Live data from Hacker News

Android’s emergency call shortcut is flooding dispatchers with false calls

arstechnica.com

11–20 of 201 posts

Re: Android’s emergency call shortcut is flooding dispatchers with false calls

#11
Possibly related: I've noticed that when I'm in humid weather and I stick my phone into a damp pocket, it basically monkey-tests until I pull it back out again. Flashlight might be on, string of gibberish might be queued up on a text message, etc.

I'm normally really good about locking the screen when I'm done, but something with fingerprint or face recognition or lock screen quick actions behaves poorly.

Re: Android’s emergency call shortcut is flooding dispatchers with false calls

#12
iPhones have exactly the same feature, activated in almost the same way, except that it requires one fewer interactions with the device to trigger, and yet, there's no reporting about this happening too much with iPhones, nor was there any when the feature came out a few years ago.

Additionally, this doesn't seem to have been a problem when it rolled out on Pixel devices a year and a half ago, Pixels are certainly common enough for that to become a known issue.

Why is Android different? Why are third party Android devices seemingly so different?

Re: Android’s emergency call shortcut is flooding dispatchers with false calls

#13

I saw this happen to someone recently. Their phone was having other issues, so we were trying to reboot it, and Google changed which buttons you have to push to turn your phone off. You used to be able to just press the one button to turn the phone off, but now you have to press 2. So I think people might be pressing the power button a bunch of time now because they're trying to turn their phone off and don't realize…

Wait, Google is A/B testing the emergency dial? What the hell is wrong with these people? We are humans, not a data science project.

Man, I hope the medical field doesn't adopt your viewpoint.

Re: Android’s emergency call shortcut is flooding dispatchers with false calls

#14

I saw this happen to someone recently. Their phone was having other issues, so we were trying to reboot it, and Google changed which buttons you have to push to turn your phone off. You used to be able to just press the one button to turn the phone off, but now you have to press 2. So I think people might be pressing the power button a bunch of time now because they're trying to turn their phone off and don't realize…

Wait, Google is A/B testing the emergency dial? What the hell is wrong with these people? We are humans, not a data science project.

"We've improved the usage of our app by 75% and average session time increased from 3s to 15s!"

Re: Android’s emergency call shortcut is flooding dispatchers with false calls

#15

iPhones have exactly the same feature, activated in almost the same way, except that it requires one fewer interactions with the device to trigger, and yet, there's no reporting about this happening too much with iPhones, nor was there any when the feature came out a few years ago. Additionally, this doesn't seem to have been a problem when it rolled out on Pixel devices a year and a half ago, Pixels are certainly co…

Seems obvious to me: Power is opposite Volume on Samsung Android phones, but not on Pixel. Easy to hit both buttons at once, and iPhone may do something special to detect that.

My Blackberry Android phone is the same, I remember having to train myself not to hit power when I first got it because my previous phone wasn't like this.

Re: Android’s emergency call shortcut is flooding dispatchers with false calls

#16
I have unfortunately done it I think three times, every time because I'm trying to turn the volume up or down quickly.

the first time I cancelled the call, they called back and I explained.

second time, I stayed on the line to explain, which they appreciated. this time I turned the feature off.

third time was on a new phone and hadn't disabled it...

I don't remember if iphone switch the volume button side between generations, but on Android it's not consistent model to model..

it's a great idea for sure, but it's easy to do accidentally if you confuse volume for power.

Re: Android’s emergency call shortcut is flooding dispatchers with false calls

#17
post #7

My worst pet peeve is seeing someone put a phone in their pocket with the screen still on. So the first thing I do on any phone is make sure that when I turn it off, it remains off, until a call or until I turn it back on. This is common sense to me, but unfortunately most people use default settings.

I reflexively click the button to lock the phone before I put it in my pocket, but iOS has some impossible-to-disable shortcuts that work even when the screen is locked, such as activating the camera. Several times I've pulled my phone out to see that the camera is on. I've got no idea why this is possible with the phone "locked" but I've searched for a way to disable it and there doesn't seem to be one.

Re: Android’s emergency call shortcut is flooding dispatchers with false calls

#19
post #8
post #4

This puts them in the difficult position of changing up how emergency calls are made -- so anyone who might see this as a necessary feature will have to relearn their emergency button.

I'm somewhat curious what the data is on how many people use the "emergency call from locked screen" feature. Devices that detect crashes and such are a god send for safety. Being able to use the phone from locked state feels not nearly as useful. Granted, this all became way worse with touch. I wouldn't be surprised if larger phones make it worse, too. I have loved my flip's ability to "close" and render this a non-…

Looking through the settings, I reckon one can set a message to be sent automatically to your "emergency contacts", along with your location when you use the mentioned feature. A possible use case: coming home late at night, you get followed by a sinister looking guy; you can discreetly ask for help without pulling your phone.

Re: Android’s emergency call shortcut is flooding dispatchers with false calls

#20
post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wait, Google is A/B testing the emergency dial? What the hell is wrong with these people? We are humans, not a data science project.

Man, I hope the medical field doesn't adopt your viewpoint.

Akshually, medical field is exactly like that, with experiments clearly indicated and closely monitored. And I really hope it does stay like that.
Post reply on HN