New ways to quickly call 911, along with the best safety apps

In these troubled times, when we’re dealing with a pandemic and protests compounded with the usual risks of accidents and crime, your smartphone can be your emergency notifier. Sure, you know about AAA for your car.

I’m talking about something more important, that is, your life.

If you’re using an iPhone, the Emergency SOS feature will call emergency services and notify your emergency contacts when you can’t. In the U. S., your iPhone will dial 911 and connect you to an operator. After that call concludes, it will then send a text message to your emergency contacts ( unless you choose to cancel). Your phone will send your current location to your contacts and update them if your location changes. Even if you keep your iPhone’s location services turned off, the phone will automatically turn it on during Emergency SOS.

Are you older or have a family member who is a fall risk? An Apple Watch can contact emergency services automatically. First, think about who should be in your emergency contact list. Then, open the Health app, tap your Profile Photo and select Medical ID settings. Choose Edit and under emergency contacts, you can add your contacts, whether it is a spouse, a family member, or a trusted friend. Under Emergency Access, toggle the option to Show When Locked. Select Done to save your changes.

We used to teach kids to call 911 on a landline. Consider these next skills essential for all ages today. If you’re using an iPhone 7 and earlier, you start SOS mode by pressing the side button five times and dragging the bright- red slider over to start the call to 911.

For Apple’s latest phones, you need to press and hold the side button along with one of the volume buttons until you see the Emergency SOS slider appear on the screen. Now, you have two options. You can manually move the slider to start the call, or you can continue to hold down the buttons. If you choose this second route, the iPhone will start a countdown and then automatically call emergency services. This is handy if you’re in a situation where you can’t afford to look down at your phone or if you need to dial 911 discreetly.

With Android, settings and features vary based on smartphone manufacturer or version of the operating system. However, these steps to contact 911 during an emergency work on many modern Android handsets.

First, hold down the power button until you see an option for Emergency Mode. Tap it and that will bring up five options: Flashlight, Emergency, Share My Location, Phone and Internet. Below those options, there will be a button for Emergency Call. Tap the button and it will verify if you want to call 911. Confirm and your phone will go into power- saving mode to conserve battery.

Google Pixel smartphones and a few other Android devices allow you to send vital information to dispatchers using Google’s automated voice service. During an emergency call, you can tap Medical, Fire or Police if you’re unable to speak. Google just rolled out a new Personal Safety and Safety Check apps for its Pixel 3 and 4 phones. As you might expect, there are also personal safety apps. Here are three I like:

bSafe

One thing you’re going to love about bSafe is its simplicity. You can activate an SOS alarm with the simple press of a button. Your contacts will receive a sound alarm with your location and they will be able to see and hear everything in real- time. With a premium subscription, everything is automatically recorded by audio and video and sent to your contact’s phones. If your phone is in your pocket, purse or jacket, you don’t need to press the SOS button. Simply say the phrase that you’ve preselected to activate the alarm and your contacts will get the SOS notification. The app is available for both Android and iOS.

Kitestring

Kitestring is an SMS service that will check on you. For example, let Kitestring know when you’re heading out for a late- night walk or meeting with a stranger for a date. Kitestring will send you a text message at the time you indicate beforehand. If you do not respond, your emergency contacts will receive a personalized alert message.

You get three trips per month and can name one emergency contact with the free plan. If you think you’ll need the service more than three times monthly, the Kitestring Plus paid plan comes with unlimited trips, unlimited emergency contacts and perennial mode where Kitestring will check on you every few minutes or hours.

Noonlight

Any time you feel unsafe, open the Noonlight app and press the “hold until safe” button. Once you’re safe, release the button and enter your fourdigit PIN. But, if you release the button and do not enter your PIN, Noonlight will notify the police with your exact location. Even if you are unable to talk, you can communicate via text with Noonlight dispatchers 24 hours a day.

The app is available for Android and iOS.

Learn about all the latest technology on the Kim Komando Show. For her daily tips, free newsletters and more, visit her website at Komando. com.

ANTONIOFRANCOIS/ GETTY IMAGES In times of crisis, your smartphone can be your emergency notifier.