The Accidental Dispatch
Apple engineered the iPhone to dial emergency services as quickly as possible. By default, if you press and hold the physical side power button and either of the volume buttons for five seconds, the phone will initiate a loud countdown alarm and automatically dial 911 (or your local emergency number). While this is a critical safety feature, it is incredibly easy to trigger by accident. If the phone is squeezed tightly in your pocket while you are sitting in a car, or if a child grabs the device with two hands, it will effortlessly dispatch emergency services to your location. You must disable the automatic dialer to prevent this.
How to Turn Off Auto Call
You can deactivate the automated countdown while retaining the ability to slide the emergency bar manually.
- Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
- Scroll down and tap on Emergency SOS.
- Look for the master toggle switch labeled Call with Hold and Release (on some older iOS versions, this is labeled Auto Call).
- Toggle this switch to the Off position (the green background will disappear).
Manual Confirmation Required
The change takes effect instantly. If you accidentally squeeze all the buttons on your phone, the Emergency SOS screen will still appear, but the phone will completely refuse to initiate the automatic countdown. To actually dispatch emergency services, you must now look at the screen and physically swipe the red “Emergency SOS” slider from left to right, guaranteeing you never accidentally dial 911 from your pocket.