Android users warned over ‘serious’ glitch

A recent update to Android 13 has made the SOS feature easier to activate, resulting in an increase in false alarms (Picture: Shutterstock)

A glitch in Android smartphones’ SOS feature has been blamed for a rise in false emergency calls in the UK.

Police forces across the country have reported receiving a significant number of false 999 or ‘silent’ calls in recent months. These calls have often been traced back to Android phones with the SOS feature accidentally activated.

The SOS feature on Android phones allows users to quickly make an emergency call by pressing the power button five times.

Hoewver, a recent update to Android 13 has made the SOS feature easier to activate, resulting in an increase in false alarms.

In previous versions of Android, users had to press the power button five times quickly to activate the feature. However, users who have updated to Android 13 can now activate the feature by pressing and holding the power button for a few seconds.

Due to this change, people have been accidentally activating the SOS feature by dropping their phones or sitting on them.

The rise in false emergency calls is putting a strain on emergency services. In some cases, first responders have been dispatched to the scene of a false emergency call only to find that there is no actual emergency, wasting time and resources.

Devon and Cornwall Police told the BBC these silent calls took 20 minutes to deal with.

‘Calls to 999 where the operator cannot hear anyone on the line (silent calls) are never just ignored. Call handlers will then need to spend valuable time trying to call you back to check whether you need help,’ said the National Police Chiefs Council in a tweet.

‘If you do accidentally dial 999, please don’t hang up. If possible, please stay on the line and let the operator know it was an accident and that you don’t need any assistance.’

Google is reportedly aware of the problem and is working on a fix. In the meantime, the company has advised users to be careful when using the SOS feature and to only activate it when they really need to.

The Android SOS feature is available on most Android phones running Android 5.0 or later. However, the problem seems to be most widespread on phones running Android 13.

How to turn off the SOS feature on Android

If you are concerned about accidentally activating the SOS feature, you can turn it off in your phone’s settings.

To do this, open the Settings app, go to ‘Safety & emergency’ and then toggle off ‘Emergency SOS’.

You can also set a long press duration for the power button. This will prevent the SOS feature from being activated unless you press and hold the power button for a certain amount of time.

If you still accidentally activate the SOS feature, you can cancel the call by pressing the power button again.

On Sunday, people were briefly urged to call 101 instead of 999 after a ‘technical fault’ downed the emergency phone line.

The issue, which emergency services say was down to ‘system failure’ with BT, impacted first responders up and down Britain.

London’s Metropolitan Police Service said the 999 call system had been ‘restored’ later that morning.

MORE : Met Police urge people not to phone 999 with calls failing to connect to forces

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It has been causing trouble for the emergency services.