How I Accidentally Called 911 Because of the iPhone Update
So my morning started a little differently than usual today... it was 4:12 am and I was trying to snooze my alarm when I hear a loud siren coming from my phone. After basically jumping out of my skin, I look at my phone and see "CALLING 911".
I obviously panicked and canceled the call, but it only took them 60 seconds to send me a text saying "THIS IS 9-1-1, WE RECEIVED A HANGUP CALL FROM THIS NUMBER. DO YOU HAVE AN EMERGENCY?" Although I may have contemplated responding "yes, I need a Panera bagel", I called them back and said it was an accident. What I want to know is: has this happened to anyone else??
I did some research and figured out that there was a feature added to IOS 11 a couple months ago that sends a call to 911 when you press the power button five times in a row. Since Apple recently released a bunch of crazy new features on IOS 12, I compiled a list of the coolest ones so no one accidentally calls 911 as I did:
- "Screen time" is a new addition to the iPhone that tracks how much time you spend on your gadget and even organizes it by individual apps
- "Memoji" is customized emoji that you can design to look just like you. It moves when you move and is described as "a cross between Bitmoji and Nintendo's Mii characters"
- Another feature that I'm probably most excited about is GROUP FACETIME. This will allow you to Facetime up to 32 people at the same time!
- Apple has also been working on a bunch of new augmented reality stuff, including a feature called "Measure" that allows you to measure things around you with the tap of a button
- There's also a variety of camera and photo updates to capture an even crisper image than ever before
So don't be like me, Intern Ally, and if you are trying to snooze your phone, only hit that button 1-4 times, not 5. Never 5.