iOS update wants to fix issues with crash detection

Apple’s new update release has optimised the system that allows you to call for help in the event of an accident, and which has gained prominence for falsely alerting the authorities several times.

Apple’s new iOS 16.3.1 version brought new features to avoid problems with the iPhone accident detection system, which allows you to call for help even when the victim is inanimate, but that has gained prominence for the wrong reasons: the sensitivity and accuracy of the system have caused ‘false alarms’ when users are, for example, on roller coasters or skiing.

The ‘bad press’ gained new contours with a report in The New York Times, which revealed several stories about this ability of the iPhone, when it mistakenly triggered the SOS systems at a ski resort in Colorado, in the United States. The document cites several first responders frustrated at the use of resources in vain caused by the false calls.

With the release of iOS 16.3.1, Apple brings changes to this distress mechanism, but it remains vague in the release notes: “Optimisation of crash detection functionality on iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro models,” it reads only.

The system uses the iPhone’s G-force sensors, combined with other data, to work out when the user has been involved in an accident, and Apple promises that the interpretation of this data will be optimised to prevent more ‘false accidents’.