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Apple today shared a minute-long video promoting the Emergency SOS feature on the Apple Watch, highlighting the rescue of Australian man Rick Shearman, who was swept out to sea last July.


Shearman was swimming in Byron Bay when rough seas pushed him away from shore, with the current carrying him over 1.5 kilometers from the beach. He couldn't get past the waves, and after about 20 minutes of trying to get to shore, he realized he needed help.

He called emergency services using the Emergency SOS feature on his Apple Watch, with the call played back in Apple's ad spot in a dramatic reenactment of the event. He was able to source help, and stayed on the line with emergency crews for an hour to direct them to his location. He was ultimately rescued by helicopter.

Emergency SOS on Apple Watch can be activated by holding down the Side Button to call the local emergency services for the area that you're in.

Article Link: Apple Shares Emergency SOS Apple Watch Success Story
The cool thing with the Ultra is that you can just long press on the action button to bring up SOS calling. I just learned that today.
 
Awesome story.

I'm just picturing the awkwardness of trying to swim in that condition and keeping one wrist elevated to keep a signal.
 
Not as dramatic but I was on a stand up paddle board when the water got choppy and I got pushed far out into the lake and it was getting dark. I didn't have the energy to keep paddling so I just laid down on the board and called my friend from my Apple Watch Ultra to let them know what was happening. It was reassuring to know that I could call for a boat to come get me if I got in real trouble. Eventually the water settled down and I was able to paddle back to shore.
 
It's 2025.
Metric time doesn't use years, months, days, hours or minutes. You aught to talk about which Terrasecond we're in if you want to be taken as a serious advocate of metric.

But also, you're assuming a preferred frame exists and that time is linear, both of which were falsified by special relativity some amount of time ago (it was definitely in the past - causality is real!)
 
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If you’re planning to surf, swim, do a triathlon, or dive nearby, it’s best to leave your iPhones behind . If we bring our iPhones in the water, we’ll need to put them in a waterproof case.

This guy only wore his Apple Watch Ultra 2 with the ocean band.

If you call emergency SOS on your Apple Watch, it will use cellular data on the Apple Watch if your iPhone isn’t with you, or if your iPhone is with you, it will use the cellular data from your iPhone. But even if you don’t set up cellular on your Apple Watch, it can still pick up cell towers to make emergency calls.
If you mean the Ultra, well, yes, because all Ultras have cellular connectivity hardware. But that is not the case in non-Ultra watches. In those, you can use emergency services without your iPhone nearby only with those including cellular connectivity hardware.
 
Rough conditions for the watch to communicate. When my Ultra 2 is underwater the speaker and mic are not usable before they dry again. Can’t imagine how a phone call works properly in this condition and cellular signal is gone when you are more than a couple of centimeters under water also.
 
Rough conditions for the watch to communicate. When my Ultra 2 is underwater the speaker and mic are not usable before they dry again. Can’t imagine how a phone call works properly in this condition and cellular signal is gone when you are more than a couple of centimeters under water also.
Yet it apparently did, or he wouldn't be here to tell the story.
 
Very good ad. The watch has very useful and indeed lifesaving features. I like my Apple watch very much.
 
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Apple today shared a minute-long video promoting the Emergency SOS feature on the Apple Watch, highlighting the rescue of Australian man Rick Shearman, who was swept out to sea last July.


Shearman was swimming in Byron Bay when rough seas pushed him away from shore, with the current carrying him over 1.5 kilometers from the beach. He couldn't get past the waves, and after about 20 minutes of trying to get to shore, he realized he needed help.

He called emergency services using the Emergency SOS feature on his Apple Watch, with the call played back in Apple's ad spot in a dramatic reenactment of the event. He was able to source help, and stayed on the line with emergency crews for an hour to direct them to his location. He was ultimately rescued by helicopter.

Emergency SOS on Apple Watch can be activated by holding down the Side Button to call the local emergency services for the area that you're in.

Article Link: Apple Shares Emergency SOS Apple Watch Success Story
I don't know if I am doing something wrong but when I am in the sea with my watch I am unable to perform any input function. It always ask me if I am swimming for example, but I am unable to respond until I return to shore do a water eject and then it frees up the input capability.
 
You clearly don't go to the beach. A tide will take you out when there is a swell & you cannot swim against it or a rip. If he tried, he'd be dead from exhaustion! He clearly tried as much as he could.

In just a couple of minutes, you can be dragged out 100's of metres.

We have plenty of surf life saving facilities in Australia from beach to air, so he did the right thing.
A rip tide is normally very narrow. You do not swim against it but you can swim out of it either by swimming with it at an angle or at 90 degrees to it.
 
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