Apple testing car crash detection feature for iPhones, Watches

After detecting car crash, Apple iPhones and Watches will be able to automatically call emergency response centre and seek quick help

Apple Watches, particularly the Series 3 and later versions have been known to be the gold standard for smart wearables in the industry for having potential life-saving features such as irregular heart rate alerts, detecting atrial affirmations via ECG (Electrocardiogram), and fall detection. They have saved thousands of people around the world and they are number selling smartwatches across multiple global markets.

Now, the Cupertino-based company is said to be working on another critical life-saving feature that enable iPhones and Watches to detect car crashes and immediately dial-up emergency contacts for speedy help, reported The Wall Street Journal citing Apple's internal documents.

It is believed that the Apple engineers have developed an algorithm that can make good use of the built-in sensors of the iPhone and Watch to sense the sudden spike in gravity - or g-forces on impact to know whether the moving vehicle has crashed or not.

The report added that Apple had a collection of around 10 million iPhone and Watch users involved in suspected vehicle collisions and of which more than 50,000 included calls to the 911 emergency response centre. The data was said to be voluntarily offered to Apple and it did not contain personally identifiable information.

Apple is said to be using 911 call data to improve the accuracy of the car crash and implement a robust feature on iPhones and Watches that can potentially save millions of lives.

More tests are expected to be conducted to make the car crash detection feature on par with fall detection on Apple Watches.

The new feature is most likely to come with the iOS 16 and watchOS 9, which are slated for release next year. This means the car crash detection feature will be available for older iPhones and Watches.

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