How shake-to-SOS works
Three hard shakes in two seconds and the patrol is on their way. The cooldown so you don't accidentally trigger it.
If something happens and you can't safely look at your phone — you're being followed, you can't talk, the situation is moving fast — three hard shakes inside two seconds will trigger an SOS through your pocket.
How to do the shake
Hold the phone firmly. Three sharp, deliberate shakes back and forth. Not a rattle, not waving the phone around — clear, intentional motion. The phone vibrates twice when it recognizes the gesture.
What happens next
- The phone shows a confirmation: "SOS triggered. Cancel?" with a 4-second countdown. If you tap Cancel in time, nothing else happens.
- Otherwise, after 4 seconds:
- The on-duty patrol in your neighborhood gets a high-priority alert with your name, GPS, and any medical info your family master saved in the emergency plan.
- Your family master gets a push: "Sarah triggered SOS. Patrol dispatched."
- Your emergency contact (if configured) gets a text.
- The patrol typically calls you within 60 seconds. If you don't answer, they drive to your location.
Cooldown
Once shake-to-SOS fires, the detector sleeps for two minutes so an accidental jolt while you're running, biking, or in a bumpy car can't fire it again. The on-screen SOS button still works during the cooldown.
Disabling shake-to-SOS
If your sport or daily routine triggers false positives (some kinds of running, some kinds of impact play), turn shake-to-SOS off in Settings → Privacy and Security → Shake-to-SOS. The on-screen SOS button still works.