Police departments all over the UK have issued warnings because of a new feature on some Android phones that is flooding switchboards with unintentional "silent" 999 calls.
If a side button is repeatedly pressed, the Emergency SOS feature dials.
According to police chiefs, it may be contributing to the record-breaking 999 calls.
The most popular Android phone software is created by Google, which says it anticipates vendors will release updates to fix the issue.
The latest update, according to the National Police Chiefs Council, "added a new SOS emergency function for devices to call 999 through the power button being pressed five times or more.".
"Across the country, 999 call volumes to all emergency services are at an all-time high. There are several causes for this, but we believe that an update to Android smartphones is having the biggest influence. ".
Silent calls were handled in 20 minutes, according to Devon and Cornwall Police. They advised individuals who unintentionally dialed 999 to remain on the line and inform the operator of their error.
Between 00:00 and 19:00 BST on Sunday alone, the force reported receiving 169 silent 999 calls, according to the BBC.
Police Scotland stated that BT had discovered "a significant rise in 999 accident calls.".
The feature was present in Android 12 in 2021, but since Android 13 was updated the previous year, many people have noted specific problems. On the websites of the manufacturers, there is information on how to disable the feature.
The issue is not unique to the UK. Beginning in June, the European Emergency Number Association issued a warning after receiving information about a "surge in automatic false calls originating from Android devices" from some of its members.
According to a Google spokesperson, manufacturers who decide to include Emergency SOS on their products are in charge of controlling how the feature functions on their phones.
Android is supplying these manufacturers with additional guidance and resources, according to the statement, "to help them prevent unintentional emergency calls on their devices.".
"We anticipate that soon users of affected devices will receive updates from device manufacturers that fix this problem. Users who experience this problem repeatedly should disable Emergency SOS for the next few days.
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