the side button and a volume for a few seconds you get the emergency screen. If you continue to hold you get an alert sound and a countdown to calling 911. The emergency screen also has a slider for calling 911 and a slider to view your medical ID and a slider to power down the phone.
• "Call with 5 Presses". Press the side button 5 times to bring up the emergency screen, and sound the alarm and start the countdown to calling 911.
• "Countdown Sound". Turns the alert sound during the 911 countdown on or off.
BTW, when you dismiss the emergency screen the phone locks and disables Face ID until you enter your passcode. If you have to hand you phone to someone such as law enforcement, it is pretty easy when reaching into your pocket to get it to trigger "Call with Hold" if you have it enabled. Hold until you get haptic feedback, and then release before the 911 countdown starts so that you won't get an alarm. Then press the side button again to exit the emergency screen.
How do you dial if you can't see your phone? One of the things I miss about my old landline phone is that I could dial it entirely by feel. In any kind of accident or medical condition that makes me lose my vision I would not be able to dial a smartphone on-screen keyboard (or even pull up the phone app in the first place).
I realized this a few years ago when I suddenly had a black spot appear in one eye. The black spot expanded over the course of a few seconds until I could no longer see anything in that eye. Aside from one eye no longer working, I felt fine. As I was trying to decide if this was a "call 911" thing or a "drive to the emergency room" thing the black started contracting and went away. I felt find and did a few cognitive tests and coordination tests and passed so I decided to wait a bit and see if this was a one time thing. A month later it happened again, but since I was less surprised by it I was able to do some experiments and found that if I looked at a bright light I did see the black lighten and there was a particular spot off to the side where I could actually see (barely) the bright light. After that second incidence I did go to the doctor...and he found nothing. An MRI also showed nothing. So, still no idea what the hell it was, but it has not come back.
But it definitely made my realize it would be very useful to be able to summon help without having to see.
> If I were in an emergency, would I remember some weird trick like that at a time like that? Are they thinking that people in duress will rapidly and repeatedly squeez their phone naturally and so it dials when needed without you consciouly needing to?
I definitely remember at some point during setting up my iPhone (or maybe when I upgrade to the first OS that supported emergency calling?) there was a dialog that explained it and told me how to enable/disable it.
On my iPhone (iPhone X...I think there is some variation among different models) the settings (which are all on/off) are
• "Call with Hold" where if you hold the side button and a volume for a few seconds you get the emergency screen. If you continue to hold you get an alert sound and a countdown to calling 911. The emergency screen also has a slider for calling 911 and a slider to view your medical ID and a slider to power down the phone.
• "Call with 5 Presses". Press the side button 5 times to bring up the emergency screen, and sound the alarm and start the countdown to calling 911.
• "Countdown Sound". Turns the alert sound during the 911 countdown on or off.
BTW, when you dismiss the emergency screen the phone locks and disables Face ID until you enter your passcode. If you have to hand you phone to someone such as law enforcement, it is pretty easy when reaching into your pocket to get it to trigger "Call with Hold" if you have it enabled. Hold until you get haptic feedback, and then release before the 911 countdown starts so that you won't get an alarm. Then press the side button again to exit the emergency screen.