Emergency Test message sounds even with settings off?

[donawalt]

Who got the blaring Test message in the US even though all the settings were off? I have numerous friends that got it on phones (and watches)? What's that all about?

 

[antiprotest]

Yeah I have all the emergency/test alerts setting off and it still blasted right through. I immediately swiped left and dismissed them. Very loud and disruptive. Dangerous and irresponsible. Hope not too many people got killed via car crashes and heart attacks over this.

The thing is, I don't mind an alert, just not with sound. With the way people have their phones close 24/7 nowadays letting us turn off the sound is better than all or nothing. I have amber alerts turned off because of the sound. The disruptiveness kind of backfires.

Many have also pointed out that some domestic violence victims have a hidden phone (and others in analogous situations). This alert would almost definitely cause such a device to be discovered. So people on social media have been warning those living in these situations to turn off their phones, but probably many of them didn't see the warning. I hope not many of them get abused, beaten, or killed because of this. Certainly, this lifeline would get taken away, leaving them helpless.

Again, for me the problem is not the alert as such, but that with millions of people living in such varied circumstances, none of them have the option to receive the alert without the sound.

 

[MegaBlue]

It was already confirmed the alert would be bypassing settings on devices.

Can I opt-out of tests in my phone settings?

Recent models of mobile phones may include a setting to opt-out of tests and alerts. None of those settings will affect the 2023 national test. If your mobile phone is on and receiving service from a participating wireless provider, you should receive the national test.

I believe because this is a federally mandated test, they are allowed to bypass the settings.

 

[hch720]

Imagine if you had AirPods in. Would it blast at full volume into them or would it still use the phones speaker??

 

[gwang73]

Imagine if you had AirPods in. Would it blast at full volume into them or would it still use the phones speaker??

I had my AirPods in when it was sent out and it wasn't at full volume, thankfully.

 

[Morac]

I called this the National Find My Phone test.

A lot of people just left their phones on their desk at work and they all went off. Fortunately the sound goes away after about 30 seconds.

If you power your phone off and back on though the alert goes off again. That happened to me when I upgraded to iOS 17.0.3.

 

[jedimasterkyle]

My wife works at Best Buy and she set a reminder for herself two months ago when they announced they were going to do this. 100% chance all of the demo phones and all of the customer phones went off in the store and I can't imagine how LOUD that was.

But to answer OP's question, yes, I actually got two notifications. They're annoying AF but I get why they're important. Is there room for improvement? Absolutely but I dont see any improvements coming anytime soon.

 

[MegaBlue]

My wife works at Best Buy and she set a reminder for herself two months ago when they announced they were going to do this. 100% chance all of the demo phones and all of the customer phones went off in the store and I can't imagine how LOUD that was.

But to answer OP's question, yes, I actually got two notifications. They're annoying AF but I get why they're important. Is there room for improvement? Absolutely but I dont see any improvements coming anytime soon.

I would be surprised if the demo phones went off. It requires an active subscriber line, and at least when I worked there, nobody was going to pay for each individual demo phone to have a phone number attached to it.

 

[cale508]

Well if it was the other way around, that something happened to you because your iPhone didn't alert you, it will be Apple's fault, right? I rather be interrupted than find myself in a situation where my life is in danger because I had my alerts off.

 

[ManuCH]

Wait, that's confusing, why are they even able to override the settings? If someone sets it to all off, it should be off. What am I missing? Is that some new feature that was developed that allows them to override settings?

 

[iStorm]

I would be surprised if the demo phones went off. It requires an active subscriber line, and at least when I worked there, nobody was going to pay for each individual demo phone to have a phone number attached to it.

It doesn't require an active line. My spare iPhone with no SIM card got the alert.

Phones with no SIM cards or active lines still connect to cell towers for emergency services (can dial 911)...and this alert was sent to all compatible devices connected to towers/networks where WEA is supported.

 

[dictoresno]

there's a reason why the test pushes through system settings in order to get the alert out. lets just hope we never need it for a real emergency.

there were ALOT of heads up from numerous outlets warning that the test was going to occur, how to silence it and that it was only a test.

sure, it may be annoying, but just be glad we aren't back in the Cold War where hearing air raid sirens and hiding under the desk were REAL threats. we are living in a world where we are bothered by the small things in life, yet our relatives lived a very different reality. I don't mind a blaring test alert. I fear the day where it's real. that's the alert I want to push though my silent settings.

 

[ifxf]

Its a presidential alert which cannot be shut off.

 

[MYZ]

Like ifxf said, the highest level of alert is not something adjustable by anyone outside of the pentagon/white house/certain departments. At least for mobile devices with chipsets cleared for sale in the US.

I think even jailbroken phones will sound it though not 100% sure about rooted android devices.

 

[digitalfx]

I mean...whats the purpose of a EMERGENCY ALERT if it doesnt bypass your mute setting? And if you didnt hear about this in the weeks prior at least 5 times, you must live in a cave.

Also note Apples own "Critical Alert" feature works regardless of sound settings...its by design...its a critical alert after all

 

[MacCheetah3]

I would be surprised if the demo phones went off. It requires an active subscriber line, and at least when I worked there, nobody was going to pay for each individual demo phone to have a phone number attached to it.

My iPhone 15 Pro Max, which I had not transferred/activated any cellular service on received, displayed, and sounded the alert.

If you see SOS or "SOS only" in the status bar, your device isn't connected to a network, but you can still make emergency calls. This feature is available in Australia, Canada, and the United States.

If you see SOS, No Service, or Searching on your iPhone or iPad - Apple Support

If you see SOS or "SOS only" in the status bar, your device can still make emergency calls. If you see No Service or Searching in the status bar on your iPhone or iPad (Wi-Fi + Cellular), your device isn't connected to a cellular network.

support.apple.com

I don’t know if this implies using the SOS via satellite feature or somehow through Wi-Fi. 🤷‍♂️

 

[MegaBlue]

My iPhone 15 Pro Max, which I had not transferred/activated any cellular service on received, displayed, and sounded the alert.

If you see SOS, No Service, or Searching on your iPhone or iPad - Apple Support

If you see SOS or "SOS only" in the status bar, your device can still make emergency calls. If you see No Service or Searching in the status bar on your iPhone or iPad (Wi-Fi + Cellular), your device isn't connected to a cellular network.

support.apple.com

I don’t know if this implies using the SOS via satellite feature or somehow through Wi-Fi. 🤷‍♂️

I was wrong on that - it just needs to be able to pick up a cellular signal, regardless of if it has an active line or not. If you see SOS it’ll still go off.