Apple has rolled out a minor new software update with some security fixes and a boost to the recently introduced crash detection feature for iPhone 14.
The update, which is currently available for download via Settings > General > Software Update, promises “optimizations” for Failure detection on iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro.
Elsewhere, Apple says there’s improved compatibility with wireless carriers and a number of security updates, Apple promises yet-to-be-published information on its support pages.
Apple also doesn’t specify what the crash detection optimization is in the release notes. We’ve reached out to Apple for clarification, but this may be a setting designed to prevent false positives that we’ve been reporting since the feature launched.
Some iPhone 14 owners have reported an emergency call feature, which is designed to contact emergency services if they think you’re in an accident, which activates, such as when they were on a roller coaster.
After the feature launched, Apple said there was no “fine bullet” in activating the feature, which uses the iPhone’s motion sensors as well as other factors such as engine sounds, Bluetooth connectivity and whether you’re connected to CarPlay.
“In terms of enabling fault detection, there’s no better bullet,” Apple’s vice president of sensors and communications, Ron Huang, told TechCrunch in October.
“It’s hard to say how many of these things should cause because it’s not a simple equation. Depending on how fast the movement speed was before determines what signals we should see later. Your speed change combined with the impact force, combined with the pressure change, combined with the sound level, it’s all quite a dynamic algorithm.”
