SOS please, someone help me…

We think it’s safe to say that we’re hardly Bear Grylls when it comes to surviving in emergency situations.

As much as we’d like to think we were super street smart, we would simply be lost without our mobiles if we found ourselves in a sticky situation.

But did you know that there are certain features on your mobile that’ll keep you safe in an emergency. Both Apple and Google have got you covered and have infused a number of things into their software.

If you’re in a situation where you can’t talk on the phone, there are ways to ping someone your location. Need to call someone fast? You can set up your own phonebook with all your nearest and dearest in

Staying safe with Apple.

Emergency SOS.

There’s nothing quite like getting a new iPhone. Lifting the lid off the box and seeing the fresh screen. When you set up your new phone, Emergency SOS is all ready to go. This service lets you quickly get in touch with the emergency services.

If you’ve got an iPhone 8 or later, you can simply hold down the lock button and the volume down button.

A slider will flash up on the screen that says, Emergency SOS. If you drag this across with your finger, it’ll make an immediate call to the emergency services.

A screenshot of the emergency SOS on iPhone.
This is how the SOS slider will present itself. 

Don’t worry if you’re not in a situation where you can slide this across, Apple always have a plan B.

You might have already done this by accident, but if you hold down both the lock and volume down button a deafening alarm will blast out with a countdown on screen.

When the countdown is over your iPhone will automatically call the emergency services, so you don’t even need to take your phone out of your pocket.

If you’re more old school and have an iPhone 7 or earlier (no judgement from us it’s an oldie but a goldie), then the process is a little different. To activate the Emergency SOS, you’ll need to click the lock button five times – but fast.

The slider will pop up on your screen and you’ll be able to immediately make the call.

How to add an emergency contact.

When you’ve carried out the Emergency SOS process, there’s a hack that automatically fires your location over to your emergency contacts, so that they know exactly where you are and can get to you fast if they need you.

A print screen of the emergency contact option on iPhone.
You can add more than one emergency contact.

To set up your emergency contacts follow these three easy steps.

1) Open the Health app that’s already installed on your iPhone.

2) Locate your Medical ID and then tap emergency contacts.

3) Enter the details of the person you want to be your emergency contact. It’s worth knowing you can have more than one!

Apple have thought of everything and given you a way to activate your Emergency SOS message from your Apple Watch. Simply hold down the side button on your watch and wait until the SOS message appears and a countdown begins.

Keep your iPhone close by so that it can make the call. When the countdown ends, the call will begin, and a message will be set to your emergency contacts (providing you’ve set them up of course).

Staying safe with Samsung.

Samsung have some great little tricks that’ll have you feeling safe and secure. Their Send SOS Messages feature lets you automatically send someone your location.

A screenshot of SOS messages on Samsung.
SOS messages are perfect for staying safe with Samsung.

Like on iPhone, you simply press the side key three times, and a message will be sent to your emergency contact.

The funky difference is that your Samsung will automatically snap a photo using your front and rear camera as well as an audio recording of the moments before the message was sent.

This will not only give them an insight into where you are but will clue them in on what’s gone off too. We can’t promise they’ll be insta-worthy shots but hey, safety first!

Here’s how to set up this handy feature.

1) Pull down the notification bar and open up Settings.

2) Scroll until you find Advanced Features.

3) Scroll until you  find Send SOS Messages.

4) Turn this on and choose who you want as your emergency contacts.

5) Turn on the Attach Pictures and Attach Audio Recording settings.

Safety first!

We want to make sure you’re all staying safe out there folks and these are a few handy steps you can take to ease your mind that little bit more. Of course, we hope you never have to use them, but it’s certainly worth having them set up and ready to go!