Emergencies rarely come with a warning. A road accident, sudden fall or unsafe situation could leave you unable to unlock your smartphone or manually search for someone to call. This is where the Emergency SOS features available on many modern iPhone and Android smartphones can become useful.

When properly configured, Emergency SOS may allow a phone to contact emergency services quickly, alert selected emergency contacts or share location information. Depending on the smartphone, additional safety tools can include Medical ID information, crash or fall detection, emergency video recording and even satellite-based emergency communication.

Simply having Emergency SOS on your smartphone, however, is not enough. Users should configure the available safety features in advance and understand how the SOS shortcut on their particular device works.

What Is Emergency SOS?

Emergency SOS is a built-in smartphone safety feature designed to make it easier to seek assistance during an emergency.

Depending on the phone and its settings, Emergency SOS may help users contact emergency services, notify emergency contacts, share their current location or make important medical information available from the lock screen.

Some supported smartphones also provide additional capabilities such as detecting a serious vehicle crash or fall.

Certain Android devices may offer emergency video recording, while supported iPhone models and regions may provide satellite-based emergency communication when normal cellular or Wi-Fi connectivity is unavailable.

Importantly, not every Emergency SOS feature is available on every smartphone. Availability can vary according to device model, operating-system version, country, network and other factors.

How to Set Up Emergency SOS on an iPhone

iPhone users can review their emergency settings from the Emergency SOS section of the Settings app. Important medical information and emergency contacts can also be configured through Medical ID.

1. Check Your Emergency SOS Shortcuts

Go to:

Settings > Emergency SOS

Depending on your iPhone model and software version, available options may include Call with Hold and Release and Call with 5 Presses.

With the first option, holding the side button together with a volume button can start the emergency process. The five-press option allows users to rapidly press the side button five times to activate the SOS sequence.

Supported iPhones may also provide Call After Severe Crash, which can detect a serious car crash and potentially initiate an emergency call after a countdown.

Review these options in advance so you understand which shortcut is enabled on your phone.

2. Add Important Information to Medical ID

Your iPhone's Medical ID can provide important information to people assisting you during an emergency.

Open the Health app, tap your profile picture and select Medical ID. Choose Edit and enter the medical information you consider appropriate.

If you enable Show When Locked, selected information may be accessible from the lock screen without someone needing your iPhone passcode.

This can be useful when you are unable to communicate important information yourself.

3. Add Trusted Emergency Contacts

Emergency contacts can also be added through Medical ID.

Choose people who would be useful to contact during an emergency, such as trusted family members or close friends.

Depending on the Emergency SOS feature being used, these contacts may receive relevant alerts or location information after an emergency call or SOS event.

It is a good idea to periodically check that the phone numbers saved for your emergency contacts are still correct.

4. Review Emergency Location Sharing

Depending on the features supported by your iPhone and region, location information may be shared during an emergency.

Check the options available under Settings > Emergency SOS and review any emergency location-sharing controls provided on your device.

Because emergency-location features can vary by country, network and software version, users should verify the options actually displayed on their own iPhone.

5. Check Whether Satellite Emergency Features Are Available

Some newer iPhone models support emergency communication through satellite in supported countries and regions.

This can be useful in situations where cellular and Wi-Fi connectivity are unavailable.

Satellite emergency capabilities are not universally available, however. Support depends on factors including the iPhone model, software, country or region and service availability.

How to Set Up Emergency SOS on Android

Emergency settings on Android can vary considerably between manufacturers and Android versions. The names and locations of individual options may therefore differ from one phone to another.

1. Find Safety & Emergency Settings

On many Android devices, start by going to:

Settings > Safety & emergency

If you cannot find the menu, search for Emergency SOS using the search function inside your phone's Settings app.

2. Add an Emergency Contact

Add at least one trusted person as an emergency contact.

Depending on your smartphone's capabilities and the options you enable, these contacts may receive an alert or location information when Emergency SOS is activated.

3. Add Emergency Medical Information

Supported Android phones may also allow users to save medical or emergency information.

Some devices provide an option to make selected details available from the lock screen. This can help first responders or other people assisting during an emergency access important information without unlocking the smartphone.

Only include information you are comfortable making available in this way.

4. Configure the Emergency SOS Shortcut

Open the Emergency SOS settings and follow the setup instructions shown by your phone.

On many Android smartphones, rapidly pressing the power button five times can activate Emergency SOS. However, the exact shortcut and resulting actions vary between manufacturers and devices.

For this reason, users should not assume that the same five-press procedure works identically on every Android phone.

5. Review Location Sharing

If your smartphone supports emergency location sharing, check whether the appropriate option is enabled.

You may also need your phone's location services turned on for certain location-sharing features to work correctly.

Review who can receive this information and understand when your device will share it.

6. Check for Emergency Video Features

Some Android smartphones offer emergency video recording as part of their personal-safety features.

Availability varies by device. If your smartphone supports it, review how the feature operates and where emergency recordings may be stored or shared before enabling it.

Set Up Emergency SOS Before an Emergency Happens

Emergency SOS is the kind of smartphone feature most people hope they never need, but waiting until an actual emergency to learn how it works defeats much of its purpose.

Take a few minutes to review the SOS shortcut on your phone, add trusted emergency contacts and check any medical-information and location-sharing options you want enabled.

Most importantly, remember that Emergency SOS features differ between iPhones and Android devices and can also vary by model, software version and region. Check the settings and instructions provided on your own smartphone rather than relying on a shortcut intended for a different device.

Preparing these settings in advance could make it considerably easier to seek assistance when quickly making a normal phone call is difficult or impossible.