Your iPhone 14 might confuse a rollercoaster ride for a car crash

The next time you ride on a rollercoaster you might want to leave your iPhone 14 behind, as users are reporting that their device’s crash detection is being set off by the rapid movement.

Crash detection is one of the iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Pro, and Apple Watch 8’s best new safety features. Using internal gyroscopes and other sensors, these Apple devices can detect if you’ve been involved in a car crash and alert emergency services or your emergency contacts automatically. It’s not perfect, but Apple also gives users the ability to cancel the alert manually within 10 seconds if their iPhone erroneously detected a crash.

However, when you’re strapped into a rollercoaster you can’t easily cancel this alert, and as some users have discovered (via The Wall Street Journal) it means that emergency services and contacts are alerted to a crash that never happened.

We’ve reached out to Apple about the situation and to find out if it has any solutions for the issue, if we hear back we’ll update this piece with what they say.

Analysis: the iPhone that cried wolf

If the feature has to be imperfect we’d much prefer the iPhone 14’s crash detection to be too sensitive than not sensitive enough. But if it keeps frightening emergency contacts and services with false positives, then Apple’s crash detection software could soon follow the parable of 'the boy who cried wolf'.

So what can you do?

Well if you are going on a rollercoaster, or taking part in another activity that could set off crash detection, then you might want to turn off crash detection on your iPhone or Apple Watch.

To do this on an Apple Watch 8, Apple Watch SE 2, and Apple Watch Ultra you’ll first need to access the Watch app on your paired iPhone. In the My Watch tab, tap on Emergency SOS and go to the Crash Detection section. Here you should see a toggle for Call After Serious Crash which you can set to Off and then confirm.

On your iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 14 Pro, or iPhone 14 Pro Max you need to head into your phone’s Settings app and then into Emergency SOS. Once again you need to toggle off Call After Severe Crash and then hit confirm.

In both cases, you’re not really turning off Crash Detection, just the alerts. This will make the service much less annoying if you find it’s picking up a load of non-existent crashes.

That said, turning off crash detection could be an issue if you then forget to switch it back on. Instead, we’d much prefer a quick Do Not DIsturb style setting, perhaps called Amusement Park Mode, in which you’d be able to disable Crash Detection alerts for a set period of time, with your iPhone reminding you the feature is switched off via an icon at the top of the screen. Alternatively, it could send you regular updates to remind you that Amusement Park Mode is on so that you eventually remember to switch it off.

We’ll have to wait and see if Apple comes up with a solution soon, otherwise their latest safety feature could wind up being its most annoying one instead.

Looking for more ways to use your iPhone? Check out our picks for the best iPhone apps.

Source: TechRadar

Apple and Meta Reportedly Discussed AI Partnership for iOS 18

Apple has held discussions with Meta about integrating the Facebook owner's AI model into iOS 18 as part of its Apple Intelligence feature set, according to a report over the weekend. Meta launched Llama 2, its large language model, in July 2023, and in April, the company released the latest versions of its AI models, called Llama 3 . The Wall Street Journal reports that the two longtime rivals have held talks about offering Meta's model as an additional option to OpenAI's ChatGPT. The paywalled report notes that the discussions haven't been finalized and could fall through. As part of Apple Intelligence, Apple has announced a partnership with OpenAI that will allow Siri to access ChatGPT directly in iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia to provide better responses in relevant situations. Using ChatGPT will be optional, so users with concerns about the technology can abstain and still make use of Apple's own new AI features. Speaking at WWDC 2024, Apple's

Here Are the macOS Sequoia Features Intel Macs Won't Support

When Apple released macOS Monterey in 2021, some key features required a Mac with Apple silicon. The same scenario played out with macOS Ventura in 2022, and then again the following year with the release of macOS Sonoma. With macOS Sequoia set to arrive in the fall, which new features can Intel Mac owners expect to be unavailable to them this time around? Apple says that macOS Sequoia is compatible with the same Macs as macOS Sonoma, but Apple's fine print reveals that certain new features won't work on Intel machines. If you're still on an Intel Mac, here's what you won't have access to. Apple Intelligence Apple Intelligence , a deeply integrated, personalized AI feature set for Apple devices that uses cutting-edge generative artificial intelligence to enhance the user experience, won't be available on Intel Macs. Apple says the advanced features require its M1 chip or later, so if your Mac was released before November 2020, you're out of luck. T

iPhone 16 Pro Models to Adopt 'M14' Advanced Samsung OLED Panels for Improved Brightness and Lifespan

The upcoming iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max will be the first Apple smartphones to adopt Samsung's high performance "M14" OLED display panel, claims a new report coming out of South Korea. According to ETNews , Samsung's "M" series of OLED panels are made for flagship smartphones, while "14" refers to the number of high-performance materials used to produce them. "M14" is the first series of its kind, and the panel is said to have been developed to deliver superior brightness and longevity. Samsung has reportedly placed orders for the M14 materials and is preparing to mass produce the displays in the second half of the year for Apple's iPhone 16 Pro models. Google's Pixel 9 smartphone is the only other device that is expected to adopt the high-performance displays in 2024. A previous report out of China claimed that this year's ‌iPhone 16 Pro‌ models will feature up to 1,200 nits of typical SDR brightness – a 20%

Apple Boosts A18 Chip Orders in Anticipation of High iPhone 16 Demand

Apple is said to have upped its order of next-generation chips from TSMC to between 90 million and 100 million units, following heightened demand expectations for its iPhone 16 series. Last year's initial chip order volume for the iPhone 15 series launch is believed to have been in the region of 80-90 million units, suggesting Apple is anticipating higher demand for its 2024 devices, according to Taiwanese outlet CTEE . The arrival of Apple Intelligence in iOS 18 is expected to boost initial sales of the devices. One of the reasons is that Apple Intelligence requires at least an iPhone 15 Pro to run, which means owners of last year's iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus will miss out on Apple's new AI features unless they upgrade to an iPhone 15 Pro or plump for one of the iPhone 16 models. Last year, the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus were equipped with the A16 Bionic chip – the same chip that was in the iPhone 14 Pro models – whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max f

Tech Talk

Search This Blog