In recent years, the main telephone manufacturers have been exploring what is the best option to provide users, if necessary, with the possibility of making an emergency call. Such has been the degree of simplicity that has been achieved that some emergency services have come to complain about the number of calls they receive caused by a user error, not a need. A situation that has forced Google to take action on the matter.
On both iOS and Android, you only need to touch one of the side buttons repeatedly to make an emergency call. These types of calls, as you know, do not require that we have coverage with our operator, nor that the line be up to date with payments. Since there is a common consensus that, since it is an emergency call, it can be made with independence from the rest of the factors that usually intervene when making communications.
The manufacturers have wanted to simplify this process as much as possible. Trying to make it easy for the user when they are in an emergency situation. For this reason, the mobile phone does not even have to recognize our secret code, nor does FaceID have to work correctly. However, such has been the ease achieved that a curious paradox has occurred: A considerable increase in calls falsely by people who, by putting their mobile phone in their pocket or interacting with it, have called the emergency number without realizing it. Generating an unnecessary collapse. Google has just announced measures in this regard that are mainly based on introducing a prior confirmation step.
An intermediate step, but necessary
Over the next few days, the Android users updating their device You will encounter a small change when making emergency calls. From now on, once the procedure is activated under the same conditions as always, every time we want to make a call of this type we will have to hold down the screen for three seconds.
Before, there was a similar option. And we activated the Emergency SOS functionality, a five-second countdown was automatically activated. However, there was no need interact with the device in any moment. Only if we wanted to cancel the call. And, when it occurred by mistake, there was no way to stop this process.
Many manufacturers still offer both options
Although this new configuration makes sense and is due to the issue of avoiding the number of interruptions by emergency services, the reality is that it is not practical in those cases in which we really have a problem and need maximum simplicity to make this type of calls. Which is why some manufacturers, such as Samsung, offer the possibility of returning to the previous configuration.
At the moment, Apple has not commented on the matter nor have we seen changes in recent months that indicate that the Cupertino company is working on how to activate this option on its terminals. Maintaining the same process as always: press ten times on one of its side buttons. So it seems that the main failure was found in Android users.
