{"id":407809,"date":"2026-01-15T01:53:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T01:53:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/407809\/"},"modified":"2026-01-15T01:53:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T01:53:09","slug":"why-your-phone-may-be-in-sos-mode-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/407809\/","title":{"rendered":"Why your phone may be in ‘SOS’ mode"},"content":{"rendered":"

Many iPhone users with Verizon reported their phones were in “SOS mode” on Wednesday. Here’s what that means for you.<\/p>\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 Numerous Verizon customers<\/a> across the U.S. experienced a service outage Wednesday that left many iPhones\u00a0in “SOS mode.”<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

More than 170,000 customers reported issues with their cell service starting around noon Eastern, according to outage tracking website DownDetector<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As of 4:30 p.m. Eastern, the outage has continued and there’s no timeline for how long the service could be down.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In a statement Wednesday afternoon, Verizon said its “team is on the ground actively working to fix today\u2019s service issue that is impacting some customers. We know this is a huge inconvenience, and our top priority is to get you back online and connected as fast as possible. We appreciate your patience while we work to resolve this issue.”<\/p>\n


\nWhy is my phone in SOS mode? What is SOS mode?\u00a0 <\/p>\n

SOS mode is simply a way for your iPhone\u00a0<\/a>to tell you that you don’t have a proper cellular connection, meaning you’re only able to call or text emergency services through the cellular network.<\/p>\n

iPhone 14 or newer models also have satellite SOS capability, so you’re able to call 911 even when outside of any cellular service range, unless you’re some place where signal can’t get out at all.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Android phones will also let you call 911 without service, though it’s not called SOS mode.\u00a0<\/p>\n


\nHow can I tell if my phone is in SOS mode? <\/p>\n

The SOS icon will appear in the top right corner of an iPhone’s screen when service is unavailable, where your cellular connection bars usually display<\/p>\n

If you are using an iPhone 13 or earlier versions, the icon will swap to “No service” if you go out of range for any cellular service until you’re back within range.\u00a0<\/p>\n


\nWhen will SOS mode go away? <\/p>\n

SOS mode automatically turns on when there isn’t any cell service available from your phone carrier. If you’re experiencing an outage, you simply have to wait until service is restored to your area. If you have SOS mode activate because you’re out of your network’s coverage area, you’ll have to travel back inside the coverage area before you can make calls.\u00a0<\/p>\n


\nWhy can I still use my phone in SOS mode? <\/p>\n

Although SOS mode indicates you don’t have cellular service, it doesn’t mean the phone is useless. Most modern phones allow calling, texting, and internet browsing over Wi-Fi. So if you have an internet connection through a Wi-Fi signal, you’ll be able to use your phone like normal. You’ll only be able to contact other phones that are on a Wi-Fi network while in SOS mode.\u00a0<\/p>\n


\nWhat can I do when my phone has no service? <\/p>\n

Wi-Fi calling is a built-in feature on most Android devices and iPhones and can be turned on under the phone’s settings.<\/p>\n

If Wi-Fi isn’t available, there are few options for cellphone users. It’s possible to switch services if a phone is unlocked, but that requires signing up online and porting your phone number<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Some apps, including Google Maps, have limited service offline. Payment apps also do not use a phone’s cell service to work and should also be useable.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Many iPhone users with Verizon reported their phones were in “SOS mode” on Wednesday. Here’s what that means…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":407345,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[165,74],"class_list":["post-407809","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mobile","tag-mobile","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/407809","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=407809"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/407809\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/407345"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=407809"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=407809"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=407809"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}