Update Emergency Mode to make it more efficient in an attack

[EL1]

Following the disappearance of Sarah Everard, I, like many women, have been looking for  more precautions I can take to protect myself from attack.

I have found how to set up Emergency SOS Messaging on my Galaxy A3, no problem. However, Samsung's Emergency Mode feature is flawed because pressing the power button 3 times doesn't automatically turn on Emergency Mode. I have to do that separately by holding down the power button and then selecting it. 

I recently tested this feature and, rather than turning on immediately, there was a loading bar which took over a minute to reach 100% before I could use the feature and access the Emergency Alarm.

A minute is far too long to wait in the event of an attack where I might need a quick and easy way to get the attention of anyone nearby.

The feature would be far more fit for purpose if, as well as sending an emergency SOS message to my emergency contacts with my location, photos and an audio clip, hitting the power button 3 times also calls 999 and sounds an alarm.

As a suggestion, you could mitigate any accidental usage by programming it so that pressing the power button 3 times activates Emergency SOS Messaging, 4 times activates the Emergency Alarm, and 5 times calls 999.

Such updates would be a far quicker and more efficient way of calling for help in the event of an emergency. Such an improved feature would not only be beneficial for women, but for any Samsung user.

[Aklima]

Well said.

[Shazzkid]

If you download a macro app such as macro droid you can programme all this yourself.
It works by carrying out a series of actions, such as updating ur location, then sending a text to xxxx number, every xxx minutes with your location, or making a call, or many other types of actions, and as many as you want.

These actions follow a trigger, this could be a tile in the quick settings menu, u can drag down the menu when the screen is locked, click the tile and all your actions will start immediately. This trigger can be many things, shaking the phone, gestures on the screen, gestures on the fingerprint sensor, there's tons to choose from.

Theres also constraints, so you can say, i want all that happen, but only if my battery is above 10%, or only if the screen is off, etc

3 steps to creating a Macro: The Trigger, The Action, Constraints (if any)

The app I recommend is called Macrodroid, it has the most user friendly UI so you should be able to use it straight away, no tutorials needed.

[AndrewL]

@EL1: Emergency mode enables you to extend your device’s standby time when you are in an emergency situation and you want your device to conserve power for as long as possible. As an alternative approach, and for peace of mind, why not head to Settings > Advanced Features > Send SOS Messages > On, to let people know that you need help in an emergency. With this feature enabled you can assign the side key to be pressed a set number of times to activate the message, as well as 'Auto Call Someone', 'Attach Pictures' and 'Attach Audio Recordings'. This will call a selected contact after the messages are sent, and give you the option of attaching pictures and audio recordings of your surroundings. I fully understand your concerns given the recent news, and hope this goes some way to resolving your query. 

[EL1]

Hi @AndrewL. As mentioned, I have set up Emergency SOS Messaging no problem.

The aim of my post is to draw attention to the flaw that I must wait over a minute for Emergency Mode to load before I can use its features such as the Emergency Alarm, which I haven't been able to find elsewhere. If you know of another way I can access it quicker do let me know. Many thanks for your comment 👍

[EL1]

Hi @Shazzkid. Thanks for this. I'll look into it as a temporary fix until Samsung's softwear engineers can look at this. Many thanks for your comment 👍

[EL1]

Thanks @aklima, I appreciate it 😀