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nutmac

macrumors 603
Original poster
Mar 30, 2004
6,175
7,763
My sleep was disturbed two days in a row by the amber alert. First of all, amber alert is a valuable and potentially lifesaving service and I have it turned on still. But Apple needs to make it less invasive by (1) respecting Do Not Disturb like Android does (it should alert when the phone comes out of it, provided the alert is not cancelled) and (2) provide less annoying but still prominent alert tones and/or vibration.

Furthermore, there has to be a way to review and get more details about the alert beyond reviewing Notifications tab (which I suspect many people are not aware of). Heck, I wouldn't even mind if the feature is integrated into Messages (amber alert and emergency contacts are added to the top as needed and with more details such as pictures), Maps (show alert and last known location) and/or Weather (some weather apps, such as Check the Weather and Dark Sky, show such weather alerts, which amber alert is sometimes pushed through).

P.S. I have used Apple's feedback webpage few years ago to request this enhancement.
 

ohio.emt

macrumors 6502a
Jul 18, 2008
815
181
Ohio
The alerts are sent using the government WEA system, which is limited to 90 characters. In order to get more information the government would have to change the system.
 

C DM

macrumors Sandy Bridge
Oct 17, 2011
51,392
19,461
Yeah, obeying DND should be part of it. Otherwise many people just turn to disabling that type of an alert.
 
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campyguy

macrumors 68040
Mar 21, 2014
3,413
957
I'll admit to disabling the Amber and Emergency Alerts, while enabling the former when I'm out and about as it really doesn't take that long to toggle them.

My work-around for weather-related alerts is by using the Weather Underground app, which has 16 different types of events to notify its users about, plus set alerts for multiple locations. Earlier this year, my mom's town was in the predicted path of a tornado that was sighted near Long Beach WA - believe me when I offer that the klaxon sound the WU app put out was pretty convincing. Besides, I'll get notifications of government emergency alerts through the WU app that I can disable sound via Do Not Disturb or muting the iPhone for while the built-in iOS alert offers no warning whatsoever.

I get my Amber Alert input generally from the radio that's going in the background or DOT reader boards - I'd rather get my info that way instead of from a sound that's going to distract me when I'm on the road. Just saying.
 

perkedel

macrumors 6502a
Dec 30, 2014
534
203
California
I'll admit to disabling the Amber and Emergency Alerts, while enabling the former when I'm out and about as it really doesn't take that long to toggle them.

yup, same here.

OP: just toggle the switch and be done with it, you can turn it back on later if you want.
 

whsbuss

macrumors 601
May 4, 2010
4,264
1,094
SE Penna.
Today I got an emergency alert for a tornado warning. Did AT&T or Apple change it? All I got was a long vibrate.
 
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