This is what is wrong with this site you just can’t beat a DEAD horse Tu o death enough
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Apple Responds to Yet Another Report About iPhone 14's Crash Detection Feature Triggering False 911 Calls
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Yep, there were similar complaints about the ECG feature on the watch.
The Apple Watch heart monitor sends too many people to the doctor
False positives can be expensivewww.theverge.com
To be fair the ECG feature isn’t something Apple marketed heavily as a life saving feature. And people taking time to investigate doesn’t literally cost lives. It does cost money. And any screening test can result in a false positive.
However I’m very glad to see coverage of these issues by Macrumors. This is more practical and realistic and not just marketing tripe being spewed by Apple to bolster a product.
Maybe they'll be able to geolocate and say "That car crash is on a ski slope, so nope."
...I'm a tad surprised Apple hasn't been fined for this?
I think I'd like to see them fined—not punitively, but just to recoup the costs of those 911 calls, which I'm paying for in (very) small part as a taxpayer.
I think I'd like to see them fined—not punitively, but just to recoup the costs of those 911 calls, which I'm paying for in (very) small part as a taxpayer.
Last edited:
Good for you personally and your Apple watch. Unfortunately, for the two or three lives that were purportedly saved by an Apple watch, there are plenty more being put in jeopardy because emergency responders are unable to respond to a legitimate call because they're busy responding to bogus ones.
Your story isn't that far from the "Bitcoin made me rich" stories we hear from time to time.
From my understanding they tested it but nothing tests something like real life usage. It's kind of like when you create software and get it to the beta state then release it to people. Those people are going to find more bugs then your developers will ever find. Clearly though Apple should've done more testing because with something so serious it's not good to have false alarms. We don't want 911 operators thinking "oh it's just another false alarm from an Apple Watch".
Also, it's not just the watch that has crash detection but all iPhone 14 series. I wonder if iPhones are having the same problem as the watch.
I don't understand why this is a problem because it's widely known and the ski resorts should put out to their guests to disable crash detection before going to the slopes. I can see a few forgetful people not doing this, but it shouldn't be to the level where the 911 center is getting multiple calls all day. Either they're being overdramatic and exaggerating or these skiers are really something I can't probably say in these forms 🤣
There needs to be way more data like that and are there any absolutlely proven times that someone dies because of false detection. And what about all the other falses. They should be addressed also
"the two or three lives that were purportedly saved by an Apple watch," are you really serious? If this is the most intelligent argument you can come up with against this feature...
Comparing me having a medical emergency to getting money on bitcoin? I can't even entertain this level of stupidity.🤦♂️
But, but, but...Apple only launches when they've gotten it right! 🤣
How would working in person have helped? Someone could have brought up these "what if" scenario via chat just as easily as if they were in person.
I've had fall detection go off accidentally but the good thing with fall detection, at least in most scenarios is you're able to dismiss it. Also, it's only on by default if you're over a certain age. I think it's 60 or 65. I guess they figure if you're younger and fall, you'll probably survive.
Someone mentioned on the roller coaster with fall detection going off. Yeah that's a problem because if you're on a roller coaster or skiing, you're probably not going to be able to notice or deactivate it in time.
I get the idea of the sensors being overly sensitive which I don't think they are. But only blaming Apple for this is stupid. If you've set off these notifications they're plenty loud and vibrate hard enough and give plenty of time to stop the call from going out. How is it Apple's fault that the wearer didn't cancel it? If you're wearing an Apple Watch and ignoring it completely why even wear one in the first place?
While I agree with you on principle, when you're skiing it's probably a lot harder not only to respond to the Watch, but to even feel it. You're pretty bundled up when skiing, so it wouldn't shock me if you don't even feel the watch vibrating (and extremely unlikely you'd hear it). Even if you feeling it vibrating, but the time you unbundle yourself it may be too late to prevent the 911 call.
Cam we stop naming this technology Artificial Inteligence as it’s obvious Artificial Stupidity at these prices in an cost of living crisis. AI was heavily marketed as something life changing, that we all need. Noup, is just making our life more complicated and emtying our pockets.
It's with people skiing so it's unlikely they would be able to do anything flying down the ski slope. I've never gone skiing, but I could imagine you don't want to take your hand up and mess with your watch. If someone here is a skier and I'm wrong, please let me know
If it makes the call and then were to cancel it, it still goes into 9-1-1 as a hang-up call. The call taker would then be required to call the person back. If the person didn't answer on several attempts back, depending on the situation, if location information was available, a police/fire response might still be sent to the location anyways. This wouldn't necessarily help.
That kinda goes with my point then. Why even wear it if you can do nothing but ignore it?
Quite, if skiing can set it off so can those water sports. And didn't a water sports association recently make the Apple Watch it's official watch?
My 2¢. It's useful and important. But skiing/snowboarding means you are bundled up, gloves, and your phone is buried deep in the heap. Just getting to the phone (and not losing it in the snow) will take more than the twenty seconds default. I suggest several "pause" settings. 20 minutes, 1 hour, 3 hours or something along those lines at your own risk. Pause at the top 20 minutes for a run, your're ok at the bottom?, get back to top of the lift, do pause again.
Emergency dispatchers continue to raise awareness about Apple's Crash Detection feature causing an influx of false 911 calls from skiers and snowboarders.
Crash Detection launched last year for all iPhone 14 models and the latest Apple Watch models, including the Series 8, Ultra, and second-generation SE. The feature is designed to detect a severe car crash and automatically call emergency services if a user does not respond to the device within 20 seconds, but it appears that iPhones and Apple Watches sometimes mistake a skier or snowboarder taking a tumble as a car crash.
A report from The New York Times today focused on Colorado's Summit County, where several ski resorts are located. There, a dispatcher and a police officer complained that responding to false 911 calls triggered by iPhones and Apple Watches has been a time-consuming task and threatens to divert resources away from legitimate emergencies.
The report quotes dispatcher Trina Dummer:Mark Watson, a sergeant with the local sheriff's office, also said the situation is impacting his ability to carry out his duties effectively.
In response to the report, an Apple spokesperson said the company is "aware that in some specific scenarios these features have triggered emergency services when a user didn't experience a severe car crash or hard fall." The spokesperson noted that Apple optimized Crash Detection with iOS 16.1.2 and watchOS 9.2 last year to reduce the number of false calls, and said the feature has "already contributed to saving several lives."
The report notes that Apple also sent four representatives to the Summit County call center to observe Dummer and her team for a day.
There have been several reports about the issue in other skiing areas like Colorado, Utah, New York, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, and British Columbia, Canada since Apple introduced the feature last year. It's unclear if the optimizations that Apple made have led to a reduction in false 911 calls from skiers and snowboarders; in any case, it will likely take some time before all users update their iPhone or Apple Watch to the latest software versions. It's also unclear if Apple plans to make any further optimizations.
When a severe car crash is detected, the iPhone or Apple Watch displays an alert, which users have 10 seconds to act on. If the user is unresponsive, the device begins another 10-second countdown while sounding an alarm and aggressively vibrating or tapping, and then calls emergency services if the user remains unresponsive. But since skiers often wear thick outerwear, some are unaware when the feature is triggered.
Apple says the feature relies on sensors like the accelerometer and gyroscope in the iPhone and Apple Watch, along with "advanced Apple-designed motion algorithms trained with over a million hours of real-world driving and crash record data" for increased accuracy.
Apple did not respond to our request for comment.
Article Link: Apple Responds to Yet Another Report About iPhone 14's Crash Detection Feature Triggering False 911 Calls
True, except if I am at a ski slope and really do fall and seriously injure myself then I want to be helped
What you're describing applies to all technology. Obviously you're not all in on this because you're typing on some sort of electronic device to make a post here. I'm assuming you have electricity in your house and modern conveniences like air conditioning and heat. Maybe you have a refrigerator and a microwave oven? All of these are technological devices that have improved our life, but also made it more complicated. The cell phone is high up on that list because now you are connected 24/7
That's a really good idea! Make an obvious setting to pause crash detection, and maybe fall detection as well. With GPS it could remind the user they're at a ski area and to do this, but that also depends on the user paying attention to notifications
Y'all think so? Summer is when people flock to amusement parks to ride rollercoasters.😉 It's just trading one set of false calls for another set.
Amusement park ride operators will now have to remind people to turn off Crash Detection before getting on the rollercoasters. What's one more rule added to a list of rules people ignore anyways?😐
If it disrupts first response services, and if we really want to play the "but it can save lives" card, let's not push it until some lives are lost because first reponders were busy checking false-positive calls made by this sort of half-baked feature.
They simply should turn this off by default and put a warning on it until it's ready to perform as expected.
They simply should turn this off by default and put a warning on it until it's ready to perform as expected.
Last edited: