AT&T outage is causing SOS and SOS only messages on phones across U.S. What it means
Thousands of people woke up Thursday morning to the dreaded SOS or SOS only message displayed in the status bar on their phones.
A cellular outage is affecting AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon users across the United States, according to outage tracking website Downdetector.com.
What's causing the issue is unknown, and carriers are still determining when full service will be restored.
AT&T released a statement this morning encouraging its users to switch to Wi-Fi calling until service is restored.
Here's what to know.
How to turn on Wi-Fi calling: Seeing SOS on your AT&T iPhone? Here's how to turn on WiFi calling
Did a solar flare cause the AT&T outage?
After tens of thousands found themselves without cell service Thursday, many began wondering what exactly happened? The exact cause of the outage is still unknown but theories are, of course, swarming social media. One of the more interesting ones is whether or not it was caused by solar flares.
NASA confirmed that the sun emitted two strong solar flares Wednesday and Thursday.
The first one peaked Wednesday at 6:07 p.m. EST, and the second peaked Thursday at 1:32 a.m. EST. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory captured an image of the event.
But experts say these probably aren't the culprits behind the outage.
Florida outage map: How to check status of services
How to turn on Wi-Fi calling
Here's how you can turn on Wi-Fi calling on your iPhone:
Navigate to settings
Tap Phone
Then tap Wi-Fi calling
You may need to enter or confirm your address for emergency services, according to Apple.
Once Wi-Fi calling is available, you will see "Wi-Fi" in the status bar while viewing the Control Center.
When cellular service is available, your iPhone uses it for emergency calls. If you turn on Wi-Fi Calling and cellular service isn't available, emergency calls might use Wi-Fi calling.
Your device's location may be used to aid response efforts when you place
Why is my iPhone showing SOS or SOS only?
When iPhones aren’t connected to a cellular network, they will typically alert the user by giving an indication in the phone’s status bar. Those notifications usually say “No Service” or “Searching,” but your phone may also say “SOS” or “SOS only.”
When your phone goes into SOS mode, it can still make emergency calls. When you make an emergency call with your iPhone, it automatically calls the local emergency number and shares your location information with emergency services.
Additionally, you can add emergency contacts under your phone’s medical ID options in the settings. Adding an emergency contact will alert them to your location with a text message after an emergency call ends.
How to get your phone out of SOS mode
In many cases, if your phone is in SOS mode, external circumstances outside your control could be responsible. However, there are some troubleshooting steps you can take on your end:
Make sure you’re in an area with cellular network coverage
Turn your cellular data off and then on:
Go to settings
Toggle cellular or mobile data off and then back on
If you’re traveling internationally, make sure your phone is set up for data roaming:
Go to settings
Tap cellular
Cellular data options
Toggle data roaming
Try restarting your device
Check your carrier settings for an update
Make sure your device is connected to Wi-Fi or a cellular network
Open settings and navigate to General > About. If an update is available, you’ll see it here
Turn your cellular line off and back on
Open settings
Tap Cellular and see if your cellular line is turned on
Don’t see a cellular line in settings? Setup an eSim or reinsert your physical SIM card
Reset your network settings
Open settings
Tap General > Transfer or Reset [Device] > Reset > Reset network settings
Note: This will reset your Wi-Fi networks and passwords, cellular settings, VPN and APN settings you used before
Update your iPhone to the latest version of iOS
Plug your device into power and connect to Wi-Fi
Go to settings > General and then tap “Software Update”
Choose the update you want to install
Contact your wireless carrier
If all else fails, reach out to your carrier to see if there are any outages in the area, ensure your account is in active and good standing and make sure your device isn’t being blocked from receiving cellular service
How SOS works on iPhones
Making an SOS call on an iPhone 8 or newer is an easy, two-step process:
Press and hold the side button and one of the volume buttons (either work) until the Emergency SOS slider appears.
Drag the Emergency Call slider to call emergency services.
If you continue to hold down the side and volume buttons but don’t make an SOS call, a countdown will begin, and an alert will sound. Releasing the buttons after the countdown will automatically call emergency services.
Making SOS calls on iPhone 7 or earlier is just as simple:
Rapidly pressing the side or top button five times will bring up the Emergency Call slider.
Drag the SOS slider to call emergency services.
How to end an accidental SOS call
You can easily cancel an SOS call you started by accident, even after the countdown begins. To do so on an iPhone 8 or later, release the side button and the volume button before the countdown ends. To stop an SOS call on an iPhone 7 or earlier, press the stop button and then tap “Stop Calling.”
If the call begins, don’t hang up. Simply wait until a responder answers and explain that you made the call by mistake. Otherwise, the dispatcher may send responders to your phone’s location.
How to add emergency contacts
Here’s how you can add emergency contacts to your iPhone:
Open the Health app and tap on your profile picture
Open Medical ID
Tap edit, then scroll to emergency contacts
Tap the add button
Tap a contact and add their relationship
Tap done to save your settings
How to remove emergency contacts
Here’s how to remove emergency contacts:
Open the Health app and tap on your profile picture
Open Medical ID
Tap edit, then scroll to emergency contacts
Tap the delete button next to a contact
Tap done to save your settings
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Why AT&T iPhones are showing SOS. Here's what it means