I don't get it - if someone's phone is going crazy they'll know why, because they'll pick it up and see 'Amber Alert.' This will only be confusing to people who have arrived in the US very recently and haven't heard of the term. Most people know what it is, it just hasn't been plugged into the phone network until now.
As I should have realized, they're sent to all wireless phones in the area. On an iPhone at least both Amber and Emergency alerts are on by default but you can turn either of them off.
That sounds really disruptive. I'm on WIND Mobile in Ontario, Canada with a Galaxy Nexus, and get AMBER Alerts through a standard SMS message. Combined with a Pebble watch, I don't have to worry about disrupting class/a movie when I get them, and I can read the alert without having to take the phone out of my pocket.
Yeah, and more importantly, can't you just sign up your phone (you know, with a phone number) for TXT or SMS alerts from the AMBER ALERT folks? I'm certain some of my family members have gotten AMBER ALERT TXTs before.
And then, you know, since your phone has internet access you could just pull up their webpage or local news through safari.
Phones already have emergency broadcast support. I really only ever see it go off for amber alerts. May be specifically for that, at the moment? Not sure.
This seems strange. I have enabled everything, got messages also in the US like amber alert but never in germany incl. Hamburg. I thought this is not used here in germany (see other comments here e.g.)? Do you have some source of your information?
I did not get an amber alert, and I am in Boston. Maybe due to the cell signal jamming to stop any additional detonations. I had to call family from Google Voice on my laptop to get in touch. Pretty crazy
There is no such thing as Phone/Mobile AMBER Alerts in Ontario.
The US system has different levels of alerts: Presidential/National Alerts, AMBER Alerts, Extreme Weather Alerts, Dangerous Weather Alerts, etc. On my Pixel 6, everything but the Presidential/National Alerts can be disabled. Same with my wife's Galaxy S22. I assume the same for iPhones.
However the Canadian system (which is heavily based on the American system) is setup differently. All alerts are sent as 'National/Presidential Alerts'. None of the other alert levels are used.
Thank you for the info. I think I found the equivalent on my Android phone, seems it's the "Emergency Alerts" section of the Settings app. I've never received one though.
My parents have a nano cell (live in the country out of tower range). And while they were on network, they were not connected to a proper cell tower. The alert wasn't conveyed to nano cells and the like that were wifi connected.
I am not sure how that would affect amber and emergency alerts and if they get them.
While on the topic of causing a "boy who cried wolf" problem with emergency tones. All of the Amber alerts on cellular networks in Ontario are currently being sent as "presidential alert" priority level.
On many phones' OSes you can disable audible amber alerts but not presidential alerts. Some people in network engineering at the mobile network operators in Canada screwed up big time.
Presidential alerts are only supposed to be used for absolute max priority events, such as literally a nuclear missile attack, a fire storm that's about to engulf a town, tsunami that will affect hundreds of thousands of people, etc.
>Alerts can come through the Wireless Emergency Alert system, which sends text-message alerts similar to Amber Alerts sent to cellphone users when a child is kidnapped.
I've never encountered this before, and I don't see any option for it on my phone.
I'm an Android user in the UK, if that helps.
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