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Issue dialing 911 on Google Pixel 6 cell phones

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Re: Issue dialing 911 on Google Pixel 6 cell phones

#101

Post by secondcoming »

Pasorrijer wrote: post #71
ajsnigrutin wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not a lot has changed. You call the regional center (the 911, or in our case, 112 responders), you negotiate a timeframe for your tests (so that there's enough operators there), you tell them the phone number (and other data) that will be used for testing (because the responders get the approximate location of the caller, and might still send someone to check after a call, even if the voice doesn't get through), and…

This was also a huge issue with BlackBerry 10. We kept getting bugs about 999 being dialed because of the way the screen recognition was... The phone would wake up in your pocket, dial 999 and you'd pocket dial EMS because it was allowed to be dialed from above the lock screen no matter what.

I've recently accidentally pocket dialled Emergency Services with a recent Nokia running latest Android.

Somehow I manage to swipe the screen up and press the relatively small 'Emergency' button, all without touching the phone. It's really weird.

Re: Issue dialing 911 on Google Pixel 6 cell phones

#102

Post by paganel »

mitchdoogle wrote: post #87
paganel wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If I get this right, we have a $1+ trillion company not being able to build a basic functionality into their phones? (like "phone calls don't work" and the whole calling 911 issue). And, apparently, that was happening because of a shitty app built by another $1+ trillion company? In terms of innovation the US tech scene is toast with these dinosaurs.

Bugs happen everywhere, to everyone. The fact that it happened is not a surprise - the lack of an immediate fix is what is concerning

When it’s a matter of life and death, like in this case, bugs shouldn’t just happen. If your sw product gets too complex so that you’re not able to control anymore of life-threatening bugs then you should make sure that said product gets rid of its complexity so that the engineers can have a better grasp of it.

If that still doesn’t happen then it’s a job for the regulators to step again because, again, this is a life and death situation.

Re: Issue dialing 911 on Google Pixel 6 cell phones

#103

Post by happymellon »

jakub_g wrote: post #65
mahathu wrote: post #16

> “So this is what happens on my brand new $1,000 Google phone when I try to call 911.” How old is this story? The news report is from 2 days ago, but surely in 2022 the person filming the TikTok video wouldn't call a Pixel 6 a "brand new $1,000 Google phone"?

It's not $1000 anymore but you can still buy "brand new" Pixel 6 in retail stores in EU.

We don't call 911.

Re: Issue dialing 911 on Google Pixel 6 cell phones

#104

Post by generalpf »

nvr219 wrote: post #99
vbezhenar wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m in a similar position. I used iPhone for years but after they started to remove important apps from AppStore I decided to move to pixel. UX is terrible and unpolished. Hardware is just bad. But I can sideload and that’s more important.

What app did they remove that you used?

Oh, you know the ones.

Re: Issue dialing 911 on Google Pixel 6 cell phones

#105

Post by throwaway290 »

zinekeller wrote: post #69
throwaway290 wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

you posit "911 doesn't ring sometimes" ∈ "very scary issue with a phone", that's correct title implies "911 doesn't ring sometimes" ∈ "very scary issue dialing 911", that is incorrect frankly "doesn't ring" is probably the most routine issue that can happen when dialing a number the comment you respond to responds to article title and posits "911 doesn't ring sometimes" ∉ "very scary issue dialing 911"

"911 doesn't ring sometimes" in this context means that there's good signal and can call non-emergency numbers using ordinary phone networks, but for some reason can't handle emergency calls correctly (and yes, you could call the GSM-wise non-emergency but legally-wise long emergency number for your area normally, it's just you're more likely to not know it in an actual emergency). That's not just "scary", it's a lif…

Thanks for reinforcing my point.

Indeed, the phone has a life-threatening defect and I would never own one. "Failure to dial 911" is a scary defect for a phone.

Where the title makes a logical mistake and is misleading in order to be sensational is that, assuming "dialing 911" as given context, "phone doesn't ring sometimes" is probably the least scary issue possible. In fact, it's the most common way dialing a number can go wrong. It's easy to imagine countless worse things that will radically worsen your outcomes in a life or death situation (such as: phone bricking itself, phone exploding in your hands, phone becoming subsequently unable to make any call, phone making loud noise that alerts the attacker that you are making a 911 call, so on so forth).

Perhaps for a native speaker it's not as obvious that "'very scary' issue dialing 911" here is a semantically illogical construct, but I assure you it is. Example of one that isn't: "'very scary' issue with a Pixel phone involving 911 calls".

Re: Issue dialing 911 on Google Pixel 6 cell phones

#106

Post by Havoc »

djhworld wrote: post #54

Are there reports of similar problems outside of the US, e.g. dialling 999 in the UK from a pixel phone?

FYI memorizing 112 is probably a better idea. It's baked into GSM spec and gets redirected to the right country end-point (like 999 for UK) in most of the world.

Same difference while in UK, but good habit for travelling.

Re: Issue dialing 911 on Google Pixel 6 cell phones

#107

Post by Wolfenstein98k »

paganel wrote: post #102
mitchdoogle wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bugs happen everywhere, to everyone. The fact that it happened is not a surprise - the lack of an immediate fix is what is concerning

When it’s a matter of life and death, like in this case, bugs shouldn’t just happen. If your sw product gets too complex so that you’re not able to control anymore of life-threatening bugs then you should make sure that said product gets rid of its complexity so that the engineers can have a better grasp of it. If that still doesn’t happen then it’s a job for the regulators to step again because, again, this is a lif…

How could the regulators possibly improve this situation?

Re: Issue dialing 911 on Google Pixel 6 cell phones

#108

Post by macintux »

secondcoming wrote: post #101
Pasorrijer wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This was also a huge issue with BlackBerry 10. We kept getting bugs about 999 being dialed because of the way the screen recognition was... The phone would wake up in your pocket, dial 999 and you'd pocket dial EMS because it was allowed to be dialed from above the lock screen no matter what.

I've recently accidentally pocket dialled Emergency Services with a recent Nokia running latest Android. Somehow I manage to swipe the screen up and press the relatively small 'Emergency' button, all without touching the phone. It's really weird.

I’ve accidentally dialed 911 via the side buttons on my iPhone (I put it into the drink holder in a chair, and it was just tight enough to depress the buttons) and at least twice via the buttons on my Watch (trying to swap out the watch bands). Oh, and once my Watch was wet, and it registered my slide motion in the wrong spot.

Admittedly this is roughly once every 2 years, but still I’m about at the point where I’d like to disable all automatic emergency services.

Re: Issue dialing 911 on Google Pixel 6 cell phones

#109

Post by nailer »

aaomidi wrote: post #63
bestnameever wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> many carriers used this "testing" as a convenient way to block phone updates without preloaded bloatware preferring their services or apps they were paid to put on the phones. How were you involved with the update process to know this?

We saw the bloat as the end user.

Adding on: phone update 1.1.2 would be released from the phone vendor, with fixes for various bits. Carrier 1.1.2 would be released with undeletable spam apps and undeletable spam bookmarks.

We know this because both versions would end on XDA Developers.

Re: Issue dialing 911 on Google Pixel 6 cell phones

#110

Post by macintux »

Doctor_Fegg wrote: post #92
semi-extrinsic wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But you have to agree the state of MS Teams is an absolute shitshow. The quality is like it's put together by a bunch of guys coding on their spare time if they feel like it.

That would be a passion project. I find it hard to conceive of Teams as a passion project, except possibly by people who have a passion for hating the world.

If Microsoft has a penchant for hiring people passionate about hating the world that would explain a lot of their software over the years.
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