Apple is reportedly adding an automatic car crash detection feature to the iPhone and Apple Watch, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal. The feature will debut early next year, likely with iOS 16.
The report claims that Apple will work on using the sensors present in both the iPhone and Apple Watch to detect “a sudden spike in gravity,” the same way Apple’s Watch works at the moment for fall detection. There are no details on how it would be implemented, but likely a notification will pop up, and if the user does not respond to a notification in a timely manner, then the phone will automatically dial 911 or other emergency services. This is how the Apple Watch’s fall detection feature functions.
This would not be an unprecedented feature on a phone. In fact, Google’s Pixel 6, Pixel 6 Pro, and other contemporary Pixels support car crash detection and automatic emergency services dialing in the U.S., U.K., Ireland, Spain, Singapore, Australia, and Japan as part of Google’s Personal Safety app.
As smartphones are the tools used most by everyone on a daily basis, phone makers have implemented features to help mitigate some of the issues they could cause. Distracted walking is a thing that’s recently happened more and more as people pay attention to their phones to navigate or text while walking around, for example, and a new feature on Android via Google’s Digital Wellbeing app prompts users to look up and pay attention to their surroundings.
On a similar note, mobile phone use accounted for 13.4% of distraction-affected car crashes in 2019, according to a National Safety Council survey. Alongside sleep tracking, headphone volume prompts, and other similar features meant to reduce the negative effects of smartphone overdependence, car crash detection would fit right in.
The OnePlus Buds Clip are a new pair of open-ear earbuds built around a simple convenience. They join Sony’s LinkBuds Clip in the growing ear-cuff category, but either OnePlus bud can go on either ear.
Sensors recognize how the earbuds are being worn and route the audio channels accordingly. There’s no label to check before putting them on, and the feature also works when only one bud is used.
We buy fitness bands and activity trackers to keep tabs on our exercise, but it is easy to forget to start tracking or switch modes when moving between different activities. For Fitbit and Pixel Watch users, that could soon become a lot less annoying, as Google is rolling out a major upgrade to automatic activity tracking that can recognize more than 100 types of exercise, up from just 10 before.
Google first showed off the improved tracking earlier this month alongside the Fitbit Edge. It is now coming to Fitbit Air and the Pixel Watch 3, 4, and 5, and Google claims the added context behind the system makes workout detection nearly twice as accurate while cutting missed activities by more than half. Fitbit Edge will support it too.