Document reveals that Apple is planning on adding a life-saving feature found on Pixels

Google has a feature on some of its Pixel handsets called Car Crash Detection and it has been available for users of the Pixel 3 series through the current Pixel 6 line. When the handset detects that you've been involved in a car accident, the phone will vibrate and ask aloud and on the screen if you need help. You will have 60 seconds to respond.

To call emergency services, say "Emergency" or press the emergency button twice. The speakerphone will be turned on automatically. Or, you can cancel the call by saying "Cancel" or by pressing I am ok. No call will be made if this option is chosen.

If you don't respond by 60 seconds, the speakerphone will turn on automatically and the phone will try to call emergency services, mention that a car crash occurred, and pass along your approximate location. While the message repeats, you can talk over it. To stop the message but stay on the call, tap on cancel.

Today, The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple wants to add a similar feature to the iPhone. This "crash detection" could be added to the iPhone and the Apple Watch next year according to documents that were viewed by the Journal. The feature would use motion sensor technology similar to what is used on the Apple Watch to detect when the user of the timepiece has fallen.

The "fall detection" on the Apple Watch detects when the user suffers a severe fall. If the injured person doesn't respond to the initial notifications, the watch can call emergency services and the user's emergency contacts with the location of the watch owner. Apple also added a feature to iOS 15 that measures how steady an iPhone owner is walking and whether that person is liable to fall sometime over the next year.

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Besides the sensors that are built into Apple's devices, crash detection will rely on the iPhone's accelerometer. The latter can determine whether the phone is being held in portrait or landscape orientation and adjust the screen as needed. To detect a car crash, the sensors look for a sudden spike in gravity, or "g forces." Those familiar with Apple's development process say that the company could decide to change the timing of the feature's release or end up not releasing it at all.

Today's report says that Apple has been testing the feature by analyzing data sent to it anonymously by iPhone and Apple Watch users. More than 10 million suspected vehicle impacts have been detected by Apple devices with more than 50,000 resulting in a call to 911. This data has been used by Apple to improve the algorithm it uses to detect crashes.

It is not known how the anonymous iPhone and Apple Watch users are submitting information to the company. The documents read by The Wall Street Journal also do not answer this question.

As we noted, Google already offers a crash detection feature for its Pixel phones, and there are apps in the App Store that can do the same thing through the use of AI and location data. General Motor's OnStar unit offers a subscription-based app that can detect a car accident.

The fall detection feature is just one of several features found on the Apple Watch that has allowed the device to save lives in real-time. The heart rate monitor is probably the most well-known and has been involved in the most life-saving moments. Other health-related applications on the timepiece include the Electrocardiogram (ECG) that monitors heart rhythms looking for atrial fibrillation (AFib).

The most recent models of the Apple Watch also measure oxygen saturation levels (SpO2) to make sure that the percentage of oxygen-carrying hemoglobin in the blood relative to the amount of hemoglobin not carrying oxygen in a user's blood. The "normal" range is 95-100%.