Most phones, iPhone, Android, or dumb will connect to whatever network is strongest - regardless of your carrier - if you dial 911, 999, or 112 in any country. It just automatically makes the strongest connection it can to the emergency services if you dial any one of those numbers (I did once try calling 911 in the UK when I needed to contact the police & it still connected to the emergency services even though the number is 999 here).

This was really helpful. I was so confused about Sos only and contact via satellite. Thank you!

I love these videos. They are short and concise and get to the point

To sum this video, SOS in the status bar is how Apple now indicates that the phone isn't connected to a cellular network but can still make emergency calls. You may also see “SOS Only” where the carrier name usually goes. This feature works in Australia, Canada, and the United States. 🤭

I literally just looked this question up like 4 hours ago, this man is literally reading my mind

Small correction - As many commenters have pointed out, 'SOS only' has appeared on iPhones (in many countries) for years. Say you have a SIM card/plan with Verizon (or Orange or Telstra or whatever your country's counterpart is), but the only cell towers in range of your current location belong to T-Mobile or AT&T. Your phone IS within range of a cell tower, but since it's not a VERIZON cell tower, you can't use it to surf the Web or send texts. You can, however, make a call to 911, since it's legally required (in certain countries) that doing so is free, regardless of what company you pay. The same thing happens if you don't have an active phone plan. You can still use the inactive SIM card in your phone to make 911 calls, hence the 'SOS only' status. BUT, there is a difference. On older iPhones, if you removed your SIM card, or you were in a remote area where there aren't ANY cell towers (from ANY company), the phone would instead say 'No Service', to indicate that the phone is physically unable to make any sort of cell connection, even to make a 911 call. However, in the new iPhone 14 series, the phone will still say 'SOS only' in this case, because Apple's phone's can connect to satellites (in space, instead of cell towers on the ground) to send very basic text messages to emergency services. That's the difference. Even in the middle of nowhere, your iPhone 14 may save you. Connecting to satellites to send emergency texts is not new technology. In fact, Garmin's popular 'inReach' series of handheld GPS units can send any texts over a satellite network, not just to emergency services. It's a nifty feature for the sorts of hikers and adventurers that would own a handheld GPS. However, this is the first time such a feature has existed in a mainstream cell phone. Granted, Apple's tech is definitely more limited since iPhones aren't specifically designed for this purpose and can only cram such a large antenna in their thin bodies, but it is still absolutely something to be excited about, and if you're ever in the situation which calls for such a feature, it could very well save your life. Hope this helps!

As a T-Mobile employee, I've had to explain this to countless customers.

Thanks for the explanation. They do that to help the customer. It would also be helpful if they made sure people knew what that was, I didn’t until I watched your video.

my first mobile phone, an Ericsson GH688, also had such a text ("Emergencies only") in case of network coverage issues .... The rule that all networks must provide emergency services, irrelevant of the connection applies also to the entire Europe (I'm from Luxembourg). It even works without a SIM-Card in the phone (not applicable to Germany)

All my previous iPhone's have done this. Don't know whether the US only just introduced this, but this has been a thing in Australia for AGES.

Also happens on my XR not just the 14

Thank you for this video, I have an iPhone 12 Pro and when I’m in the train and is in the tunnels sometimes I see this appear, now I know.

I carry a personal locator beacon because I just know too many stories for people of disappeared and died because they cannot get help. And I’m still going to carry my beacon even though I will have the satellite coverage with Apple. I think it’s great that they’ve included this feature But everyone needs to remember it was not gonna work if your phone is dead. My personal beacon has a five-year battery so I never have to think about charging it. Carry some back up battery packs or something because it’s a great option to have on your iPhone but again if your battery‘s dead it’s not gonna do any good. Thanks for the great video.

Every phone does this. Thank you for taking about this. To few people know this.

Thank you so much! My iPhone X seems to display this frequently.

I have the same on my iPhone XS Max in Canada- not just 14s in the US

You can even make emergency calls without a SIM card over here in Germany. I wonder why the US is so late to the game… We can also do WLAN Calling here, so as long as there is SOME KIND of connection of any sort, you can make emergency calls.

I have a 13 and it says it too. It’s not just limited to the 14. edit: i dont care what phone satellite SOS is limited to or if you have to pay for it or not, its a feature that is good to have and worth the money when you need it.

In Australia we have always had the sos sign on all i phones and on iPads that have SIM cards

“SOS Only” is not just with the iPhone 14. It’s all iPhones using iOS 16 and newer.

Well, I remember that this feature existed in the EU for ages already. But tbh I never noticed it, as with T-Mobile I mostly have either them or a Roaming partner to connect to. 😊

Nice knowledge

AT&T users watching this >>>>

Wow this really explained so much. I thought my phone needed to be rescued! I really couldn't have worked it out without this video, so informative. Next time please make a video about those four digits separated by a colon at the top of the screen, and then have a video which tells us where to find the time on our iPhones.

My iPhone 5 SE shows this icon, initially I have thought upon just having no specific connection but to have still SOS alert in it is useful

Been a thing in Australia for years, surprised this is only just becoming a thing in the USA?

can this be caused by weather? Such as being in a storm, rain and wind

I’ve experienced this on my iPhone 12, so it’s not only on the 14

This has been around in Australia for awhile. I've had it on my iPhone 7 and now my iPhone 11 for at leaat 2-3 years maybe longer.

Could you make a video about ios16 draining older iphones* batteries and if they doing it to encourage costumer to buy a new phone? I thought this topic was over but i cant believe they are doing it again. *older iphones means iphone 12 or older which isnt really old

Huh in Australia that’s come up for years, when we are in the outback. We can use other Carriers to call 000 emergency services

i’ve experienced this on my SE 2, this isn’t limited to iphones w/o physical home buttons (maybe only devices compatible with ios 16)

This does appears in older iPhones, mine, an Xr displayed that when I moved to Canada, my sim at that time was a Peruvian one.

I have an iP12p and have seen “SOS” in the top right corner before. It definitely freaked me out, before realizing it basically just means “no service,” because I thought it meant I had accidentally made/was on an emergency call.

Great ty for this info 👍👍

I read a comment that had said to update your phone to the newest ios and lo and behold that was my fix for this issue….hope this helps

This feature is available in Turkey for years. Even if your phone doesn’t have a SIM Card or if it’s in Airplane mode or anything, you’re able to call 911 anytime as long as you have charge. Everyone can use this feature with any device. Maybe this is the reason why our government’s saving our phones into their system so no one can use any device which came from abroad. So we need to register our device if we buy any device from anywhere, and that’s like 6,000 turkish lira. Though an iPhone 14 Pro Max is like 44.000 turkish lira in here, and in USA it’s $1100 which is equal to 21,000 turkish lira. Look, they’re charging almost %100 tax…

I’ve seen this sos only pop up on my device and I have a older apple phone. It seems to be on all products from the iPhone 8 and up starting with the iOS 16 updates

Bro this is such old news, I can’t believe you had to explain this.

LOVE my iPhone 14 Plus!

Fun fact you’ve always been able to make emergency calls on any phone with no cell because of the satellites everywhere

we're coming for you apple!

It's odd that the SOS only indicator (for some reason) appears on older iPhones updating to iOS 16.

Other iphones other then 14 has this feature as well.

Does this happen if you have a phone plan but haven’t been able to pay the bill just yet when I pay the bill will it start to work again

Good video I woke up saw SOS and thought I accidentally pushed the button

In this video, you state that this occurs on new iPhone 14s, but I want to ask if it's normal to see the "SOS Only" on an iPhone XR?

It’s in Canada as well

We should ALL be able to contact help when needed. For free. On all devices.

This is also available in other countries, like Greece.

Wait what? This is not new? Maybe in the USA but this was always visible on my phone when my main carrier was not available. The ‘no service’ is only shown when absolutely no usable network is nearby. I had this feature already on my Nokia 3310.

so I have a iPhone 13 but it’s messed up and I need to use my other phone it’s a Xr (rn it says SOS and the service is disconnected) ..do I just pay for that phone to be cut back on?

This channel is like every school presentation.

Thanks for let me know what is the sos mean

Thank you for telling me this I was worried my wifi was being a idiot and calling 911 or something-

I’ve always thought that’s what it meant when I saw it

okay but i’m at home connected to wifi and my internet keeps cutting in and out??? i’ll go from full bars to zero to sos only??? and when i left like 30 ft from my house it just straight up said “no service” so is this a tower issue or????

A lot of people are saying they get it on their non-14 iPhones, so I'm a little late, but I can say the indicator is also on SE 2.

This is so common to see in my school because the schools walls are made out of concrete so it’s common to see on our phones

This has happened on my XR, so I believe any phone on iOS 16 will have this feature.

Can wait for TMobile to launch there service via starlink next year.

its just sza’s new album no need to worry

Shown on my 8 plus in canada as well❤

How do you fix the issue?

We have SOS on our iPhones in Canada as well

I have a 13 and it still does this. I noticed it only does it at school though so I theorized that maybe my school is doing something. I also have Verizon so I don't know if that has anything to do with it.

Daily dose of APPLE

This also happens on iPhone 13 and some older ones, too.

Back when I had Verizon I was able to place an emergency call on my old RAZR even though my phone was inactive on the network.

I’ve never really thought about iPhone showing “no service” rather than an “SOS” before. But new regulation? Seriously? At least here in Sweden a mobile phone has always connected to nearest tower regardlessly. Been so for more than twenty years.

Isn't this the same thing, worldwide, on any phone?

That’s a lie you cannot text while your phone is in an SOS mode

This just happened to me. Problem is it happened at home where I’ve always had phenomenal service. All of a sudden nothing… doesn’t make much sense. I’d appreciate any help

how do we fix it ??? is it something the carrier has to deal with?

When I got my 13 pro max it had this at first but when I did that one Apple transfer it worked and connected to my network

My XR says SOS only when not in AT&T’s range and says no service when not in range of any carrier

that makes sense!

It's not only for iPhone 14. Users in the US, Canada and Australia have it I think.

Still makes no sense , I live in Columbus ohio and pay for cellular data , in a populated area with connection not an issue why does my phone always go to sos mode in a populated area ? I’d understand the country but a city

My SE3 will do this to me at church most of the time.

My Verizon 13 does this a lot and and a lot of people in my area are having this problem. Can’t use phone to leave certain areas. Pain

I have the iPhone 13, I’ve found this out w/ logical thinking

If you have a SIM card installed but is not active, the phone still displays that. I know the XR or later works for this.

Well it says sos even if you have a cell plan because it is connecting to a tower … just not your carriers tower. Meaning you still can call 911

0:10 Huh? SOS Only has been displayed for years here in Oz. My iPhone 5 did it.

Hi guys. I have the 13 pro max blue and today I accidentally hit its top left edge against the wall and it got a very tiny scratch that that was hard to spot, but not impossible. After wiping it with a paper towel it suddenly disappeared and I looked for it for about 15 minutes from different angles and bright light though couldn’t find anything. Just wanted to know how this happened, any ideas?

The music tho👌👌

I looked at my phone to see what carrier status it displays and I realised that I watched whole 30 minute videos with cellular data

This has been a thing for years on iPhone in Australia

This also occurs on any iPhone.

Imagine before satellite if you didn’t have connection it says “You Will Be Missed”

Me : *checks the top left and sees the SOS thing* tf did i do this time

Okay thank you for making this video. I thought it was some spy who hacked in my phone

I use an iPhone 11 Pro Max and it always shows that thanks for telling me why!

It's is connected to cellular it's just that it's connected to a competitor network that your carrier doesn't have access

I saw that same message on my XS Max years before

Delightful!!

I have a problem so that error right there that you explained yea I have it but I have a iPhone 11

Thank you for telling I was going to print something but I didn’t have network thank you I’m going to tell me dad to help

Go to cellular n change to your E-sim no problem