iOS 16.4 Further Optimizes iPhone 14's Crash Detection After False 911 Calls

[MacRumors]

iOS 16.4 includes additional Crash Detection optimizations for all iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro models, according to Apple's release notes for the software update, which is expected to be released to the public as early as next week.

Apple does not provide any specific details about the optimizations, but the company has been working to improve Crash Detection after emergency dispatchers in several U.S. states and Canada complained about the feature triggering an influx of false 911 calls from skiers and snowboarders throughout the winter. This is the third update with Crash Detection optimizations after iOS 16.1.2 in November and iOS 16.3.1 last month.

Crash Detection launched last year for all iPhone 14 models and the latest Apple Watch models. 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 has sometimes mistaken a skier or snowboarder falling down as a car crash, according to reports out of Colorado, Utah, New York, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, and other popular skiing areas.

It's unclear if the latest optimizations will fully resolve the issue. The skiing season is drawing to a close in the U.S. and Canada, so we will have to wait until next winter in order to know if iOS 16.4 leads to a reduction in false 911 calls.

Article Link: iOS 16.4 Further Optimizes iPhone 14's Crash Detection After False 911 Calls

 

[krspkbl]

Why can't those skiers snowerboards disable the call? Are they down for more than 20 seconds? Is the sound too low?

Maybe Apple should test these things for longer before releasing them to the public. They are wasting the time of the emergency services!

edit: lmao at "false 911 calls should decrease regardless as the skiing season draws to a close." jeez the quality of this place is going downhill (no pun intended)

 

[rtkane]

Contextual ads coming in 16.5.

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

The good thing is winter is almost over.

 

[krspkbl]

The good thing is winter is almost over.

What about next winter? Or will Apple have fixed the problem by then?

 

[rtkane]

Why can't those skiers snowerboards disable the call? Are they down for more than 20 seconds? Is the sound too low?

Maybe Apple should test these things for longer before releasing them to the public. They are wasting the time of the emergency services!

Sometimes you don't even know. My Apple Watch has done it for fall alerts while skiing before, but with it being buried under multiple layers of clothes plus a glove, it often goes either unnoticed or you barely get the watch uncovered in time to stop the notification. Never had the crash detection go off, fortunately.

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

What about next winter? Or will Apple have fixed the problem by then?

Either we're going to have to rely on Siri or Apple's AI.

 

[krspkbl]

Sometimes you don't even know. My Apple Watch has done it for fall alerts while skiing before, but with it being buried under multiple layers of clothes plus a glove, it often goes either unnoticed or you barely get the watch uncovered in time to stop the notification. Never had the crash detection go off, fortunately.

the sound should be at full volume on both the watch and iphone then. increasing the time to 30-40 seconds would help too.

 

[krspkbl]

Either we're going to have to rely on Siri or Apple's AI.

lol that defeats the entire purpose. Siri is useless. Maybe the AI can help Apple out.

 

[rtkane]

the sound should be at full volume on both the watch and iphone then. increasing the time to 30-40 seconds would help too.

Honestly, I don't even remember it ever showing up on my phone, just the watch. I ski with a bluetooth headset and don't recall hearing anything through it when it's happened, so not sure if it lets on both or not? And even with full volume on the watch, it's hard to hear, but agree with you that an increase in time would help. Hopefully Apple fixes the problem--having EMS roll because of false alarms sucks.

 

[CarAnalogy]

Contextual ads coming in 16.5.

View attachment 2177240

Except it'll be for a gambling app.

 

[vegetassj4]

Rumor is, you have to verify that you are not involved in wintr sports:

 

[CarAnalogy]

Why can't those skiers snowerboards disable the call? Are they down for more than 20 seconds? Is the sound too low?

Maybe Apple should test these things for longer before releasing them to the public. They are wasting the time of the emergency services!

edit: lmao at "false 911 calls should decrease regardless as the skiing season draws to a close." jeez the quality of this place is going downhill (no pun intended)

Turns out a high stakes race against time to use a touch screen with snow gloves wasn't the brilliant idea it sounded like in the board room.

 

[cdsapplefan]

This is the kind of thing that will continually need tweaking 🎿 ⛷️

 

[cdsapplefan]

They could just have the auto dial to emergency services disabled when near a ski resort. Don’t know if they tried that already

 

[rgeneral]

The good thing is winter is almost over.

Winter is other parts of the world too.

 

[OzPeyter]

The good thing is winter is almost over.

You Southern Hemisphere denialist!

 

[CosmicTris392]

If (currentLocation == SKI_RESORT) {
DontCallEmergencyServicesForCarCrash();
}

 

[crsh1976]

Why can't those skiers snowerboards disable the call? Are they down for more than 20 seconds? Is the sound too low?

Wild guess is that they just don't notice crash detection went off and is about to call first responders - which makes sense if the phone is buried deep in your coat pockets as you're skiing (watch users may have a different pattern, but heavy skiing mitts likely don't help here hearing/noticing the crash alert and timer).

 

[FelixDerKater]

Pair it with some Apple glasses and the camera will help sort out the need to make a call.

 

[t0rqx]

Think this is really hard to optimize. You never know which one is in- or unintentional.

 

[BobSc]

The good thing is winter is almost over.

What about the Southern Hemsphere?? And why does crash detection only apply in winter?

 

[jamezr]

I got this the other day when I was playing with my dog. We were playing where she tries to play bite my hands as i grab her feet and play slap her face. She loves this game! I got a warning from my AWU that I had to dismiss or emergency services would be called.

 

[compwiz1202]

Winter is other parts of the world too.

What countries use it so far though? But even in just the US and Canada, it can still snow year round some places so there will be snow sports.

 

[paradox00]

the sound should be at full volume on both the watch and iphone then. increasing the time to 30-40 seconds would help too.

The solution isn't to make it more annoying. They have to make the process less dumb. If you get up and continue moving it shouldn't make the call for obvious reasons.

Actually considering that they have emergency satellite SOS now, they should really have their own manned emergency response centre that takes the SOS calls and routes them to the appropriate authorities. That would make them responsible for dealing with these false calls and more incentivized to properly fix it.