A new motion signed into law in India will require all phones, including iPhones, to feature a ‘panic button’ to call emergency services and GPS for location pings from January 1st, 2017. The provisions are being brought in to aid the ‘security of women’, via the Indian Express.
Obviously, GPS has existed in iPhones since the iPhone 3G but it seems that Apple will have to make some software modifications to iOS to comply with the panic button request.
The document dictates that smartphones need to add a physical button dedicated to emergency response or repurpose the power button with an additional gesture to initiate a call for help. It seems unlikely that Apple will adorn its sleek iPhones with a special button just for one country, so compliance will likely come via the latter software-based method.
The suggested implementation is for smartphone makers to activate the panic mode when the power button is pressed quickly three times. Essentially, it needs to be activated without requiring use of the touchscreen. On dumb phones that include physical number pads (still very common in India), the mode would be activated by holding down a particular key.
When the panic button is activated, a signal will be sent to the nearest security agency to respond. However, the system still seems to be in early planning stages as further details about the plan were not disclosed. Via GPS location, the idea is that the plan will give security force more accountability in responding to emergency help requests.
Right now, iOS features quick access to dial an emergency number on the lock screen. Slide to the left and tap the ‘Emergency’ button. This brings up a special white/red dialpad that allows calls to emergency service numbers without needing to unlock the device. The iOS feature is not sufficient to comply with the new Indian ruling, as it necessitates an emergency response can be triggered without using the screen to navigate.
Apple is currently focusing on India to find new geographies for iPhone growth and the company is currently pursuing opportunities to sell iPhones directly to customers in the country. The cheaper iPhone SE is also clearly positioned at emerging markets and has seen decent uptake in India, according to analysts.
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Nice idea but how are they going to stop the office “jokers” activating this on your phone whilst you are in the toilet/grabbing a coffee etc etc at the very least it’s going to need touch ID
Probably the same way they stop those jokers from using the existing emergency call feature. Either by taking your phone with you, or the fact that people don’t actually do that!!
But there is a big difference between having the bottle/cheek/balls to ring the human emergency services from someone elses phone and ask for the police to an address and pressing a button to activate an automated service
Youve never left your phone on charge at your desk etc ?
And, if India is starting to “dictate” required features, how soon until other countries start to dictate their special needs and requirements? This is a very slippery slope that Apple is being asked to navigate.
I think the feature is a good idea – I’m just concerned about the way it’s being dictated.
The US already dictates that phones be able to call 911 for free, this is simply a better version, kudos to India and hopefully other countries will follow suit.
Yes, this will totally solve India’s rape problem. Interesting how the persons (government) tasked with safe guarding the public are pushing this off onto an out-of-country business. God forbid they actually protect their citizens themselves. I guess that would require them to admit they’ve been doing a shit-job so far.
Typical liberal mindset. The only person responsible for your safety is you, not the government. If the police happen to be in the area when something goes down, then sure they can help. Otherwise, exercise whatever rights the government in whatever country you’re in allows you to have and learn to protect yourself.
redraider, I am guessing you have never been to India, read anything about its actual female citizens, or some how think its just like the USA.!!!!
Even when women get the police involved, the police really don’t care. Its an old mans world, preferably a rich old mans world. Read up on it. It totally sucks to be female in India, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, etc. They are sex and baby machines and nothing else.
@eldernorm You probably have no idea about India and you are throwing your judgements sitting 1000s of kilo-meters away from it.
I think what he’s saying is validating your post as well. A clear observation that not only are they not responsible for you, but they suck at it. Same can be said for any “service” provided by the state.
As they say, the Police are minutes away when seconds count!!! Whoever thinks they’re minutes away, count yourself lucky. I just don’t see this feature doing a single thing to help anyone that accessing the phone now won’t already do. If anything, there could be a lot of false panics.
apple can raise its voice and oppose to the us government requests, but can’t with the indian one
this is how “corporate integrity” bends easily
WTF are you talking about?
Slide to the left on the lock screen? Never seen that.
7 months is seems an awfully short time to implement this.
Just a simple lightning port accessory
They do have an Emergency “button” people can already press when you get to the password screen. why would they have to change that? I think Apple shouldn’t have to do anything differently, that should be “good enough” to accomplish the same task.
Is this India or Texas?
Although the real problem here isn’t being addressed, this is still a nice feature that shouldn’t be specific to just India. A software feature like pressing the lock button three times should be easy enough to implement and could be useful in a wide variety of emergencies. My only suggestion would be that it works for any of the side buttons. Its easy enough to mix up the lock and volume buttons when taking a picture, let alone being raped lol.
Just swipe the iPhone to get the password page and look at the bottom left hand, it says “EMERGENCY”. What happens when you press that? It’s supposed to call 9-1-1. Problem solved. NeXT!!
Yes, you solved the problem beautifully – if your attacked cooperates.
You are being attacked (and if you were female, it is likely that the attack will quickly move to rape). So you have time to calmly get your phone, push the button – but not for too long or your fingerprint will unlock the phone – and then looking at it you “easily” find the Emergency button (which you naturally remembered is in the bottom left corner). Then you need to figure out where on the emergency screen to press. I’d be amazed if you managed to get that far without the attacker knocking the phone out of your hands. Assuming your attacker allows you to keep using your phone, I’d be amazed if you could remain calm enough to complete all those steps.
While it is far from an ideal and complete solution, pressing a button 3 times (without having to bring the phone into the attacker’s sight) and knowing that emergency services are being contacted with your location and no further interaction from you is a good step in the right direction.
What happens when you press emergincy on the lock screen. Nothing really. It just brings up the phone dialer that is restricted to make only emergincy call. You must still enter 911 or what ever your country emergincy number is.
Apple’s emergency s/w is just fine, anything more than that, they should just buy a specialty emergency button device. you wear around your neck or on a wrist band.
Hmm. Press quickly three times. That’s currently “guided access mode” (one app locked in the foreground — useful for kiosks etc.) It’s also medium-tricky to make those three presses in the way that the iDevice will recognise; not something I’d want to try when stressed.
On the matter of dictating required features, happens all the time. Wi-Fi and cellular bands differ from country to country, and you’d better not transmit out of band if you do not want regulators making your life difficult; Europe has laws on maximum headphone volume; the US requires location information for emergency calls … Hell, Apple even does it to itself: News is not available in most markets.
I think the motivation here is that people would discreetly contact emergency services with their hand out of view without needing to look at the screen and find the right keys. I could see a rapid-click scenario for the power button. But would have to be at least 3 clicks (probably 4) to avoid false activation.
Needs to be something that you can just put your hand in your pocket, grab the phone and press, without having to take out to see the screen. Otherwise it’s not really an emergency feature. If it requires an access code during a panic, it won’t work.
Doesn’t the iPhone already HAVE a “panic” button? Called the “Emergency” button right beside the passcode? Or tell Siri to call emergency services (DO NOT use that)?
The emergincy button on the passcode screen don’t do anything but bring up the phone dialer. You still have to dial it and hit call.
Ha, I didn’t know there were Democrats in India.
“Siri Help! Siri Help!” maybe? I suppose there could be more than one way to trigger it. But whatever triggers the “Panic Mode” the phone should immediately start recording audio (and pictures or video?) and also start sending that media to emergency responders so they can quickly assess the situation and/or use that in court of law if needed.
Good idea. Apple’s implementation of emergency features is clunky. It needs to be easy to dial emergency numbers, send your GPS location or street address, and access medical data. The swiping and touch activations needed to find medical info is hopelessly complicated and would defeat any person trying to help.
There is a product on the market that does this. It’s called a Zomm Personal Leash. It has the ability to call 9-1-1 or an emergency number, plus a whole lot more. It’s actually a cool product. I’m thinking of getting one for the variety of features it has.
Damn it India why so stupid!
Who is looking stupid now? They have implemented the feature and I really like it. Call emergency without even looking at phone.
Why does this have to be restricted to just India (for now at least)? I can see this being very helpful in a situation where time is of the essence and you need to call 911 (or your respective emergency number) immediately. Yes, I realize the passcode entry screen has an emergency option, but that only brings up the dial pad and you still have to manually enter the number. Doing multiple presses of a button is much faster IMO. Oh well, at least the Apple Watch has the option to quickly call emergency services. I disabled the side button long press feature though since I didn’t realize at first that was an option. Thank God there was a countdown though so I didn’t have to get the police to show up at my door only to have to tell them it was an accidental dial.