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AT&T to Send Emergency Alerts to U.S. iPhone 4S/5 Owners [Update: iPhone 4 Users Also Included]
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I've gotten local AMBER alerts on my phone before while I was at work, it was weird hearing random phones in the store all making the same noise, if a bit confusing.
That's when I learned that lottery machines show them at the same time.
That's when I learned that lottery machines show them at the same time.
EAS wasn't activated on 9/11 because the capabilities of the system (essentially, a blank screen accompanied by a voice message) were inferior to that which was already being broadcast by the mainstream media. Why would you preempt full-color video to provide, essentially, even less information via EAS?
See http://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/21/n...1.html?scp=1&sq=Emergency Alert System&st=cse
Read up on some history. These emergency alert systems have been around since the 50s. The president has had the power for decades to issue an "Emergency Action Notification" and override all television broadcasts to address the country. That's far more expansive power than a text message.
... I agree on 'public' communication systems, like tv radio etc. The president doesn't need to be buzzing in my pants. But seeing your avatar anything I say about your dear leader will cause a roll eyes comment.
I wonder how reliable this is for things like tornadoes, earthquakes, and hurricanes. It's tornado season in my area and I'd love to not have to pay attention to TV to make sure I'm safe.
For what it's worth, Weather Underground's app DID go off the other day just as the real sirens went off around town. I was pleased to see that works. Now I wonder if it'd go off while in silent mode.
For what it's worth, Weather Underground's app DID go off the other day just as the real sirens went off around town. I was pleased to see that works. Now I wonder if it'd go off while in silent mode.
It is on most and on most phones being sold recently. AT&T already had support on several Android phones. They are just enabling it for iPhone users now (most likely because they are required too).
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Storm warnings are the only alerts I have ever seen on my phone. And the warnings are very localized since they can send them to specific towers.
I'm really glad they send the alert for nuclear war. That will give us plenty of time to find some place to hide, under a sturdy tree (as long as there are no thunderstorms in the area).
Second, this is the dumbest idea I've ever heard of, and it makes me think twice that the "conspiracies" are really true. Why would people need to get an emergency message from the President on their phone?? This has obviously been in the works by AT&T for some time (it takes development resources to do this). Everyone is within 5 seconds of the Internet, so why do we need a DIRECT alert from the Emergency System?! I do not want to install this update on my phone especially considering the NSA bs going on. Apple needs to allow people a way to upgrade without this "feature" installing.
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Oh yeah, definitely would have helped to get the message directly on my phone. I don't have a TV, or Internet, or text message access, so it would have been imperative to have the emergency broadcast system tied into my phone on 9/11.
Mine just updated OTA. No iTunes needed...
It's a carrier file not a system update so yeah no need since iOS 4...
Maybe I'm missing something but I don't see what the big deal is? If you don't like it, turn it off. If you think the feds are going to use your iPhone's emergency alert system to snoop on you... I'm not sure how that works... aren't they just pushing messages to you depending on your location... which I'm sure the feds already know through my email/internet activity/phone/credit cards/whatever-they-use. (btw...hi Fed people watching me
)And it's a little short-sighted to suggest that because we have TV/phone/internet/etc that this is unnecessary. Actually just yesterday, I was just in the library, got an alert that there was a tornado watch in the area (I have one of the aforementioned new Android phones that do it). I don't check the weather that frequently at all and honestly the storm came out of nowhere on a perfectly clear sky sort of day... so I would have been unaware had the message not been sent to me.
The issue that I have is that you can't opt out of all of them (presidential being the one you can't).
It has nothing to do with who is in office or what party is in power, but the notification not being able to turn off if you so desire.
It has nothing to do with who is in office or what party is in power, but the notification not being able to turn off if you so desire.
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Does ATT provide service in nations other than the U.S.?
From what others have posted, it seems to me that if and when POTUS uses this capability, you will quickly have far, far weightier things on your mind than POTUS barging into your bubble via your smartphone. On the other hand, if you believe that in an apocalyptic situation ignorance is bliss and you'd like to die without knowing what hit you, I sympathize.
I can see from the article that the installation process doesn't include a prompt that asks you whether or not you want them enabled. You have to go into settings after the installation is finished.
The Weather Underground app has done that for free via push notifications for over a year now. They let you pick which types of weather notifications (thunderstorm, tornado, flood, etc.) you want.
It's been really useful to me, as I don't usually listen to the radio or watch live TV.
I got a iPhone 5 my mom and sister got this update on their iPhone 5 strange and I still did not get it.
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