UK will send an emergency alert to every iPhone in the country on Sunday

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in iPhone edited April 2023
The UK government will be testing its emergency alert system on Sunday, with the vast majority of iPhones in the country expected to receive the notification.

A UK emergency alert test will occur on Sunday, messaging iPhones across the country
A UK emergency alert test will occur on Sunday, messaging iPhones across the country


Emergency alert systems around the world occasionally get tested by governments making changes to the infrastructure. As part of the setup of a new system in the United Kingdom, people within the country will experience an alert broadcast on Sunday.

At 3p.m. BST, 10.a.m. Eastern, smartphones and cellular-equipped tablets using 4G and 5G networks in the UK will receive a message from the Emergency Alerts system. The alert itself will consist of a "loud siren-like sound" and a vibration lasting ten seconds, with some devices also reading the alert aloud, according to the government website.

The alert notification will advise recipients that it is a test, that it is a system to warn in the case of a life-threatening emergency nearby, and that device users should follow any issued instructions in a real emergency. It will also advise recipients to visit the UK government's website for more information about the alerts.

In England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, the message will be in English. In Wales, the message will be in both English and Welsh.





The alerts will work with iPhones running iOS 14.5 or later, as well as Android smartphones running Android 11 or later. Older devices, turned off smartphones, and those in airplane mode will not receive the alert at the time of broadcast.

The alert will sound even if the devices are set to silent, though they can be disabled on an iPhone. Government alerts for many countries can be disabled by going to Settings, selecting Notifications, then under Government Alerts, turning the type of alert on and off.

However, since government alerts are intended to help with emergency situations, threats to safety or life, extreme weather warnings, missing persons broadcasts, and other public safety alerts, it's not advised to turn them off unless absolutely necessary.

Though well intentioned, alert systems do have the potential to cause panic. In 2018, a false emergency alert was broadcast in Hawaii warning of incoming ballistic missiles, which prompted the FCC to make changes to the U.S. system.

Read on AppleInsider

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 9
    "The UK government will be testing its emergency alert system on Sunday, with the vast majority of iPhone users expected to disable their emergency alerts shortly thereafter."
    appleinsideruserwatto_cobra
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  • Reply 2 of 9
    seanjseanj Posts: 324member
    It’s hilarious reading on social media the wacky predications from anti-vax conspiracy theorists. They reckon all these phones going off simultaneously is going to generate some ‘wave’ that’s going to ‘trigger’ the vaccine to kill off most of the population. Clearly they can’t differentiate between reality and the plot of the “Kingsman” movie.  :D
    darren mccoyappleinsideruserlolliverwilliamlondonwatto_cobra
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  • Reply 3 of 9
    seanjseanj Posts: 324member
    "The UK government will be testing its emergency alert system on Sunday, with the vast majority of iPhone users expected to disable their emergency alerts shortly thereafter."
    Only the really stupid users… and surely they use Android phones 
    GrannySmith99watto_cobra
     2Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 4 of 9
    robin huberrobin huber Posts: 4,065member
    Will Americans visiting UK with AT&T Passport be alerted? Supposing so since we will be using a local partner as provider. 
    watto_cobra
     1Like 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 5 of 9
    adybadyb Posts: 205member
    Left emergency alerts enabled to see what happened but it didn't go off on either mine or my wife's iPhones.

    Watching the Liege-Bastogne-Liege coverage on Eurosport however, Adam Blythe's iPhone, iPad etc did go off!
    watto_cobra
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  • Reply 6 of 9
    I was in McDonald's at the time. My iPhone and a load of others went off at 14:59 and then a load more phones, possibly Android went off at 15:01. I can report there were no casualties.
    appleinsideruserlolliverwatto_cobra
     1Like 0Dislikes 2Informatives
  • Reply 7 of 9
    Sigursigur Posts: 12member
    And guess what… Like so many things planned by the U.K. government that involve technology - it turned into a no show for the alert on many folks phones! One network in particular was badly affected by the failure of the alerts to materialise, the 3 network, maybe next time the U.K. government should let a country that can make successful use of technology without wasting millions of taxpayers £££ handle it - Iceland or Norway to give two examples…
    watto_cobra
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  • Reply 8 of 9
    chutzpahchutzpah Posts: 392member
    Sigur said:
    And guess what… Like so many things planned by the U.K. government that involve technology - it turned into a no show for the alert on many folks phones! One network in particular was badly affected by the failure of the alerts to materialise, the 3 network, maybe next time the U.K. government should let a country that can make successful use of technology without wasting millions of taxpayers £££ handle it - Iceland or Norway to give two examples…
    Iceland and Norway have a fraction of the population of the UK, and less competition in the cellular market.  This was broadly a successful test, and it's no bad thing that it identified a network that had an issue, the point of testing is not for everything to go perfectly but for problems to be found so that they can be fixed.
    muthuk_vanalingamwatto_cobra
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