Your iPhone can make ‘silent’ emergency calls to 999 if you’re in danger – exact settings you’ll need to change
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YOUR iPhone has a special option for "quietly calling" emergency services – and it's important to know how it works. You'll need to activate a setting before you can do it, so familiarise yourself with it now. It's linked to Apple's Emergency SOS feature, a standard iOS feature on your iPhone.
![[Illustration of iPhone Emergency SOS settings.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/iphone-safety-001.jpg?strip=all&w=491)
With Emergency SOS, you can press and hold the side button plus either volume button to make an emergency call. It's a fast way to contact the emergency services, especially if you're in a difficult situation. However, Emergency SOS triggers a countdown and then sounds an alarm as part of its process.
![[Hand holding iPhone.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/iphone-quiet.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
That might be very useful in some situations, but you might want to make a more subtle call instead. In that case, you'll want to use Apple's Call Quietly option. "Warning alarms, flashes, and VoiceOver audio will be silenced when using 'Hold and release' or '5 Button Presses' to place an emergency call," Apple explains.
![[iPhone Safety Check screen showing options to reset access for all people and apps, and to manage sharing and access.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/iphone-safety-002.jpg?strip=all&w=472)
The feature was added in the iOS 16.3 update, which was released in January 2023. We're currently up to iOS 18, so it's very likely that you already have it. To check, just go to Settings > General > Software Update. Then go to Settings > Emergency SOS and toggle the Call Quietly option on.
![[iPhone Emergency Reset screen showing options to stop sharing information, change account password, and manage emergency contacts.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/iphone-safety-003.jpg?strip=all&w=478)
Note that this only works if you're using either the "Call with Hold and Release" or "Call with 5 Button Presses" options. So you'll need one or both of those toggled on in Settings > Emergency SOS too. There are some other useful emergency features on your iPhone.
![[iPhone privacy and security settings.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/iphone-safety-004.jpg?strip=all&w=472)
