Apple introduced a new feature for crash detection on the iPhone 14 / Pro line that has been working in real life, but it’s also been triggering false reports. Now, Apple is working to reduce inaccurate reports by piloting a new call for user feedback in the iOS 16.2 Beta.
This comes after some people found that the feature can be triggered by roller coaster accidents. In other cases, crash detection didn’t kick in at all.
A idevice help screenshot shows the Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max asking for user feedback when an emergency SOS is canceled. The device collects system diagnostic data and sends it to Apple so they can investigate and improve the product.
This diagnostic data can be found on the iOS Beta, which uses the Feedback Helper app to collect data on various bugs and crashes that users encounter. Of course, the official version of iOS does not have a feedback assistant, but it makes sense for Apple to collect data for such an important feature.
The SOS feature in iOS and watchOS allows users to quickly call emergency SOS services by pressing and holding the power and volume buttons, or by pressing and holding five times to call quickly.
Apple has added crash detection to the iPhone 14 series, Apple Watch Series 8 and Apple Watch Ultra. It is integrated into emergency SOS and allows the device to automatically contact SOS services if the user does not respond.
Apple executives explained how the feature works and said there is no “magic formula” to reduce false alarms by 100 percent.
“Depending on how fast you were traveling earlier, determines what signals we see later,” said Ron Huang, Apple’s vice president of sensing and connectivity. “Your speed changes, combined with impact, combined with pressure changes, combined with sound levels, it’s all quite a dynamic algorithm.”
