Apple has added satellite catchability to the iPhone 14 models in 2022 to enable a latest character called Emergency SOS via Satellite, which lets consumers contact emergency services in regions with no cellular service. At the time, the organization said that users could try the service for free for two years but the test period was later extended to 2025.
Now with iOS 18, iPhone consumers can even send SMS via satellite. But will Apple maintain this service free for lifetime?
Emergency SOS via Satellite has been explained as a “game changer” by search and rescue groups, and has been credited with a number of airplane rescues. The characteristic has already proven to save lives since its launch, and it resume to do so.
When a consumer triggers Emergency SOS, iPhone asks a few queries about the condition until it connects with the satellites – as this can consume a few minutes. Then, all this data is sent to relay centers where professionals call for assist on behalf of the user. The whole transcript can also be shared with the consumer’s emergency contacts.
Last year, the organization expanded the iPhone’s satellite capabilities with the latest Roadside Assistance character, which lets users contact roadside assistance providers like AAA and Verizon in the US through satellite when cellular connectivity is unavailable. It also declared that those who purchased an iPhone 14 will gain an extra free year of satellite connectivity.
Since these characteristics have already proven to be “life savers,” many individuals have conversation whether Apple will indeed charge for them as it first said – since doing so could hurt the organization’s image if users had the chance to be rescued but were unable to because they didn’t compemsate for Emergency SOS through Satellite.
The Messages app will alert you each time you send or receive a text via satellite by Combining a short note above your message’s timestamp. The idea is to confirm you and the person you’re texting are both aware that you’re communicating through satellite and that responses might not be as quick as they would over cellular or Wi-Fi signals.
Don’t think about sending videos or photos over satellite, though. Apple says it was able to make sending normal texts potentially because it was able to compress them to a size that made them accessible to send back and forth to satellites. Photos and videos are just too large at this position.
As for how to utilize Messages through satellite, you’ll require an iPhone 14 or newer and access to iOS 18 when it comes out later this drop. Apple hasn’t expressed when or what it will charge for the service yet. The organization initially provided iPhone 14 users a year of service for free, but then extended that for another year in 2023. IPhone 15 owners got a free year of service when they bought their phones as well. Apple has yet to declare what will happen when those terms are up.