Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

iPhone Jailbreak tweak idea: tweak to prevent kids from dialing 911 without an emergency

M

moonman239

Cancelled
Original poster
Mar 27, 2009
1,541
32
Some people give children old iPhones. Guess what? In the US, you can use any digital phone to call 911, even if it's not activated. So little kids can annoy the heck out of the people at the 911 center by dialing 911 when they don't have an emergency.

Given that fact, what if those people could jailbreak their old iPhone and download a tweak that prevents the kids from making false 911 calls? Maybe what the tweak would do is ask for a passcode before calling 911. If the person dialing 911 does not enter the right passcode, the phone will not dial 911.
 
moonman239 said:
Some people give children old iPhones. Guess what? In the US, you can use any digital phone to call 911, even if it's not activated. So little kids can annoy the heck out of the people at the 911 center by dialing 911 when they don't have an emergency.

Given that fact, what if those people could jailbreak their old iPhone and download a tweak that prevents the kids from making false 911 calls? Maybe what the tweak would do is ask for a passcode before calling 911. If the person dialing 911 does not enter the right passcode, the phone will not dial 911.
Click to expand...

Thats a bad idea. What if it is an emergency. Then what?


Sent from my iPhone 5 using Tapatalk 2
 
moonman239 said:
Given that fact, what if those people could jailbreak their old iPhone and download a tweak that prevents the kids from making false 911 calls? Maybe what the tweak would do is ask for a passcode before calling 911. If the person dialing 911 does not enter the right passcode, the phone will not dial 911.
Click to expand...

Some ideas leave me almost speechless and in fear for the human race. How about if the kid has to enter a pass phrase, like something from Shakespeare. :rolleyes:

Or maybe, just remove the SIM from the phone? Nah, too simple
 
Last edited:
Why not just teach the kids not to do that, or if you can't trust them to be responsible don't give them the phone in the first place
 
moonman239 said:
Some people give children old iPhones. Guess what? In the US, you can use any digital phone to call 911, even if it's not activated. So little kids can annoy the heck out of the people at the 911 center by dialing 911 when they don't have an emergency.

Given that fact, what if those people could jailbreak their old iPhone and download a tweak that prevents the kids from making false 911 calls? Maybe what the tweak would do is ask for a passcode before calling 911. If the person dialing 911 does not enter the right passcode, the phone will not dial 911.
Click to expand...

Sorry, but that's a really un-informed idea when you consider that making an Emergency call is meant to be one of the easiest actions to do. Imagine being upside down in your car, in a flash flood, water rapidly rising, and you dial 911, easily done by holding 9, or pressing Emergency Call from the lock screen, and you have to remember what that password is before you can ask someone to come and save your ass. Oh wait ... it's not your phone, it's your spouses, and you have no idea what they used for a 911 pass... too late dude your idea just ruined your chance for rescue.

From personal experience, I do know the day I found my wife unconscious on the floor and that "password" had popped up when I dialed 911, I would have bounced the phone off the wall and cursed you up one end and down the other. I would suggest you ask First Responders what they think about your idea.

Yes Virginia, there really are such things as stupid ideas.
 
moonman239 said:
Some people give children old iPhones. Guess what? In the US, you can use any digital phone to call 911, even if it's not activated. So little kids can annoy the heck out of the people at the 911 center by dialing 911 when they don't have an emergency.

Given that fact, what if those people could jailbreak their old iPhone and download a tweak that prevents the kids from making false 911 calls? Maybe what the tweak would do is ask for a passcode before calling 911. If the person dialing 911 does not enter the right passcode, the phone will not dial 911.
Click to expand...

Parents have to be responsible enough to teach their kids not to dial 911 unless its absolutely necessary. The state can't be there to baby sit your kids 24/7.
 
Ok, new idea: Make it so that doing either of the following, depending on the adult's settings, will result in the phone dialing 911:

1) Pressing and holding the 9 for 2-3 seconds before pressing the 1 twice.
2) Pressing and holding a certain digit that the user can't change, or at least is advised not to, for 2-3 seconds before dialing 911.
3) Setting a passcode.

My thinking is that most people in most cases will have access to a phone that isn't running this tweak, if an emergency arises. If you or your spouse enables it on one of your own phones, you activated this tweak before handing the phone to your kids and will deactivate it as soon as you get it back, and if an emergency does occur during that time, you or someone else, such as an older kid with an active cellphone, can dial 911 using a different phone.
 
moonman239 said:
Ok, new idea: Make it so that doing either of the following, depending on the adult's settings, will result in the phone dialing 911:

1) Pressing and holding the 9 for 2-3 seconds before pressing the 1 twice.
2) Pressing and holding a certain digit that the user can't change, or at least is advised not to, for 2-3 seconds before dialing 911.
3) Setting a passcode.

My thinking is that most people in most cases will have access to a phone that isn't running this tweak, if an emergency arises. If you or your spouse enables it on one of your own phones, you activated this tweak before handing the phone to your kids and will deactivate it as soon as you get it back, and if an emergency does occur during that time, you or someone else, such as an older kid with an active cellphone, can dial 911 using a different phone.
Click to expand...

sigh…just leave it and educate your kids….
 
Guess what? This happens everywhere around the world! It's an emergency number for a reason.

You need to stop thinking of 'new' ideas and start teaching your kids. I guess you aren't prepare for all these? Was it an accident?
 
Jailbreak tweak idea: tweak to prevent kids from dialing 911 without an emerg...

Okay! New idea, and this one is a game-changer:

You DON'T hand a child a phone you know is NOT capable of understanding the importance and general rules associated with it.

Or you know... Get the child an iPod?
 
OP, you are trying to make a universal safety feature HARDER to use.
Fail of an idea.

So at home, where landlines don't have pass codes, what do you do? This comes down to parenting, which should be harder than dialing 911, but infinitely more important.
 
Why does everybody feel the need to be an ******* on the internet? Guy comes in with a legit idea (people do give their kids old phones and kids do stupid stuff no matter how much you talk to them) but everybody has to get their little snarky comment in like a pack of wolves. Oh but what happens if you're in a car wreck and the only phone you can reach is the random phone that hasn't been activated in years? You're making an option that no kid should ever use harder to use you fail! Instead of using a leftover phone go out and buy them an ipod. You're so stupid I fear for the human race :rolleyes:
 
TC25 said:
Some ideas leave me almost speechless and in fear for the human race. How about if the kid has to enter a pass phrase, like something from Shakespeare. :rolleyes:

Or maybe, just remove the SIM from the phone? Nah, too simple
Click to expand...

Taking out SIM card won't matter. In the USA a phone as to be able to dial 911 no mater if the phone has service or even a SIM card. So please do some research before you speak. Taking a SIM card out of a phone won't do a thing and I think that's what the original poster was trying to say not that I agree with him lol
 
kaielement said:
Taking a SIM card out of a phone won't do a thing and I think that's what the original poster was trying to say not that I agree with him lol
Click to expand...

I erred. Call 911 on me. :rolleyes:

moonman239 said:
Ok, new idea:
Click to expand...

When you're in the Stupid Idea hole, stop digging.

slowsupra said:
Why does everybody feel the need to be an ******* on the internet? Guy comes in with a legit idea...
Click to expand...

Because it's not a 'legit idea'. It's a stupid idea. It's as dumb as asking, "Why someone doesn't invent a lock for a landline phone that only adults have a key for."
 
moonman239 said:
Some people give children old iPhones. Guess what? In the US, you can use any digital phone to call 911, even if it's not activated. So little kids can annoy the heck out of the people at the 911 center by dialing 911 when they don't have an emergency.

Given that fact, what if those people could jailbreak their old iPhone and download a tweak that prevents the kids from making false 911 calls? Maybe what the tweak would do is ask for a passcode before calling 911. If the person dialing 911 does not enter the right passcode, the phone will not dial 911.
Click to expand...

This has got to be an April's fools windup, right..???
 
lanceuppercut47 said:
Depends where you are in the world, not everyone is in the US..
Click to expand...

moonman239 said:
Some people give children old iPhones. Guess what? In the US, you can use any digital phone to call 911, even if it's not activated. So little kids can annoy the heck out of the people at the 911 center by dialing 911 when they don't have an emergency.

Given that fact, what if those people could jailbreak their old iPhone and download a tweak that prevents the kids from making false 911 calls? Maybe what the tweak would do is ask for a passcode before calling 911. If the person dialing 911 does not enter the right passcode, the phone will not dial 911.
Click to expand...

Neither am i, but it looks like the OP is american and posted at 8.05 pm EDS on the 31ste
 
moonman239 said:
Some people give children old iPhones. Guess what? In the US, you can use any digital phone to call 911, even if it's not activated. So little kids can annoy the heck out of the people at the 911 center by dialing 911 when they don't have an emergency.

Given that fact, what if those people could jailbreak their old iPhone and download a tweak that prevents the kids from making false 911 calls? Maybe what the tweak would do is ask for a passcode before calling 911. If the person dialing 911 does not enter the right passcode, the phone will not dial 911.
Click to expand...

Change your attitude towards child discipline, not a system that doesnt need changing.
 
moonman239 said:
Some people give children old iPhones. Guess what? In the US, you can use any digital phone to call 911, even if it's not activated. So little kids can annoy the heck out of the people at the 911 center by dialing 911 when they don't have an emergency.

Given that fact, what if those people could jailbreak their old iPhone and download a tweak that prevents the kids from making false 911 calls? Maybe what the tweak would do is ask for a passcode before calling 911. If the person dialing 911 does not enter the right passcode, the phone will not dial 911.
Click to expand...

So a tweak that removes the emergency call button from the passcode lock screen (iPod touch style)…

Or you could use guided access to lock your kids into one app, so they can't mess around with the rest of the phone.
 
ok, new idea!

turn 911 into 9911223300404033304043030 and you should be fine with this easy-to-remember 25 digit number and your kids will never ever bother first responders!

:D
 
slowsupra said:
Why does everybody feel the need to be an ******* on the internet? Guy comes in with a legit idea (people do give their kids old phones and kids do stupid stuff no matter how much you talk to them) but everybody has to get their little snarky comment in like a pack of wolves. Oh but what happens if you're in a car wreck and the only phone you can reach is the random phone that hasn't been activated in years? You're making an option that no kid should ever use harder to use you fail! Instead of using a leftover phone go out and buy them an ipod. You're so stupid I fear for the human race :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

+1 on TC25's comment.

"Because it's not a 'legit idea'. It's a stupid idea. It's as dumb as asking, "Why someone doesn't invent a lock for a landline phone that only adults have a key for."

I would say the same thing in real life if someone is stupid enough to ask. So it's not an internet thing.
 
Wow. Old post but you people are savage. It's a legit question, one I'm trying to do myself, you know why?? Because if you disable the phone portion, it basically becomes an iPod Touch, which aren't sold anymore and expensive 2nd hand. The just teach your kids crap?? You all must levitate to work everyday on your superiority. Old iPhones are cheap and easy to come buy, can play games, and music.

Guess you all were never taught as a child that there is "No such thing as a stupid question".
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back