Three ways iPhone could save your life – and they’re really easy to set up

YOUR iPhone can be a literal lifesaver – but it helps if you’re using the right settings.

We’ve rounded up some of the handiest iPhone tricks that could keep the reaper at bay.

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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.

Medical ID

Apple has created a feature called Medical ID that quickly displays your key health info.

“Medical ID helps emergency responders access your critical medical information from the Lock Screen, without needing your passcode,” Apple explained.

“They can see information such as allergies and medical conditions, as well as who to contact in case of an emergency.”

To set it up, go into the Health app then tap your profile picture in the top-right corner.

Under the image, tap Medical ID.

Now choose Edit and then activate ‘Show When Locked’.

You can also select Share During Emergency Call – although this clever iPhone trick only works in the US.

Now add all of your information and then tap Done.

To see your Medical ID, open the Lock Screen then tap the Emergency button.

Now tap the red Medical ID button to see the info.

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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Best Phone and Gadget tips and hacks

Looking for tips and hacks for your phone? Want to find those secret features within social media apps? We have you covered…

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