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Emergency SOS via Satellite Saves Students Trapped in Utah Canyon
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I wonder how many people will think they’re more protected than they actually are when stories like this are advertised.
Well, you can, but it tends to be permanent and life ending. And of course someone has to deal with the aftermath.
Not always so easy in such environments. Sometimes problems are confounding and take some time to overcome. Some might call that being stuck, others the normal course of progress.
Still, getting into a place where you can't back out is a recipe for disaster. If their progress was already slow, and conditions much wetter than they had expected, and they didn't have the proper gear or knowledge, they should have turned around.
Exactly. Do dangerous things by all means, but have something in place so you can get out of it if it goes wrong.
They’re resourceful. They know not to go canyoneering after Sept 2025.😂Sweet that this happened before their free trial elapsed
Did emergency services bring them some avocado toast and lattes?
Does the iPhone automatically tell you when the satellite is expected to come into view, or would you have to hold it up for 20+ minutes (in this case) hoping to catch a satellite?
Looking forward to seeing this story highlighted at WWDC!
More often than not the easiest route out is down canyon. Much easier to rappel down a cliff than to climb one.
We hear about the times it works, not the ones where it didn't. Gives an inaccurate measure of how much you can depend on this. I have found for a lot of things like this feature that when you really need to use it, it doesn't work. Best plan is never stake your life on sparkly tech features and always have a plan for what you are going to do when it doesn't work.
With this article, Tim wants to tell you to buy 2 iPhone 14’s when you go for a walk because you might break one and need the other one so you don’t die
That's absurd and completely untrue. Do people really think like this or just make it up to get attention?
I assume you can document these failed times. They are in a canyon with steep walls. No one can change the physics of line of sight. I think you're premise is completely unsupported.
I really think like this.
I grew up in a mountain area and you barely hear about the almost weekly intervention with helicopters to rescue tourist who hike with sandals. Now because it involves an iPhone it makes the National news. Come on.
I’m not questioning that the story is true, I am laughing about the PR stunt.
Helpful reminder: any iPhone can be made to work with Globalstar and Apple should roll out this allegedly lifesaving technology to older iPhones.
Seriously considering upgrading my entire family to the 15 series this year just for this feature and crash detection. A few years ago my dad had a serious mountain bike accident on a trail and had to literally crawl with broken ribs, a punctured lung, and a broken shoulder until another biker found him and managed to call emergency services by cycling down to an area with coverage. It was bad enough to almost warrant a helicopter evac to hospital but in the end they used a fire department pickup truck to get him out down to the ambulance on the main road. Without the miracle of that other biker the outcome may have been very different.
A lot of iPhone features are nice to haves but if you spend any time away from cell coverage for hiking/etc like my family do this is simply a *must have* feature.
Another bonus is using the satellite network to update Find My.
A lot of iPhone features are nice to haves but if you spend any time away from cell coverage for hiking/etc like my family do this is simply a *must have* feature.
Another bonus is using the satellite network to update Find My.
I'm almost tempted to say it should be a requirement for new phones sold in the US, much like airbags or anti collision features on a car.
Why? If people want the feature, they can just buy a new phone that has it.
This is the problem with modern society.
Smartarse snarkery aside... great news those involved were able to get themselves out of a potentially lethal situation. Another +1 for the Emergency SOS feature.
That said, they were fortunate the iPhone's satellite antenna system worked in that situation. Anyone going canyoning *really* should be taking a proper PLB or dedicated Satellite Communicator (InReach, etc) as deep walls can really limit the ability of a device to achieve line of sight to enough satellites to both get out messages and send an accurate location to SAR.
Having Emergency SOS on an iPhone is a great backup/secondary device, but for higher risk activities (and canyoning definitely falls into that category) it shouldn't be relied on as a primary emergency beacon-type device. Especially as PLBs are generally waterproof and very durable... and iPhones generally aren't so much ;-)
That said, they were fortunate the iPhone's satellite antenna system worked in that situation. Anyone going canyoning *really* should be taking a proper PLB or dedicated Satellite Communicator (InReach, etc) as deep walls can really limit the ability of a device to achieve line of sight to enough satellites to both get out messages and send an accurate location to SAR.
Having Emergency SOS on an iPhone is a great backup/secondary device, but for higher risk activities (and canyoning definitely falls into that category) it shouldn't be relied on as a primary emergency beacon-type device. Especially as PLBs are generally waterproof and very durable... and iPhones generally aren't so much ;-)