What is Safety Check in iOS 16 and How to Use It on iPhone
Among the many new features in iOS 16 is the new Safety Check feature for your iPhone. This is a major feature designed to help anyone who finds themselves in a precarious situation with their partner, or another person with whom they have close contact. While we hope you are never in a situation where you have to use this feature, if you’re curious about it, and you just want to know what it is and how youcanuse it, here’s what Safety Check is, and how to use it on iPhone.
What is Safety Check in iOS 16 and Why Does It Matter?
So what is Safety Check in the first place? Well, first, it’s important to know that Apple has always allowed users the ability to revoke sharing their location with apps and people, along with a bunch of other things such as access to their iPhone using Face ID and passcodes. However, Safety Check makes it easier for people at risk of domestic abuse to quickly adjust or completely revoke these permissions from one single place, instead of having to hunt down the various settings scattered around the iPhone.
Safety Check works in two ways:
Below, we are going to discuss both of these Safety Check features in detail.
Tip:When you’re using Safety Check, you can tap on the ‘Quick Exit’ button to instantly close the Safety Check screen and quit the Settings app. This can be helpful if someone asks to see what you’re doing on your iPhone and you don’t want them to know that you’re revoking data sharing and other permissions.
So, now you know what is Safety Check, let’s see how can the feature be helpful to you before we explain how to use Safety Check on your iPhone. Here’s what you can do with the Safety Check feature in iOS 16:
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Revoke access to your personal information from apps and people.
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Review and remove untrusted devices that are signed in with your Apple ID.
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Change your Apple ID password
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Update Face ID, Touch ID, and device code information.
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Add or remove emergency contacts.
How to Use Safety Check on Your iPhone
Set up and Use Emergency Reset
As the name suggests, Emergency Reset is pretty much like the kill-switch to stop sharing any and all access that you may have granted to apps and people in one fell swoop. This is meant to be used in situations where you urgently need to stop sharing data such as your location with anyone (including any apps that might be used to track your whereabouts). Here’s how to use this feature.
Once all these steps are complete, Safety Check will recommend other actions that you might want to take to further strengthen your personal safety and peace of mind. Once you’ve gone through this list, just tap on ‘Done’.
Manage Sharing & Access
If, on the other hand, you want to remove permissions and sharing settings for particular people, you can use the second option titled ‘Manage Sharing & Access’. Here’s how to use this feature.
Once all these steps are complete, Safety Check will recommend other actions that you might want to take to further strengthen your personal safety and peace of mind. Once you’ve gone through this list, just tap on ‘Done’.
Will Apple Notify Anyone About the Security Changes?
To ensure the safety and privacy of its users, Apple will not inform anyone if you stop sharing information, account access, location data, etc., with them. This is to ensure that victims (or those at risk) of domestic abuse can safely restrict the perpetrators from accessing their devices and information without having to worry about them getting notified of the change.
However, do note that it’s possible for other people to notice on their own that your information is no longer accessible. As such, it’s recommended to ensure your safety and have a plan of action before you use Safety Check.
Frequently Asked Questions
Safety Check feature can be found in Settings > Privacy & Security > Safety Check. If you are not able to find the feature, make sure that your iPhone is running iOS 16 or above.
Safety Check is a feature introduced by Apple in iOS 16. Using Safety Check you can quickly stop sharing information from apps and people, add emergency contacts and reset permissions you have granted to apps.
Akshay Gangwar
Greetings, tech titans and fellow literary time-travelers! I’m Akshay, your tech-whisperer and Harry Potter’s number one stalker – seriously, don’t ask me how many times I’ve read those books; it’s borderline unhealthy.
Working in the tech journalism industry since 2016, I have 7 years of experience covering everything from technology news, to well-researched resource articles. Now the Content Strategist at Beebom, I often pen down op-eds for our website, sharing expert commentary on the latest in technology, AI, and electric cars.
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