You can replace the 911 emergency number with something else, like on a Pixel, and text your location to emergency contacts. Another option allows you to require a swipe of the call button after pressing the side button five times before the emergency number is called.

How to send an SOS on an iPhone

As with Android, the five-tap routine also works on iPhones.

Go to Settings | Emergency SOS and make sure that Call by pressing 5 buttons The switch is on, meaning green rather than gray is displayed. If so, these five quick presses will trigger an alarm and countdown, after which local emergency services will be called.

You will have approximately 8 seconds to stop the call if you or a child does this accidentally or otherwise. To help the emergency dispatcher help you, the call may include your location even if you don’t have your location enabled in location settings, Apple says.

If you activate the Call with hold and release button in SettingsContinuously holding the side button and either volume button will sound an alarm and start a countdown. iPhone will call emergency services after the countdown ends, once you release the buttons and then slide the SOS emergency call button that appears on the screen.

Press the X in a circle ⨂ to undo or drag the Medical ID card to bring up your emergency contacts as well as additional information about your height, weight, blood type and any health conditions you have, which you may have previously set up in the phone’s Health app.

In Emergency SOS In Settings You can also press a Silent Call button to silence warning alarms, flashes, and VoiceOver audio.

Bonus Tip: Record the Emergency on a Pixel

If you have a Google Pixel, you can record continuous video of an emergency episode up to 45 minutes long. Faucet Safety and emergency | Emergency SOS | Record an emergency video. These videos are automatically saved to your Google account and the phone’s Personal Safety app.

Your emergency contacts will automatically receive a link to the video. You will have 15 seconds after stopping recording to cancel sharing.

Only one sharing link per video can be active at any given time, Google specifies. And each link has a seven-day expiration to protect your privacy.

In the Pixel’s Help settings, Google warns users to use video sharing with caution: “Recordings of emergency events may disturb your emergency contacts and cause distress to those people.”