iPhones to stream live video during 911 calls

IPhones will soon be able to send live video when calling emergency services, part of a set of new features that includes fall detection and other lifelines.

The new feature lets you video chat with 911 dispatchers and emergency responders, aiding them in finding you fast when you need help. Apple's Emergency SOS could already relay a voice call and send texts to responders, as well as share your location. This is all part of Apple's bigger push to add safety features in recent years, including Crash Detection, which was introduced on the iPhone 14 and newer and later added to the Apple Watch Series 8, Ultra, and the second generation SE. iPhone 14 and 15 users also get Emergency SOS via satellite, which can send texts and your location to emergency responders, even if you have no cell signal.

Savvy dispatchers might be able to figure out where a call is coming from from the visual alone. A good example of surveillance technology's ideal uses, shadowed by the unavoidable anxiety of pocket supercomputers automatically streaming macro footage of your buttock pocket fuzz to the local fuzz.