Although it was not one of the most commented, one of the new functions of the iPhone 14 that I found most interesting and remarkable was, without a doubt, being able to send an emergency message even in the total absence of cellular coverage, using for this purpose the connectivity via satellite. A function that, since its initial debut and until now, has only been available in the United States and Canada, with the rest of the world waiting for its arrival in other geographies.
And finally today we have seen the first step in this regard, since emergency messages via satellite have jumped the pond, landing in Germany, France, Ireland and the United Kingdom. iPhone 14 users in these countries, from now on, will have this security feature, which will allow them to contact emergency services even when their devices are without coverage, either due to a lack of coverage in the area or due to a general network drop.
This function is activated automatically if the user tries to make a call to the emergency services and the iPhone 14 detects that it is not possible to make it. At that moment, the possibility of sending an emergency text message via satellite is shown. If the user confirms the action, a short list of questions will be displayed about the nature of the emergency that he wants to declare, and at the same time it will be necessary to orient the terminal towards the sky, in order to be able to send the message directly to a satellite in the network used by this function, that of the Globalstar company.
Given the complexity of this connection, Apple has had to face multiple technical challenges, from making the terminal capable of emitting a signal with the necessary power to reach the satellite, how to solve the problem of low bandwidth of said link, for which the company has developed its own compression algorithm, which reduces the average size of messages to a third of what they would be without it. In this way, the need for energy to transmit the signal is reduced and the time necessary for said emission is also shortened.
Apple claims that the message can be received by its recipients in just 15 seconds, but some system tests that have already been carried out in recent weeks claim that the time frame may be even less, with times below 10 or even the 5 seconds. In addition, thanks to the questions answered to send the message, the emergency services will know what kind of problem they are facing, and consequently they will be able to activate the necessary resources for it.
Apple says that the satellite emergency message service will reach more countries next year, although it does not clarify which ones or at what time of the year.
More information: Apple
