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

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

#51
post #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.

> iPhone may do something special to detect that

Apple seem to have lockscreen "keyboard mash detection" for macOS (where, if you are cleaning your keyboard and therefore mashing down keys as you swipe across them with a cloth, the OS will wake up and process the random inputs a while — until it detects that you've mashed 4+ function-row keys at once, at which point it'll just go back to sleep) so I wouldn't put it past them to have similar logic for iOS.

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

#53
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.

They can easily make it an option when you configure your phone for the first time.

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

#54
post #52

The Android settings search needs a lot of improvement. Nothing relevant matches 'power button'. 'emergency button' won't find anything either. You have to know to look in 'Emergency SOS' to know it exists without accidentally triggering it.

My favorite is when you search for things you know are there and they don't show up.

My second favorite is when you search for things, it shows up in search, you tap and it brings you to a page and the setting isn't there.

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

#55

It isn't just a problem with Android. I volunteer for a small fire department. We respond to about 500 calls a year. Since January I can think of three times the automatic crash detection on iOS devices has called us out by mistake. 1) A person left their phone on their car and it fell off. Being a small town one of the volunteers was able to find the owner and bring them the phone. 2) A gps location in the middle of…

I have to register my building's alarm with the county and pay a fine after 3 false alarms, or not register and the police won't respond. I also pay an annual registration fee. I wonder if too many "smart" false alarms will lead to similar regulation.

[deleted]

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

#56
I recently got to speak with my friendly (ok no actually kinda annoyed with me) 911 operator because my power button got weirdly wedged which triggered the 5 tap panic mode and started up a 911 call faster than I could get my phone out of my pocket and swipe to cancel.

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

#57
post #40
post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have the same thing, I tried to disable all functions of my Pixel 4 that would do that. It amazes me that the simplest thing is not done here: if proximity sensor senses your screen is covered - do not enable the screen ever. When I'm jogging my phone sometimes sends texts, runs apps etc, same when I have phone in my pocket. Why don't they use proximity sensor?

I remember having an issue with a Nexus that I had a while back. I had a hard time getting the screen to turn on and stay on. Turns out, I had misapplied the screen protector and the proximity sensor was thinking that it was in a situation which it shouldn't turn on. While it was my own doing, I can see many people having that problem to the point where Android turned off the functionality. Multiple support calls, re…

I ended up getting a wallet style case with a cover for this exact reason.

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

#58

It isn't just a problem with Android. I volunteer for a small fire department. We respond to about 500 calls a year. Since January I can think of three times the automatic crash detection on iOS devices has called us out by mistake. 1) A person left their phone on their car and it fell off. Being a small town one of the volunteers was able to find the owner and bring them the phone. 2) A gps location in the middle of…

I hate Apple as much as any other large tech company, but 1/4 true emergency rate seems like a pretty good start in cases where a person's life may be at risk!

Emergency services in my city (the one you call via phone) have a "true emergency" rate of about 1 in 10 according to emergency personnel I talked to, so it is always a matter of balancing the false positive/false negative rate.

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

#59
Funny, I've never mistriggered this, but I constantly find my phone accidentally in airplane mode, with data turned off, with the torch on, etc.

Because Google doesn't understand the word "lock" in "lockscreen"

There's like a decade-old issue marked "won't fix", despite constant user complaints and non-Google manufacturers having a clear option for locking Quick Settings on the lock screen.

Just another papercut making me consider dropping the Pixel line and just buying something even cheaper than can run LineageOS. It's amazing the lengths Google goes to enact death by a million papercuts on their flagship OS.

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

#60
post #47

I have a Samsung S20 FE and the touchscreen will occasionally become unresponsive. The way I found out Android has a panic 911 call function was by fiddling with the power button trying to reset my phone. Then the 911 countdown started and I couldn't cancel it because the touchscreen was still unresponsive :(

Literally happened to me on Friday. Samsung A52 and the screen was on but the backlight wouldn't come on, so it looked black in sunlight. Fiddled with it in frustration and it started dialing the emerency number and couldn't see the screen to cancel it. Very stressful, and a huge waste of emergency service time as they had to call back and double check (and take details).
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