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Texting during disasters just got easier

You’ve probably seen a satellite phone in a movie. Usually they’re depicted as black bricks that let you phone home from Mount Everest for $100 a minute. Whether you’re a mountaineer or not, the technology has gotten smaller, better, and much cheaper. In fact, you may have a satphone in your pocket right now and not even know it.

An untold number of people in western North Carolina have made this realization in the wake of Hurricane Helene, which left towns and counties without power, water, and cell service. The latest generations of smartphones, however, can connect directly to satellites. That means you can send text messages and make emergency phone calls, even when there’s not a working cell tower for miles.

“Due to the lack of cell service, EVERYONE in Asheville NC right now on iOS 18 has been able to get messages out and in with the Satellite messaging feature,” Asheville resident Matt Van Swol said in a tweet. “This is literally saving lives.”

The Apple feature indeed lets you send iMessages and SMS messages via satellite, and it’s only been available for a few weeks, thanks to the latest iPhone operating system upgrade. Anyone with an iPhone 14 or newer can install the software and gain access to satellite-based messaging. The service is also currently free for the first two years after you’ve activated or updated your device (Apple hasn’t said how much it will cost thereafter).

To send a message via satellite, you must be outside, away from obstacles like buildings and trees. Then, you point your iPhone at the sky — just like they do in the movies when looking for a signal. An onscreen prompt will steer you toward a satellite, and when you connect, you can send a message to anyone. It takes a while: Up to 30 seconds for the entire message to send. You can also receive messages, but only from your emergency contact and members of your Family Sharing account.

Apple isn’t the only one getting on the satphone bandwagon. Google rolled out a similar service called Satellite SOS for its Pixel 9 series devices, which hit shelves in August. It’s also free for the first two years, and you have to be using the Google Messages app.

These texting services are not necessarily designed to be lifelines. In fact, Apple specifically says, “Messages via satellite shouldn't be used in emergencies.” That’s what its Emergency SOS via Satellite feature, which has been around since 2022, is designed to do. Google similarly offers a Satellite SOS feature. Apple also offers Roadside Assistance via satellite in case your car breaks down or crashes in a remote area.

The big difference between the texting services and those SOS options is that, instead of staying in touch with family and friends, the SOS services connect you directly to emergency services, with whom you can share your location and details of your emergency. The new iMessage and SMS service, for now, amounts to a fun, free way to text your friends when you summit Mount Everest. And it obviously comes in handy if “biblical devastation” strikes your part of the world and you want to let loved ones know you’re okay.

To test out Apple’s satellite messaging feature, navigate to the Control Center, tap Satellite, and then Try Demo.

Apple and Google did not enable these futuristic new services with a simple software update or even a new generation of phones. Enabling cellphones to connect directly to satellites — also known as direct-to-cell technology — has been years in the making. More access to satellite-based communication has also changed the sky. You can now see constellations of satellites flying above you, designed to solve the very difficult problem of beaming signals from your phone up to space and back down to someone else’s device. To make this possible, a growing list of companies is launching even more satellites into orbit and developing new methods of triangulating signals called beamforming.

If you’re familiar with the satellite-based broadband pioneered by companies like Starlink, the way direct-to-cell satellite technology works will sound familiar. The basic idea is to create cell towers in space. That way they could receive signals from devices on Earth’s service and bounce it back down to terrestrial cell towers or even specific devices, much in the same way networks of cell towers keep all our phones connected here on the ground. 

To do this, a number of companies have launched large constellations of satellites into low Earth orbit a few hundred miles up, where they speed around the planet at tens of thousands of miles per hour. The challenge then is to find devices on the ground while the satellites are moving so quickly. That’s where larger antennas and beamforming come in. Larger antennas help the satellites pick up more radio waves as they speed by, and beamforming allows the satellites to send signals from multiple sources that converge to create a stronger signal. (If you’d like a more technical explanation of how this works, this is a good guide.)

A lot of companies you probably haven’t heard of are making this possible. Apple is working with a satellite partner called Globalstar for its new services. For its new Pixel 9 lineup, Google has teamed up with Skylo, which is also working with Verizon to provide its customers with direct-to-cell capabilities.

And then there’s the Elon Musk company you have probably heard of. T-Mobile has a partnership with SpaceX, which sent the first of several sets of Starlink satellites into orbit earlier this year as part of the effort. While the system has been successfully tested, it’s not clear when this network will come online for T-Mobile customers. In the meantime, the Starlink satellites themselves are apparently very bright in the night sky. 

As all of these disparate efforts to connect cellphones to stars come to fruition, we can expect a near future where you’re never without a signal. You could be deep in the Amazon rainforest texting your kids details about wildlife or in the middle of the Pacific Ocean getting updates about the playoffs. And that’s not even taking into account how many lives could be saved by offering lifelines to those in trouble. 

Expect all of these services to cost money. But in the two or so years you have to test it for free, give the satphone experience a try. You can find details about setting up satellite messaging on an iPhone here and the Emergency SOS feature on Google Pixel 9 devices here. 

If your phone is a few years old or not made by Apple or Google, then you don’t have these capabilities. Don’t expect to rely on these features in a disaster. For better or worse, the future of extraterrestrial communication is built on Big Tech’s endless upgrade cycle.

—Adam Clark Estes, senior technology correspondent

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