Apple has been working to resolve the issue with the Crash Detection feature of iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro models, and it appears that the Big Tech will finally release a fix to it with the upcoming iOS 16.4. The next iOS update is expected to have its public release next week, shortly after its Release Candidate (RC) version was made available to test developers Tuesday.
iOS 16.4 Aims To Prevent False 911 Call Triggered by Skiing or Snowboarding
As reported by Mac Rumors, the iOS 16.4 release notes from Apple revealed that the next update will include improvements for Crash Detection. The Cupertino-based company received complaints from different states in the U.S. and Canada because of false 911 calls made by iPhone 14 devices. It turns out that the Crash Detection feature of the iPhone model has flaws, which trigger a premature emergency call even if no accident has happened yet. With this, Apple committed to finding a solution to this issue, starting with iOS 16.1.2 in November.
The second update made to optimize the Crash Detection feature is iOS 16.3.1, which was released last month. The upcoming iOS 16.4 would be the third update to introduce Crash Detection optimizations to iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro units.
Crash Detection is a promising feature of iPhone 14 models, as well as the latest Apple Watch models, as it was designed to detect if the device's user encountered a severe car crash. Upon detection, the device will wait for 20 seconds for the user's response. If the user does not respond, the device will automatically call for emergency dispatchers.
However, the influx of 911 calls over the last few months has shown the need to update Crash Detection. Apparently, the feature can be triggered when the user goes skiing or snowboarding, since the downward motion is mistaken as a car crash. The reports of false 911 calls triggered by Crash Detection came from Colorado, Utah, New York, Minnesota, and Pennsylvania, which are known skiing hotspots.
It has yet to be seen if the optimizations to be provided by iOS 16.4 will be enough to reduce the number of premature 911 calls, although it is likely that more updates will be needed to completely resolve the issue.
iOS 16.4 RC Teases New Emojis, Safari Web Push Notifications and Voice Isolation
MacRumors also reported more features to be introduced by iOS 16.4. The recently rolled out iOS 16.4 RC to test developers leaked some of the additional features, particularly the new emojis including shaking head, pink heart, light blue heart, donkey, moose, jellyfish, hyacinth, ginger and blackbird. The next iOS update has 31 new emojis in total, which also include left and right hand options for different skin tones.
Furthermore, iPhone and iPad devices will not get Safari Web Push notifications with the iOS 16.4 update. Users will receive these notifications from websites that have been added to the Home Screen. Web Push notifications are similar to the website notifications received by Mac users, but they will appear like regular iOS notifications.
Per Phone Arena, another exciting iOS 16.4 feature to watch for is Voice Isolation, which removes background noise on VoIP calls on apps such as FaceTime and WhatsApp. The reduction of ambient noise will improve the quality of phone calls.
The exact release date of iOS 16.4 has not yet been confirmed.
