When you encounter an emergency, your iPhone automatically alerts your emergency contacts to let them know that you need help. It also sends them your location so they know where to reach you. But while this feature is active, whether or not it was triggered wittingly, your iPhone can appear frozen. In this guide we explain why your iPhone gets stuck on the ‘Your Emergency Contacts Have Been Notified’ message and how you can fix it.
What Causes iPhone to Get Stuck on 'Your Emergency Contacts Have Been Notified' Screen?
Apple’s support page mentions that when Emergency SOS is activated, “for a period of time you enter SOS mode.” This is done to allow a callback from emergency services. But the page fails to mention how long that ‘period of time’ is supposed to be.
Still, your iPhone is not supposed to be frozen on the Emergency SOS screen. When that happens, more often than not, your iPhone has encountered a glitch or a bug.
Being stuck on the Emergency SOS page is not an uncommon occurrence, not least because it is so easily triggered on the iPhone. All it takes is three quick presses of the Side button.
If your Accessibility Shortcut is turned on, then holding the Side button along with a quick press of either Volume button and a quick swipe is enough to activate the SOS screen.
While it may sound like a rarity, accidental triggers are more common than you’d think.
For instance, if your iPhone gets stuck in an awkward position in your bag, or if a child accidentally presses the button combinations, you can get stuck on the dreaded SOS screen. Sometimes, even as innocuous a thing as trying to take a screenshot on iPhone can get you close to accidentally sending out an SOS.
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How to Fix and Get Out of the 'Emergency Contacts Have Been Notified' Screen
Fortunately, it’s relatively easy to get out of this Emergency SOS screen. Here are a few things to try if your iPhone is frozen on the "Your Emergency Contacts Have Been Notified" message.
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Force Restart Your iPhone
Like most good things in tech, sometimes all it takes is to simply restart your iPhone. But since you’re stuck on the Emergency SOS screen that doesn’t let you get anywhere, you’ll have to resort to force-restarting your iPhone.
Depending on your iPhone model, the steps to force restarting are slightly different.
For iPhone 8, iPhone SE (2020) and newer models, you’ll have to:
- Quickly press and release the Volume Up button.
- Quickly press and release the Volume Down button.
- Then long-press the Side button until the screen goes dark.
- Wait until you see the Apple logo. Then release the Side button and wait for your iPhone to restart.
For iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, you’ll have to:
- Long press the Volume Down + Side buttons together.
- Keep holding the buttons until the screen goes black.
- Once you see the Apple logo, release the buttons and wait for your iPhone to restart.
For iPhone 6 and older models, you’ll have to:
- Long press the Home + Side buttons together.
- Keep holding for 10-20 seconds.
- Once the Apple logo appears, release the buttons and wait for your iPhone to restart.
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Turn off the iPhone and Plug It In
If a force restart doesn’t solve the issue, try switching off your iPhone. Then plug in the charger and leave it for an hour. Upon starting your iPhone again, the Emergency SOS setting should’ve disappeared.
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Reset your iPhone Using Mac or Windows
If the above methods fail, the only option left to you is to resert your iPhone and restore it. For this, you’ll need to use either a Mac or a Windows PC.
However, do note that this will delete all your data. So while you’re plugged in to your Mac or Windows, make sure to back up your data first.
If nothing helps, you should contact Apple Support or visit an Apple service centre.
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Prevent Accidentally Triggering Emergency SOS on iPhone
Once your iPhone is back to working normally, you should take all the necessary steps to ensure you don’t face the same situation again. Here are a few settings you should consider changing:
Disable Emergency Call with 3 Button Presses
Emergency SOS is triggered a little too easily when you press the side button thrice. In order to minimise accidental activations, this setting should be the first thing you disable. To do so, open the Settings app > Emergency SOS and turn off the Call with 3 Button Presses toggle.
Change Emergency Contacts
If you don’t want iPhone’s SOS mode to contact certain people in your emergency contacts list, here’s how to edit the contacts:
- Open the Settings app on your iPhone and then go to Apps > Health > Medical ID.
- Under ‘Emergency Contacts’, tap on Edit.
- Here, tap on Add Emergency Contact to add a new one. People who are added as an emergency contact will have a red asterisk icon next to them in the Contacts app.
Remove Emergency Contacts
To remove an emergency contact, open a contact inside the Phone app, tap on the i icon, and select Remove from Emergency Contacts.
If you don’t want to keep any emergency contacts at all, simply remove them all.
Stop Sending Your Location to Emergency Contacts
If you want to keep your emergency contacts but don’t want to bug them with your location every time your iPhone is stuck on the Emergency SOS screen, you can disable that too. Here’s how:
- Open the Settings app on your iPhone and go to Privacy & Security > Location Services > System Services.
- Here, turn off the Emergency Calls & SOS toggle.
Disable Emergency SOS Altogether
While you can't entirely disable Emergency SOS on an iPhone, you can cripple it by disabling its shortcuts. This way, no matter what button combinations you press, you’ll never have the SOS message freezing your device.
- Open the Settings app on your iPhone and go to Emergency SOS.
- Here, turn off the toggles for Call with Hold and Release and Call with 3 Button Presses.
You should, however, still keep the Call After Serious Crash option enabled. This way, you will at least be able to reach emergency services when you’re actually in an accident.
So these were some of the ways to get your iPhone past the frozen "Emergency Contacts have been notified" message, as well as prevent it from happening again. While it may be a good idea to keep it off so accidental triggers don't occur, you should consider keeping it enabled on your parents' iPhones or those with a disability.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is my iPhone sending emergency SOS to my emergency contacts?
When the Emergency SOS feature is triggered on the iPhone, the feature notifies all contacts that are listed under the 'Emergency Contacts' list within the Health app.
How do I get my iPhone out of emergency contact mode?
If your iPhone is stuck on the emergency contact mode, you'll need to force restart your iPhone or turn it off and leave it to charge for an hour. Alternatively, you can also reset your iPhone using a Mac or Windows PC. If everything fails, contact Apple service.
My iPhone is frozen and says, "Your emergency contacts have been notified". How can I fix this?
To get out of the Emergency SOS message on your iPhone, it's best to force restart your iPhone.
