STAYING I-LIVE!
Millions of iPhones have hidden settings built to save your life – I wouldn’t risk ignoring list of four free tricks
Some of these tricks are tied to specific iPhone models, so check yours
WHY take a chance with your life? Preserving yourself for the future might be just an iPhone setting away. Or four.
The list of clever Apple tricks built to help you stay alive is getting longer.
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And there are four I'd recommend checking right now to make sure they're set up correctly for you.
Familiarising yourself with these settings might literally be the difference between life and death.
Medical ID
First up is Medical ID, which isn't new – but is easy to miss.
It's a place to add info that would be useful in an emergency.
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Think: allergies, medical conditions, and your emergency contacts.
This info can then be displayed on your so that it's available to emergency responders.
Just go to the Health app, then tap your picture, then tap Medical ID.
Now just fill in the info and you're set.
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Try to keep it up to date – including your emergency contacts.
Emergency SOS via Satellite
Next up is Emergency SOS via Satellite.
I've been trying iPhone 16's new camera button and it has two shockingly handy perks
It's built into the iPhone 14 and later, and lets you contact emergency services when you're off the grid.
The feature works using satellite, so you don't need any cell signal or Wi-Fi.
If you try to contact emergency services without any signal, your iPhone will then try to use a satellite connection.
You'll need to be outside with a clear view of the sky and horizon.
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And it might take a few seconds or even a minute for a connection to establish.
My tip is to get used to the feature before you need it by trying out the official demo.
Just go into Settings > Emergency SOS and then try the demo version of the feature.
It teaches you how to make a satellite connection so you're ready if you ever needed it.
Check In
Third is a handy feature called Check In, which was added with the iOS 17 update in 2023.
It's designed to automatically notify a friend or family member when your iPhone has arrived somewhere.
And you can also choose what details to share if you don't Check In at your destination.
For instance, your contact could view your location, battery percentage, and phone signal.
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To send a Check In, go into the Messages app and then start a chat or enter an existing conversation.
Now tap the plus symbol, then go to More, choose Check In, and tap Edit.
You'll be able to specify exactly how you want your Check In to look.
So you can submit a destination, say whether you're travelling by car or walking, and add extra time.
KEEP YOURSELF I-SAFE
Here's what The Sun's tech expert has to say...
Look, I think a lot about staying alive. You probably do too.
Thankfully, in the future, we probably won't need to think about it so much. Our gadgets will do a lot of that for us.
And already today, your iPhone puts in a decent amount of life-preservation work.
Checking your Health app and Emergency SOS settings can go a long way to keeping you alive in a serious situation.
You might never need them, but it takes just a few minutes every few months to make sure you're still up-to-date and set up properly for times when something might go wrong.
Familiarising yourself with these settings ahead of time is so important.
You don't want to be fumbling around trying to find these features in an emergency. You want to know exactly where to find them, and fast.
So give yourself the gift of good iPhone settings. It's free – why not?
Check In will monitor your journey and warn your contact if your iPhone has stopped progressing – or didn't reach the destination.
When you arrive at the destination, your friend will be alerted that you got there safely.
You can also set it up to work with a timer, which might be handy if you're meeting someone new.
Then simply send the Check In – and don't forget that you can edit or cancel it at any time.
Car Crash Detection
Last but certainly not least is Car Crash Detection.
No surprises here: it detects when you're in a car crash, and helps you contact emergency services.
It's available on all iPhone 14 models or later, as long as they've updated to iOS 16 or later.
And it also works on newer Apple Watch models too.
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The good news is that it's on by default, so you don't need to worry about turning it on.
However, it's worth checking just to make sure that you never turned it off.
When a severe car crash is detected, the iPhone will sound an alarm and show an alert.
It will also read the alert aloud if you can't see the screen.
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You can choose to call emergency services or dismiss it.
If you don't respond – possibly because you're not able to – then your iPhone will automatically call emergency services after 20 seconds.
And if you set up emergency contacts with Medical ID then your iPhone will text your friends or family with your location – and letting them know what's happened.
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Your device should also display a Medical ID slider.
You can check that everything is set up OK by going into Settings then Emergency SOS and making sure that Call After Severe Crash is switched on.
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