- Hurricane Milton might disrupt energy and cell service in Florida.
- iPhone 14 and later fashions with iOS 18 supply satellite tv for pc messaging when cell service is unavailable.
Hurricane Milton threatens to wreck energy strains and cell service in Florida, however you might need a helpful emergency function accessible proper in your pocket — your iPhone.
Those who personal iPhone 14 fashions or later with iOS 18 put in can use satellite tv for pc messaging on their units within the occasion of cell service changing into unavailable. In the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, iPhone house owners praised the function for permitting them to speak with out WiFi or mobile protection.
“Due to the dearth of cell service, EVERYONE in Asheville NC proper now on iOS 18 has been in a position to get messages in and out with the Satellite messaging function,” Matt Van Swol, an Asheville, North Carolina, resident, wrote on X. “This is actually saving lives.”
Here’s how to verify your iPhone is ready as much as ship satellite tv for pc messages if Hurricane Milton topples the connectivity in your space.
There are some things you wish to make sure that are ready earlier than shedding mobile and WiFi.
- Turn on the iMessage function.
- Make positive your iPhone and the iPhones of anybody you would possibly wish to contact are up to date to iOS 18.
- Make positive you have just lately communicated by way of iMessage (within the final month or so, in response to Apple) with any iPhone you wish to satellite tv for pc message.
You may ship satellite tv for pc messages by way of SMS to cell numbers that are not iPhones, however you need to message them first earlier than their messages attain you, in response to Apple’s web site.
If cell websites are out of service and it’s essential discover a approach to textual content, here is how you utilize Apple’s satellite tv for pc messaging in your iPhone.
- Go to the Messages app.
- A immediate ought to mechanically seem in the event you’re out of mobile and WiFi protection. Tap Use Messages by way of Satellite.
- Follow the directions to attach your iPhone to a satellite tv for pc. You’ll have to be outdoors with an unobstructed view of the sky, and it would require you to maneuver to larger floor for a stronger connection.
- Type your message, and ship it.
Satellite messaging is not an iPhone-exclusive instrument. Some Google Pixel fashions and Androids even have entry to the function.
If you are in an emergency, Apple’s web site says iPhone house owners ought to use the Emergency SOS function to contact emergency companies.
Still, satellite tv for pc messaging can enable households to attach and let one another know they’re protected throughout Hurricane Milton.
