Staying Safe with Your Google Pixel

When an emergency strikes, having the right tools and features on your Google Pixel can make all the difference. In this article, we’ll explore seven critical features that you should enable to ensure your safety and the safety of those around you.

Schedule a Safety Check

One of the most important features to enable is Safety Check, which allows you to schedule a check-in with your emergency contacts. This is especially useful during activities that present some risk, such as running at night, going to a party, or taking a ride share. To set up Safety Check, open the Personal Safety app and go to Safety Check. Select the reason and duration for your check-in, and then choose the contacts you want notified in case of an emergency. You can also notify your emergency contacts upfront, and they’ll receive a text with your name, Safety Check reason, and duration.

When you get the Safety Check prompt, you’ll have three options: I’m OK, Don’t Share, or Start sharing now. If you choose Start sharing now, you’ll share your location with your emergency contacts. If you choose Don’t Share, you won’t share your location, but you’ll still be able to call 911 if needed.

Add Emergency Contacts and Medical Information

The Personal Safety app is also the hub for any information first responders might need in an emergency. To add emergency contacts, tap Your info > Emergency contacts > Add contact, and then pull from your existing contact list. You can also add medical information, such as allergies, medications, blood type, and other health data. To make this information available from your Pixel lock screen, tap Emergency info access > Show when locked.

When you’re out alone, it’s essential to make sure someone knows where you are. Safety Check can prompt you to confirm that you’re OK and notify your emergency contacts (with a link to your location) if you don’t. This is especially useful during activities that present some risk, such as running at night, going to a party, or taking a ride share.

Turn On Emergency SOS

Emergency SOS is a collection of features that you can activate in an emergency, such as calling emergency services, sharing your location with your emergency contacts, and recording video. To set up Emergency SOS, go to Settings > Safety & emergency > Emergency SOS > Start setup. From here, you can add an emergency services number, turn on assisted calling, select contacts to share information with, and enable emergency video recording. You can also select the activation method: either Touch & hold to start actions or Start actions automatically.

When you press the power button quickly five times or more, these options are activated, and you can access Emergency SOS. This feature is especially useful in situations where you’re unable to call for help.

Set Up Emergency Alerts

Android has several settings for emergency alerts, which push a notification to your device in the event of severe weather, a natural disaster, or other local crisis. Government-issued emergency broadcasts also include AMBER alerts. You can manage how you want to receive these under Settings > Notifications > Wireless emergency alerts.

Crisis alerts provide localized information with links to Google Search results about the emergency. These are on by default, but you can adjust them under Settings > Safety & emergency > Crisis alerts. Finally, Android can provide earthquake alerts in certain areas (California, Oregon, and Washington in the U.S.) if you enable them under Settings > Safety & emergency > Earthquake alerts.

Enable Car Crash Detection

Pixel devices can detect severe car crashes using data like your phone’s location, motion sensors, and nearby sounds. This feature can automatically call emergency services for help. To turn it on, open Personal Safety and go to Features > Car Crash Detection > Set up. You’ll need to allow location sharing when the app is in use and allow microphone and physical activity sharing at all times.

If your device detects a crash, it’ll send a prompt asking if you need help and automatically call emergency services if you don’t respond. This feature is especially useful in situations where you’re unable to call for help.

Put a Message on Your Lock Screen

You can also add a lock screen message, which is visible to anyone who has access to your device. This can be useful for sharing a secondary contact in case your phone gets lost, but you can also put critical health alerts here, such as severe allergies or medical conditions that someone assisting you in an emergency might need to know without having to navigate any further.

Access Satellite SOS

Like on iOS, Android allows you to connect to emergency services via satellite if you don’t have cellular data or wifi. This is available on Pixel 9 and later (except Pixel 9a) and works only with Google Messages as the default messaging app. When you attempt to dial 911 (or the emergency number in your area) when you’re out of service, you’ll see a Satellite SOS button. Tap and select Use Satellite SOS > Start, and follow the prompts to answer questions about your situation, notify emergency contacts, connect to a satellite, and open a text conversation with first responders.