Life-saving iPhone features you need to activate TODAY – don’t wait

IPHONES nowadays are pocket-sized computers, taking on the roles of calendar, map, web browser, social hangout and more.

But did you know that your pricey device can also save your life? Here are three ways your iPhone acts as your personal safety net.

1

Safety check

Safety check is a new feature introduced to the iPhone with the release of the iOS 16 software update this week.

According to Apple, it’s for “anyone who is concerned about or experiencing technology-enabled abuse, stalking or harassment.”

Abusive partners, friends or family members have been known to use victims’ iPhones to keep tabs on them.

For instance, they can track them by sharing various apps and features such as photos, calendars, and location, among others.

Safety check is a way to “sever digital ties with those you no longer want to be connected to”, Apple says.

Go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Safety Check. You’ll see two features: Emergency Reset and Manage Sharing & Access.

Emergency Reset offers a way to immediately cut off access to your accounts. You may be asked for your Face ID or Passcode to access it.

Manage Sharing and Access provides a way to carry out a more considered preening of who has access to what on your device.

Share ETA

Activating Share ETA before journeys is a great way to help you stay safe.

ETA stands for estimated time of arrival, which means this feature is all about improving safety on your journeys.

Activating it will send your friends or family a real-time tracker for your iPhone location.

And they’ll even be able to see your route – revealing if you’ve strayed from the fastest way home.

Open your Apple Maps app on an iPhone running iOS 13 or later.

Then begin a journey by choosing a destination and tapping Directions, then Go.

Now open the menu at the bottom by tapping the arrow in the bottom-right corner.

Then select Share ETA, which should be the second option down in the menu.

You can then share your location with recent contacts, and even multiple people at the same time.

If your chosen recipient isn’t in the recent list, you can tap Contacts to search for a specific person.

Then tap on the person to begin sharing.

You’ll be able to see an alert at the bottom of the screen reminding you that you’re sharing your location – and how many people you’re live-reporting to.

You can tap a person’s icon to stop sharing location with them.

Setting up Emergency Contacts on your iPhone is a must.

The iPhone has an Emergency SOS feature that lets you quickly call emergency services.

But you can also add Emergency Contacts.

Once an emergency call has ended, your iPhone will then alert these emergency contacts with a text message – although this can be cancelled if you prefer.

The iPhone will send your current location to your Emergency Contacts.

And the contacts will also receive updates if your location changes.

To set Emergency Contacts up, go to the Health app, then tap your profile picture.

Tap Medical ID and then hit Edit, then scroll to Emergency Contacts.

You can then activate Emergency SOS using the “five click” trick.

How to activate Emergency SOS

There are two ways to activate the Emergency SOS features.

Either press the side or top button five times to pull up the Emergency SOS slider.

Alternatively on an iPhone 8 or later, press and hold the side button and one volume button until the slider appears.

Then drag the emergency slider to begin the call.

You can choose the way you want to call by going into Settings > Emergency SOS.

“If you continue to hold down the side button and volume button, instead of dragging the slider, a countdown will start and an alert will sound,” Apple explained.

“If you hold down the buttons until the countdown has finished, your iPhone will automatically call the emergency services.”

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