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Apple iOS 16.1.2 improves a key iPhone 14 safety feature
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Apple has launched a minor new software update with some security fixes and a boost for the newly-introduced Crash Detection feature foriPhone 14.
The update, currently available to download via Settings > General > Software Update, promises “optimisations” forCrash Detectionon iPhone 14 andiPhone 14 Pro.
Elsewhere, Apple says there’s some improved compatibility with wireless carriers and a number of security updates. Apple is promising yet-to-be-published information within support pages on the latter.
Apple doesn’t really elaborate on what those Crash Detection optimisations are. We’ve contacted the iPhone-maker seeking clarity, but it could be a tweak designed to prevent the false positives we’ve seen reported since the feature launched.
Some iPhone 14 owners reported the Emergency SOS feature, which is designed to actually contact the emergency services if it thinks you’ve been in a crash, activated when they were on rollercoasters, for instance.
After the feature launched, Apple said there was “no silver bullet” in terms of what activated the feature, which uses the iPhone’s motion sensors as well as other factors like car engine sounds, Bluetooth connectivity, and whether you’re hooked up to CarPlay.
“There’s no silver bullet, in terms of activating crash detection,” Apple’s VP of sensing & connectivity, Ron Huang told TechCrunchin October.
“It’s hard to say how many of these things have to trigger, because it’s not a straight equation. Depending how fast the traveling speed was earlier, determines what signals we have to see later on, as well. Your speed change, combined with the impact force, combined with the pressure change, combined with the sound level, it’s all a pretty dynamic algorithm.”
Chris Smith is a freelance technology journalist for a host of UK tech publications, including Trusted Reviews. He’s based in South Florida, USA. …
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Founded in 2003, Trusted Reviews exists to give our readers thorough, unbiased and independent advice on what to buy.
Today, we have millions of users a month from around the world, and assess more than 1,000 products a year.
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
