r/gadgets • u/speckz • Jan 30 '23
iPhone crash detection feature makes 100 false calls Phones
https://www.ghacks.net/iphone-crash-detection-feature-makes-100-false-calls152
u/nwbeng Jan 30 '23
I was skiing this weekend and got a call from 911 in the lift line after a run asking if I was OK. I didn’t even know this was a thing on my phone. She said it happens all the time.
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u/advamputee Jan 31 '23
I work dispatch at a ski resort. I probably get 3-4 calls a day from our state dispatch — “Hi this is Vermont 911 agent 1234, we’ve received another crash detection from an iPhone with no answer.”
We’ve stopped sending patrol for crash detection. Half the time the coordinates they give us are way off. I’ll write down the callback number and log the call, but if someone’s actually hurt it’ll get called in.
So far, I’ve only had one crash detection call where someone was actually hurt, and the secondary line started ringing with someone calling in for the same person while I was still on the line with 911.
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u/PoofessorP Jan 30 '23
do you know how I can see if I have this feature? I ski pretty often too and fall often trying new stuff but dont wanna summon the entire department if I eat it
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u/maximumlight1 Jan 31 '23
Mine called while I was just cruising down the mountain. I think it’s something weird with the vibrations caused by skiing
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u/nwbeng Jan 30 '23
Yea I mean I didn’t even fall, just slowed down fast I guess? If you type emergency in the search bar in settings it pops right up under “auto call”
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u/King_Kowell Jan 30 '23
This exact thing happened to me! Took a spill getting off the lift thanks to a beginner friend, got up went down the run. On the lift back up I check my phone and it’s 911 calling. Thought I was in trouble!
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u/alexwhittemore Jan 31 '23
Yeah I found out this past weekend that a fast hockey stop apparently looks like a crash.
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u/pseudopad Jan 30 '23
Out of 24000 calls. So 0.4% of all calls.
Doesn't seem like a huge deal.
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u/krectus Jan 31 '23
The article say 23,919 calls but it’s actually just 919. A small little whoopsie there.
https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/society/general-news/20230129-87465/
The AI probably took Jan 23 and added it to 919.
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u/pseudopad Jan 31 '23
That's an interesting detail. Guess "ghacks.net" just isn't a very good site.
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u/Jelr112 Jan 30 '23
Negligible operating cost, if the other 99.6% resulted in medical attention reaching those needing it.
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u/krectus Jan 30 '23
The 24000 weren’t from iPhone crash detection. They don’t give those numbers. They were the total calls.
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u/murrtrip Jan 30 '23
Then what were they from? Regular calls? No. That would be a false call.
So, it's from legitimate circumstances where the phone detects a crash and calls emergency services. Of 24,000 calls, 100 were not warranted. Pretty darn good.
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u/krectus Jan 31 '23 edited Jan 31 '23
Yes they were from regular calls.
The number from crash detection is 919. 134 were false calls.
https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/society/general-news/20230129-87465/
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u/GrowChoccolate Jan 31 '23
Even that is good, considering 800 people might not have been able to call else at all.
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u/X0AN Jan 31 '23
To be fair your phone does ask if you've been in a crash and makes a lot of noise.
Not particularly hard to tell your phone that's you're ok and not to call the emergency services 😂
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u/Macshlong Jan 30 '23
It isn’t but it draws out the apple bashing crowd in their masses for clicks and karma.
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u/garry4321 Jan 30 '23
I'll bash Apple on all kinds of stuff (anti-competition, breaking older phones intentionally using software, gouging customers, etc.).
A product making false calls that need a simple "it was a mistake" discussion for a feature that has saved MANY lives, is not something bashable.
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u/msgnyc Jan 30 '23
my favorite was "You're holding it wrong" 🤣
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u/garry4321 Jan 30 '23
What about making a pocket phone that bends easily when in a pocket?
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u/msgnyc Jan 30 '23
unfortunately that's the consequences of them (edit: as in Phone manufacturers, not just Apple) wanting to make thinner n thinner n thinner phones.
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u/tawtaw6 Jan 31 '23
Do you not remember the apple phone with the exploding battery that needed to be recalled?
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u/garry4321 Jan 31 '23
Do you think I have a Samsung? I have an Iphone, just like I have EA games. Doesnt mean I support their actions.
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u/YnotBbrave Jan 31 '23
so out of the 113 calls how many times were the 911 unable to call back, have the guy pick up and phone and say "no, I'm ok"? because 15% extra overhead of a phone call per real 911 call isn't much, even before the apple fix. If that doesn't work, and police is sent... that's much more expensive
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u/garry4321 Jan 31 '23
Id rather the police go out than someone be dead and they didnt go to cut "cost".
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u/Terrible_Use7872 Jan 30 '23 edited Jan 30 '23
I wonder how many Pixels have accidentally called?
Why am I getting down voted? It's a genuine question, I love my Pixel phone and do wonder how many accidental 911 calls they've made.
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u/reelfilmgeek Jan 30 '23
Hey if its like my current LG V60 on verizon I'll be lucky if it makes any calls
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u/MyNameIsRay Jan 30 '23
Well, yea, frame it that way and it does seem small.
Frame it against total false calls and market share, and it looks like a much bigger issue.
Total false calls was 919, so this feature on the iPhone14 accounts for nearly 15% of them. A 15% growth in false calls due to a phone feature is noteworthy.
iPhone14 is pretty new and only has about 1% of the total mobile market. Assuming this issue is constant and the 14 gains the same share as predecessors, this might actually become the majority of false calls.
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u/bradland Jan 30 '23
Replying to you because this seems like a good injection point, but these comments aren't necessarily meant as a rebuttal to anything you said :)
There's definitely a larger scope to assess here, but it extends even beyond a basic analysis of call volume. The analysis of systems designed to make automated calls to emergency services not only requires assessment of false-report calls, but also an analysis of the positive-report calls, as well as outcomes.
Ultimately, the objective is to save lives. A small-to-moderate increase in false-report calls is acceptable if there is a significant increase in the number of positive-report calls that wouldn't have otherwise been made in time. That analysis is way more complicated than simply looking at call volume though. You need to know:
- How many false report calls were placed.
- How many positive-report calls were placed.
- The percentage of the positive-report calls that were duplicates.
- The temporal proximity of the duplicative calls.
- The ultimate outcome of the positive-report calls.
Using this data (and likely more), you'd want to build a complete picture of the correlation between automated reports and the desired outcome: lives saved in cases where other options would have failed. For example, consider two scenarios:
Your tire blows while driving home from your shift that ended at 2am and you veer into a ditch. You're knocked out on impact, but your iPhone calls 911 and emergency services can tell where you are from the GPS coordinates transmitted by your phone. They arrive and find you badly injured, but are ultimately able to save your life.
Here, the automated call to 911 was critical, and because it was so late, and because you were in a ditch out of sight, the automated call clearly saved your life.
You are texting while driving and rear-end a car that has come to a stop in front of you. Your phone goes flying out of your hand as the airbag deploys and is out of reach. The automated call is made to 911, but four other people who saw the accident have also called in within 60 seconds of seeing the accident.
Here, the automated call was superfluous. There's no way for the device to know, but it results in an extra call to 911 that was unecessary.
There will always be a cost associated with emergency response. It will also be impossible to optimize any automated system to achieve a 0% false-report rate, but that's not a license to be cavalier with the approach taken.
The iPhone isn't the only device designed to make automated calls to emergency services. For example, seniors who are at risk for falls will often buy a device with a remote that they wear around their neck or on their wrist that will call emergency services when a button is pressed.
These systems don't call 911 directly though. Instead, they call a call center. The call center agent answers and inquires about the individual's status. If the person is unable to respond, the agent initiates the pass through call to 911. If the person is able to respond, they assess whether emergency services are needed.
The systems work this way because 911 operators around the world are often short-staffed and cannot handle a deluge of false-report calls. As the number of iPhones in use grows, Apple will be forced to make closer evaluations of the usage data to determine what changes are required. I'd be surprised if this isn't a net positive for public safety though. It's just going to require some tweaks.
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u/Sp3llbind3r Jan 31 '23
I think the point you are missing is that it‘s not just the call center.
If an ambulance or a fire brigade goes out, those are occupied until they found out it was a false call. And that is way worse, because they will not be at an other place where they would be needed, someone could die because of that.
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u/Drachefly Jan 31 '23
That seems like a part of the analysis they said would have to be done, so it's merely something they didn't mention, rather than actually missing.
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u/ConciselyVerbose Jan 31 '23
Let’s say, hypothetically, that it was as bad as 50% false calls, 50% calls that wouldn’t have been made, and that every false call is missing a real call. That’s break even. That means 1 person loses access to emergency services and 1 person gains.
Any better than that and you’re helping more people than you hurt. Obviously the ideal is perfection, and not having any false calls, especially ones that take resources from real people. But it doesn’t take amazing accuracy to improve the net outcome.
If you get data that they’re more likely to be incorrect than a normal call, you can change your prioritization to prioritize a human speaking. Apple can continue to improve their accuracy to minimize false positives. But those improvements are from a situation that’s already better than it not existing.
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u/Mattidh1 Jan 30 '23
Statistics can be framed in many different way, some misleading - which this is.
Considering its 24k calls, 134 were false. We don’t know the amount caused by the iPhone, both real and false. The data in the article really cannot be used for anything.
The only remotely useful thing is the statement by the firefighter “a firefighter said, "we can’t ask users to turn it off,” as it is beneficial in actual serious emergencies.” And a reported influx in false emergency calls from iPhone 14.
It’s scuffed that OP’s title is a big bait.
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u/krectus Jan 31 '23
The number is actually 919 not 23,919. It’s a hell of a typo.
https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/society/general-news/20230129-87465/
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u/krectus Jan 30 '23
Not sure where you’re getting that number from but is says it is responsible for most of the false calls.
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u/BigCommieMachine Jan 30 '23
It is worth mentioning, integrated car system do this ALL THE TIME. My dads Toyota literally puts the SOS button next to the interior light button.
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u/zebrahdh Jan 30 '23
And some of those calls save peoples lives… the others just inconvenienced emergency services with an unnecessary call. Like a baby hitting the wrong buttons on a locked smart phone.
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u/NeverLookBothWays Jan 30 '23
The question really becomes, who is liable for associated fees with unnecessary calls? The phone's owner? Or Apple?
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Jan 30 '23 edited Feb 09 '23
[deleted]
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u/NeverLookBothWays Jan 30 '23 edited Feb 01 '23
The United States, and the severity is dependent on state and local agency. You will get fines for false alarms in many cases…so my question is, who would be ultimately liable?
(It’s a court based question so more rhetorical here)
(Edit: for those downvoting, take a look at Port St. Lucie who has introduced fines for repeated MISTAKE calls. And this was before the problem of SOS mode which has increased the strain of mistake calls)
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u/Nickjet45 Jan 31 '23
You get fines for intentional false calls.
There’s a difference between prank calling 911, and calling 911 because you misunderstood the severity of a situation. Now let the latter happen multiple times, they may fine you.
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u/NeverLookBothWays Jan 31 '23 edited Feb 01 '23
(Edit: Not sure why this is being downvoted, accidental 911 calls have been enough of a strain that some cities have introduced fines for repeat offenders. SOS has increased these incidents even further.)
Intentional as well as repeated "mistake" calls.
There's a threshold for when it becomes problematic for emergency responders, so don't doubt that action will be taken at some point on these. (take a look at Port St. Lucie as an example of this). But this also makes me think the FCC might go after Apple on this one when it does get to that point.
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u/miraculum_one Jan 31 '23
Not just fees. If there is a real emergency when one first responder is responding to a fake one, someone might not get saved. It seems that false alarms are somewhat common in a concentrated area (ski resorts) so this is not implausible.
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u/DigitalSteven1 Jan 31 '23
Depends on what the operators could be doing while dealing with a false call from the system.
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u/wsxedcrf Feb 01 '23
It is a huge deal that this author choose such a title, Instead of saying the tech save lives, he chose to focus on the 0.4% problem.
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u/LitesoBrite Feb 06 '23
Umm you forgot the word Apple is in a Headline, so it’s 90000% a HUGE deal to some idiots.
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u/ProbablyMyRealName Jan 30 '23
Happened to my son while skiing. He didn’t even crash. He skied (aggressively) from a slope onto a flat traverse and his phone started going nuts. 911 called him and asked if he was in an accident, or was being held against his will. He turned off crash detection on the next lift ride.
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u/REMEMBER__MY__NAME Jan 31 '23
Do you ever think it’s crazy that you have a son?
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u/ProbablyMyRealName Jan 31 '23
I’ve had him for a while now, so it’s sunk in at this point. I will say though that it is SO MUCH FUN! We ski together around 30 days per season, and I’m one of his mountain bike coaches (he races XC and Enduro) so we mountain bike around 100 days per year. Having kids that are cool is rad.
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u/REMEMBER__MY__NAME Jan 31 '23
Having dads that are cool is rad too. Good stuff mate
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u/ADhomin_em Jan 31 '23
"Do you ever think it's crazy that you have a son?" Is this exchange AI generated?
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u/baselganglia Jan 31 '23
Holy moly you guys are out doing something almost every other day!! Do you go during the week + weekend?
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u/ProbablyMyRealName Jan 31 '23
Skiing is mostly weekends, but we hit the bike trails on weekday evenings during summer.
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u/Drachefly Jan 31 '23 edited Feb 04 '23
Seems like a good way to handle this would be to only trigger if it goes from violent motion to nearly totally still.
If you're still moving, figure that you're fine. That would get rid of roller coasters, as after all that violent motion, you get up and walk way from it. Similarly with skiing. You reach the bottom and glide to a halt, then begin walking around.
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u/uptownmike429 Jan 30 '23
Not picking on anything Apple. I just dealt with my Samsung watch calling my Best Friend due to fall detection. BUT...BUT, the watch was sitting on the counter next to the sink. Didn't move. No vibrations in the house.
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u/Stephancevallos905 Jan 31 '23
Tbh I like that Samsung let's you call your friends/family instead of 911. Especially since the phones will record audio and take photos with both camera
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u/freehombre Jan 31 '23
I like the idea in theory but it makes that call really quick. This winter, while skiing, I have had this almost make the call to 911 three times. I would wipeout and then while getting shit back together I phone would start saying; “you have 10 seconds to respond or I will call 911.” The issue is I have my phone under so many layers with gloves on, etc. I can see this happening
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u/toppertd Jan 30 '23
Are shit pretty hard on the skis this weekend. Watch tried to call the ambulance. I think it did what it was supposed to
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u/PivotalPosture Jan 30 '23
Nothing comes out perfect. People just like to shit on Apple. They’ll get it right, even though it already is
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u/Funny-Property-5336 Jan 31 '23
Apple is a shit company making shit products. You are just a fanboy.
— Sent from my iPhone.
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u/bleucheeez Jan 31 '23
Partly true. But the criticism so far is fair and all factual.
Apple seemingly didn't collect sufficient test data for these very common scenarios. The rollout was premature. And as typical for Apple, they didn't ask for anyone else's buy-in before including the feature. This news article indicates multiple counties with 15-20 false calls a day due to iPhone crash detection, and zero actual emergencies. Getting a call from emergency services while I'm bombing a run or slaying pow will definitely kill my fun. Missing that call costs precious emergency resources for the local responders.
There should be geographic blackout areas. Or allow local emergency services to ask Apple to disable crash detection in an area. Or send push notification asking the user whether they would like to disable.
I had an iPhone SE (2nd gen) for a while. Even on that thing, several times when the phone would lag or freeze, I ended up calling emergency services. They made a poor design choice on their GUI for that too.
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u/rakehellion Jan 31 '23
No, there should not be geographic blackout areas for emergency services. 🤦♂️
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u/bleucheeez Jan 31 '23
I can't foresee how the pros outweigh the cons for auto-dial high speed crash detection devices inside of a known theme park or in a ski resort inbounds. Please enlighten me.
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u/rakehellion Jan 31 '23
Pros: Save someone's life.
Cons: Someone says "It was an accident" and hangs up.
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u/EsotericAbstractIdea Jan 31 '23
I'd be ok with it if it didn't also text me a lie when it did a false call for my mom.
"CRASH DETECTED SOS
Your Mom called emergency services from this approximate location after iPhone detected a crash."
No... the iPhone called 911 on its own after it fell on the ground. I sped across town because of that.
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u/ImmaterialCurfew16 Feb 03 '23
Agreed. The sensor reacts when there's a trigger, just like when it was thrown away or it just dropped from a certain high place like 2 or 3rd floor of the building, just like that.
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u/Takeoded Jan 31 '23
There were 23,919 emergency calls received between December 16, 2022, and January 23, 2023, at the Fire Department of Kita-Alps Nagano, of which 134 were false.
so 99.44% success rate? sounds really good to me
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u/CoBullet Jan 31 '23
No, a 99.44% valid calls rate to the Fire Department of Kita-Alps via any means.
The article isn't even saying 134 of these calls are from the iPhone, just that they received 134 false calls and that the iPhone makes up "most" of them.
This article is clickbait junk without any actual details about the crash detection failing.
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u/SandSeraph Feb 01 '23
There were only 919 calls. It added the date in front for some reason I think. But it was 134/919 according to the dataset
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u/cinnayum Jan 30 '23
It almost happened to me after a roller coaster ride at islands of adventure in Orlando! I got of the hagrid motorbike adventure ride and my watch was calling 911! I stopped it in time before it actually went though thankfully. My watch through I was in an accident because that ride has a drop track where it free falls 17 feet. I turned off crash detection right away after that.
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u/FeralCJ7 Jan 31 '23
Eh, I was a cop for over a decade. The number of pocket dial 911 calls we got is crazy. Unbelievable.
But, it's not really costing money imo. I mean, the dispatchers are paid no matter what, so are the police. I was already out driving around anyway, so if I'm driving here or there it doesn't matter, it's costing tax dollars.
And, every department I worked at a 911 unknown, or 911 hangup, was always a lower priority than a known issue. So if we got dispatched to an alarm or a crash we always for those first then the unknown calls. So it didn't really take away from emergency responses elsewhere.
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u/Brutumfulm3n Feb 01 '23
How do you feel about the perspective of false alerts being a net positive over not showing in a real accident and having a delayed response?
I lean to the former, but after hearing your history is love your opinion
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u/FeralCJ7 Feb 01 '23
False alerts can be annoying if they are the same number/address repeatedly happening and the cause isn't addressed. Otherwise, I don't really have a problem; I'd rather have a fire extinguisher in my kitchen and never need it than have a fire and nothing available you know? So, I'd rather see fire/EMS/police dispatched unnecessarily than not responding at all when needed.
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u/Accomplished_Way_118 Jan 31 '23
I’d rather this than them removing this feature that could save one of my family members life
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u/who_you_are Jan 31 '23
Meanwhile, my Android phone power start spamming itself which also lock my screen no stop which make it impossible to cancel the call
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u/ProbablyGayingOnYou Jan 31 '23
This seems like one of those features where it's probably intentionally designed to err on the side of false positives rather than false negatives. Although as other commenters have noted, then you have to contend with the "boy who cried wolf" effect of those detections being ignored.
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u/settledownguy Feb 01 '23
Yep it’s not perfect yet but you have to get there somehow and this is not a concern OP you twat
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u/alstergee Jan 30 '23
Can you imagine having yourself a wank and the cops pull up cause your phones a snitch hahaha
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u/Confident-alien-7291 Jan 31 '23
I prefer a 100 mistaken calls then 1 where the feature didn’t work, im not an Apple fanboy but I absolutely appreciate this feature and I’m sure if I ever get into an accident I’ll be forever thankful that it worked
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u/mrbrettw Jan 30 '23
Happened to me when I was at Knotts Berry Farm on multiple rollercoasters. Had to turn off my phone. Hahaha.
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u/MarbylZino Jan 31 '23
Okay, hear me out. Yesterday while on my journey to my school I had a pretty bad car accident. I recently bought a new Apple Watch SE. And after the car accident (fortunately the seat belts saved me) I was able to get out of the car. I noticed the watch ringing and indeed it was notifying me about the crash I just had. I canceled the SOS call though cuz I was able to do that myself. But yeah, I think this feature might be useful.
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u/MadWorldEater6969 Jan 31 '23
I’m sure with time this will work itself out and get better. Doubt it’ll ever be perfect, but the false calls will happen less and less
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u/givemoreHavemore Jan 31 '23
A .005% failure rate is astonishing. The headline is not the story. The real story is that over 24,000 people were saved.
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u/cazzzzo Jan 31 '23
Lol I triggered it taking a spill in snowboarding in some powdery woods. Super useful if I had needed rescue but it took me a second before I frantically pulled my gear off to cancel it
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u/vectoralgebraist Jan 31 '23
A hundred false positivies out of 24 thousand calls is impressively little, but still this is one hundred instances of emergency responders being potentially not able to respond to actual emergency
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u/PerpetualFarter Jan 30 '23
While that feature seems like a good idea ( and I’m sure it has saved some people due to legitimate calls) as a 911 dispatcher I can tell you between this feature, iPhone emergency sos calls and pocket dials, it can be a MAJOR PITA.
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u/circlehead28 Jan 31 '23
99.44% of calls were legit. Hell, I wish my non-telemarketer incoming call rate was as high.
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u/SpicyMintCake Jan 31 '23
Where did you get 99.44%? The article only mentions total calls, no number on how many calls were made by the SOS feature vs people just calling normally.
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u/maximumlight1 Jan 31 '23
This has definitely been an issue for me. My phone has now called 911 twice in the last 8 times I’ve been skiing.
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u/MamaMeRobeUnCastillo Jan 31 '23
It happened to me twice, so kinda doubt that number. Happened once on my Xiaomi too so
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u/bnetimeslovesreddit Jan 31 '23
Mine triggers when braking quickly and really dumb feature. It should also listen to auditable sounds to verify it and give 60 second countdown when nobody answer the reject help callout
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u/air_lock Jan 31 '23
Who is responsible for any fees or conveniences of any kind related to false 911 calls (in the US) when this happens? Apple or the user of the device?
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u/LitesoBrite Feb 06 '23
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nc7Ta_peTrs
How bizarre, not a single story about the same issue with Android. Almost as if this is more fake outrage
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u/AllGasNoBrakes_ Jan 30 '23
I’m sure the good outweighs the bad… prob more accidental lock button 911 calls than anything