National emergency alert test will affect all U.S. iPhones on Wednesday

AppleInsider

FEMA and the FCC will be holding a nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) and Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) on October 4, with test messages sent to all iPhones, TVs, and radios.

The test, set to take place at 2:20p.m. Eastern on Wednesday, October 4, will consist of two portions that will occur at the same time. The EAS section will handle sending the test message to televisions and radios at the time, and will be the seventh cross-U.S. test of its kind.

The second portion, of WEA, will target all consumer cell phones and smartphones. While it is the third nationwide test, it will be the second that will hit all cellular devices.

The last WEA test took place in August 2021.

The WEA test will be conducted using FEMA's Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS), which is a centralized internet-based system managed by FEMA to send authenticated emergency messages via multiple communication networks.

As part of the test, the actual test message will be displayed in either English or Spanish, depending on the language settings of the device. In English, the message will state "THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed."

A noise will be played that is the same tone and volume as other National Weather Service warnings or Amber Alerts.

Turned on smartphones with cellular access will receive the message, so devices set to run using just Wi-Fi or in airplane mode won't get the notification.

iPhone owners who don't want to receive the emergency alert test can dial specific numbers to disable or enable the system for their devices. Dial *5005*25371# to enable test notifications, or dial *5005*25370# to disable test notifications.

If the October 4 test is postponed due to widespread severe weather or other significant events, a backup test date has been set for October 11.

Read on AppleInsider

coolfactor

The alert tone is quite jarring. I wonder how many panic attacks, car accidents and heart attacks occur when the tone sounds?

I've always been alone when they've come, but I couldn't imagine being in a crowded room.

zeus423

My classroom will certainly sound interesting with all of the alerts going off at the same time.

baconstang

coolfactor said:

The alert tone is quite jarring. I wonder how many panic attacks, car accidents and heart attacks occur when the tone sounds?

I've always been alone when they've come, but I couldn't imagine being in a crowded room.

If your cell phone scares you to death, well...

darkvader

The disable sequence worked on my XS Max running 17.0.2, but didn't work on the 8+ running 16.7 or my 6S+ running 15.7.9.

No, I don't want these annoyances.  I've disabled all the alerts I can.

blurpbleepbloop

I’m not quite sure what these tests accomplish- since the alerts are passive it’s not like people are going to phone in and say “ hey, I didn’t get the alert”. And seriously, if there is an emergency where you need to alert everyone ion the country that something bad is happening or is about to happen, then reading about it probably not going to help much.

multimedia

Since my cell network switch is ALWAYS turned OFF, no problem.

darkvader

multimedia said:

Since my cell network switch is ALWAYS turned OFF, no problem.

Won't help you.  These go out anyway.

Punch in the disable sequence to make it go away.

darkvader

blurpbleepbloop said:

I’m not quite sure what these tests accomplish- since the alerts are passive it’s not like people are going to phone in and say “ hey, I didn’t get the alert”. And seriously, if there is an emergency where you need to alert everyone ion the country that something bad is happening or is about to happen, then reading about it probably not going to help much.

The only conceivable purpose for these is to tell everybody "Ruzzia just launched" - and I think most of us would rather not know.

Nothing else affects the entire country at once.

agrochemical

The national test doesn't affect ALL smartphones in US, because more than 450 cellular carriers don't participate in Wireless Emergency Alerts. The FCC has stated this a number of times. Only about 75 carriers participate.

That is why the government pointed out that it only involves participating mobile carriers.

Also, the advice about entering strings of characters into the phone is off track for three reasons:

1. Apple changed this to a simple toggle in the phone settings;

2. All phones ship from the factory with the test toggle OFF. There is no reason to toggle that on, unless you are affiliated with a public safety agency that is doing these internal tests. And - most importantly:

3. The national test is sent with the National Alert code, not a test code. Turning off all alerts and tests in the phone settings will have no effect on reception of the test. This is clear from the FAQ.

9secondkox2

I’ll just power down my devices a few minutes prior snd power back up 10 minutes after. 

9secondkox2

darkvader said:

blurpbleepbloop said:

I’m not quite sure what these tests accomplish- since the alerts are passive it’s not like people are going to phone in and say “ hey, I didn’t get the alert”. And seriously, if there is an emergency where you need to alert everyone ion the country that something bad is happening or is about to happen, then reading about it probably not going to help much.

The only conceivable purpose for these is to tell everybody "Ruzzia just launched" - and I think most of us would rather not know.

Nothing else affects the entire country at once.

Fairly viable take. I wondered what the real reason for this is. I can see that one as well as some others. 

bonobob

darkvader said:

The disable sequence worked on my XS Max running 17.0.2, but didn't work on the 8+ running 16.7 or my 6S+ running 15.7.9.

No, I don't want these annoyances.  I've disabled all the alerts I can.

Have fun when a real emergency happens!  Who knows, you could be lucky enough to drown in a flood or die in a fire.

baconstang

I have 'My Shake' on my phone.  So far, it did alert me to a 4.6 near San Jose about 8 seconds before I felt a gentle wiggle here in Dogpatch (San Francisco).

If there is something significant (6 or more) in the future, I would welcome a head's up.

mayfly

This has been a test of our National Emergency Alert system. For more information, tune in to CONELRAD at 640 & 1240 on your AM radio dial. If this were an actual event, you would have been instructed to head for the nearest fallout shelter. Most schools, hospitals and many commercial buildings are fully prepared with shelter, air filters, food, plumbing and water for a minimum of one month. If you're still alive.

dewme

blurpbleepbloop said:

I’m not quite sure what these tests accomplish- since the alerts are passive it’s not like people are going to phone in and say “ hey, I didn’t get the alert”. And seriously, if there is an emergency where you need to alert everyone ion the country that something bad is happening or is about to happen, then reading about it probably not going to help much.

Nothing quite beats a full-up, end-to-end system test. If this is not possible the next best thing is to test as much of the system as you can, especially the common parts of the system that you have direct responsibility  for. 

Of course they cannot test every possible path to every possible endpoint but it’s still a good practice to test enough of the system as you can to increase your confidence and to avoid stupid mistakes. Nothing worse than finding out that your safety system didn’t work when needed because you didn’t test something that you could easily have tested. 

The municipality where I live periodically tests the tornado warning sirens, at a predefined date/time. I imagine these tests have filled a few diapers for people who live very close to the sirens and forgot about the notification. Nothing the iPhone emits can come close to this kind of surprise. 

multimedia

darkvader said:

multimedia said:

Since my cell network switch is ALWAYS turned OFF, no problem.

Won't help you.  These go out anyway.

Punch in the disable sequence to make it go away.

Thanks! That worked.

regurgitatedcoprolite

I've never been "saved" by a warning similar to what this is a test for. People ought to take responsibility for their own situational awareness and pay attention to their senses. 

During cv BS a few years ago, we got many warnings through our cable provider involving apparent kidnappings hundreds of miles away from us. There was no way to opt out, and clearly there was nothing we could do. It was just a way of scaring people. 

If there's a nuclear warhead coming my way, what am I going to do about it? Hide under my desk? 

There may be other ways of taking myself out of this, but I'm going to turn my iPhone off for the hour this test is supposed to happen. 

dewme

regurgitatedcoprolite said:

If there's a nuclear warhead coming my way, what am I going to do about it? Hide under my desk? 

I only recall a couple of the items from the placards that were posted aboard ships that I served on ... "Do not eat, drink, or smoke during a nuclear attack." "Do not stare directly at the fireball." There were several more warnings that I do not recall, but inevitably someone would write an extra line item at the bottom of the list with a permanent marker ... "Bend over, kiss you a** goodbye."

Seems about right. Especially the last one.

chadbag

They were about 2 min early by my phones clock. 

multimedia

Only running on Ethernet and NOT WiFi NOR Cell Data, and after putting in the cancel the alarm code, the alarm Test Tone and text still went off on my iPhone 15 Pro Max running iOS 17.0.3.