Emergency features are one of those things you hope you’ll never have to use, like a fire extinguisher or that flashlight buried somewhere in your car. You know it’s there, you know it’s important… but when the moment comes, will you actually be able to use it?
In this Article
Emergency SOS: What’s the Issue?
A few months ago, I was one of the facilitators running a workshop teaching elderly people how to be more confident in using their smartphones. We covered important accessibility features from adjusting text size to scanning qr codes, but one section ended up taking much longer than we expected: triggering Emergency SOS.
It was, without a doubt, one of the most important topics we covered. Many of our participants live alone, with children or relatives living far away. In a real emergency, being able to summon help quickly isn’t just nice to have — it’s vital.
This workshop was part of Netizen eXperience’s community outreach program—sharing what we do best: technology, and how to make it work for people.
Sure, tech competency can be one of the factors as our participants ranged widely in this category. Some struggled to find their settings menu, while others could pull up a feature in seconds (thank you, Search function!). But regardless of skill level, almost everyone struggled to trigger or even locate the Emergency SOS feature.
If you’ve never had to use it before (and I hope you never do), here’s how most phones trigger the Emergency SOS feature: you press the side or power button five times rapidly.
On iPhones, there’s also an option to long-press the power button together with either of the volume buttons to bring up emergency services and contacts.
Once Emergency SOS is triggered, your phone will bring up a page that lists down emergency services, medical information as well as emergency contacts that have been set up prior. Each phones showcase this differently:
Sounds simple, right? So we asked the participants to try it. We demonstrated it. We encouraged them to give it a go. And still… most couldn’t do it.
Can you guess why?
Their button presses were simply too slow. For many, arthritis, joint stiffness, or just slower reflexes made it impossible to trigger the sequence fast enough. And if you can’t trigger it, the feature might as well not exist for you.
Now, you might be looking at your phone and thinking, “But there’s an Emergency SOS option on the lock screen, problem solved!”
Sure, there is. But here’s the catch: how often do you actually see that button?
With Face ID and other biometric unlocking methods, most of us—seniors especially—skip past the lock screen entirely. That tiny “Emergency” button is increasingly moving away from our daily phone experience as technology gets better. In a crisis, tiny, easily overlooked buttons are not your friend, especially if your eyesight isn’t what it used to be.
What really struck us was that the seniors in our workshop weren’t lacking in tech. In fact, some of them had newer, higher-end phones than we did! But no matter how fancy the phone is, it’s useless if the person holding it can’t activate the Emergency SOS feature, the one feature that could save their life. That’s a big gap, and it’s one worth closing.
So How Do We Fix This?
Accessibility shouldn’t be an afterthought. If we design for the people who need the most support, we make things better for everyone. So I sat down with Gwen—one of the talented designers at our company—to figure out how Emergency SOS could actually work for seniors in the moments that matter most.
Our main goal was deceptively simple: make sure triggering Emergency SOS fits seamlessly into a senior’s daily phone habits. No new gestures to memorize. No fiddly button presses. Just something that feels natural, so when they need it, it’s right there, at the tip of their fingers.
We looked at how current devices and senior safety apps approach Emergency SOS. We saw long-press gestures, hidden settings, dedicated hardware buttons, and even wearable triggers. All of them had their merits, but they all asked for something extra from the user—an extra accessory, an extra tap, an extra thought, which in an emergency, “extra” is a problem.
So we landed on something elegantly simple: an always-on Emergency SOS notification.
A mockup of the Emergency SOS notification: courtesy to Gwen!
Here’s how it works:
- Wake the phone – The Emergency SOS notification is always pinned at the very top of the lock screen.
- Tap to open – In a crisis, one tap instantly takes you to the Emergency SOS page.
- Access help – Your emergency contacts are right there, ready to be called or messaged.
- Default SOS flow – You can now call emergency services or your emergency contacts! For iPhone users, once an emergency call is made, your chosen contacts automatically receive a text with your location.
This method adds to the original way of getting to the emergency SOS, making it easier to trigger the feature. With a tap, we eliminate frantic button mashing, searching through menus, and the need to unlock the phone first. Just two taps (or one if the phone has an “always-on” display) and help is on the way!
It’s also perfect for situations where someone else like a passerby needs to help. They don’t have to know your passcode or fumble around your phone. One glance at the lock screen, one tap, and they’re right where they need to be.
This works because it blends into something seniors already do multiple times a day: check their phone for notifications. By keeping it pinned to the top, we remove the need to hunt for it when seconds matter.
Final Thoughts
Our workshop taught us something important: life-saving features are only as good as the ease with which they can be used. It’s not enough for a feature to exist, it has to also be accessible in the most human sense of the word.
There’s still so much potential here.
What if phones could learn a person’s habits and adapt their emergency triggers accordingly?
What if more devices used sensors to detect not just crashes and falls, but other signs of distress?
And what about the people who don’t have the latest devices at all?
I’d love to see more designers, engineers, and product teams tackle these questions. Because when it comes to emergencies, accessibility is about giving everyone, no matter their age or ability, a fair shot at getting help when it matters most.
About the Author:
Aina spent 5 years as a user researcher, diving into both qualitative and quantitative methods across fintech, insurance, entertainment, and utilities. Now she leads content at Netizen, blending research with storytelling. Outside work, she’s happily lost in games, Dungeons & Dragons, and the ever-creative world of dice making and TTRPGs.
