One of the first iPhone Amber Alerts hit phones in San Antonio today, sounding loud urgent alarms on any iPhone running iOS 6 within the location of the Amber alert.
If you heard the loud, slightly annoying, sound on your iPhone, don’t freak out. The Wireless Amber Alert system is shutting down at the end of the year and the iPhone, Android and other smartphones will now act as emergency alert systems for Amber alerts and other national emergencies.
The great part about this new system is it knows where the phone is located and sends the Amber Alert to any phone connected to a tower in that area, even if it’s a phone tied to a town thousands of miles away.
Read: iOS 6 Delivers Emergency Alerts to iPhone Users
This is all thanks to the new Emergency Alert System built into the cellular networks across the U.S. The system uses broadcast SMS to send massive amount of alerts out at once, something that’s not easy to do with standard text messages. Verizon provided an in depth look at the Emergency Alert System to Gotta Be Mobile before the system launched that explains more about why and how it was set up.
Read: Why AT&T iPhone Users Don’t Get Emergency Alerts
The Amber Alerts cover lost or missing children, and the Emergency Alerts include weather emergencies like flooding, hurricanes and more. It’s great to see this system in place since many users are not near a TV or radio during times of emergency.
The Amber Alert on the iPhone will look similar to this.
The Amber Alerts are location aware, so if you didn’t get a notification you may be too far away from the emergency or Amber Alert. If you are in the area and your iPhone did not get the Amber Alert there are two things to check.
If the iPhone is not running iOS 6 or higher the emergency alerts will not work. IOS 6 is a free update for the iPhone 5, iPhone 4S, iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS. Here’s how to update to iOS 6, which will automatically install the latest version iOS 6.0.2.
Turn on Amber Alert for iPhone.
The next step is to make sure Emergency Alerts and Amber Alerts are turned on. To do this tap on Settings -> Notifications -> scroll to the bottom and Toggle On.
This is also where users can turn off the notifications, though we recommend leaving them on to get important updates that could save their life or someone else’.
Why Are There no Amber Alerts on AT&T iPhones?
Some AT&T customers report no option to change these settings. The AT&T Emergency Alert page doesn’t show support for the iPhone, so users may need to wait for support.
Did anyone get an Amber Alert alert on their iPhone? I have AT&T and nada. Several others on Verizon and Sprint did. Please share.
— Holly Warren (@hollywarren) December 18, 2012
Stay tuned for more on AT&T and Amber Alerts on the iPhone.
In the Dallas Fort Worth Area < Arlington PD issue a Amber Alert today and I got on my Verizon IPhone 4S with the OS 6 software in it. This was the frist alert I seen or got on the new National Alert system. I frankly like the ideal.
I do not like any Government employee or Government agency sending anything to my phone. It is my phone and my business. They did not pay for it so they do not get to control it. You bleeding heart liberals need to get in line though and support your government controlled phone. Be sure and practice your marching in line to the beat of the government that wants to control your every thought. (P.S. I have apps that I have approved that give me the warnings I need.)
Hi there Roland…uptight much? Lol! If you had read the article above in its entirety, you would have read that there is an option to deactivate Amber Alerts if you do not wish to receive them. So please, try not to fret.
Personally, I love he idea of being notified if I am possibly in a position to help with information concerning the possible whereabouts of a missing or abducted child. As a parent myself, I can certainly appreciate a system such as this, and would find it invaluable if it was one of my own children who was missing.
Yes, horrible of those liberals to put out an alert about a kidnapped child.
So something that could save a child’s life (or even your own) is suddenly inconvenient because some “bleeding heart liberal” sent it? You are a waste of human flesh! Oh, by the way, the Amber Alert initiative was started under a conservative Republican president, not a “bleeding heart liberal.” I hope your own children never need an Amber alert to save their lives because they would know that Daddy would rather some child molesting monster take them than have 20 seconds of his precious time wasted. Jerk!
If it wasn’t clear, I was being facetious.
IDiot!
Received it here at the foot of the Catskills, NY (Near Narrowsburg and Monticello) on iPhone 5 with Verizon,
BUT… now what?
All it says is “please check local media.” WHAT local media? I live in the freakin’ middle of nowhere (after 15 years in NYC). I would say the chances of a mysterious car coming down my dirt road is pretty slim, but i AM curious…
I have the iPhone 4 iOS 6.0.1 and no where in my notifications center does it give me a section for government alerts. I have sprint! My sister and mom are on the same plan and they have androids, they have a choice to turn on amber alerts in their notifications center.
my phone is also at iOS 6.0.1 like Jennifer above, and I do not have this option.
I like the idea, but was awakened in the middle of the night by the annoying alarm that went with this alert. It ignored the fact that I silenced my iPhone and that my phone was in DO NOT DISTURB mode. If this doesn’t respect the phone settings then I could be in a movie theater with it going off. Unfortunately a poor design.
Not a poor design, a difference in priorities. It’s considered an emergency alert, which is SUPPOSED to overcome ordinary settings to ignore notices–that’s basically implicit in the meaning of “emergency.”
It can be turned off for those who don’t deem it important.
I have the iPhone 4 iOS 6.1.3. With Verizon. And I don’t have the option in my notifications bar. Help.
It should be Opt in, not Opt out, on all alerts from the government. I still have IOS5 on mine so I won’t be bothered by the alerts. You can’t opt out of a presidential alert, why not? I am not a Federal employee, the president doesn’t outrank me. Who made this stupid decision?, some idiot lunatic? Biden????
I guess they decided to err on the side of trying to save a kid’s life.
And how on Earth did you find *rank* anywhere here?