What it is advisable to know
- A placeholder UI has been noticed within the Google Messages app, which previews its upcoming satellite connectivity support for sending emergency SOS messages.
- It seems that customers will be capable to customise an SOS message as an alternative of merely sending a preset phrase.
- Google has already introduced that Android 14 will allow smartphones to speak instantly via satellite connectivity.
Certain smartphones that can run Android 14 sooner or later will be capable to ship textual content off the grid, and a Google govt confirmed as a lot final 12 months. Now, a brand new discovery previews sure UI components of the upcoming characteristic within the Google Messages app.
Courtesy of Neïl Rahmouni on X (previously Twitter), we now have a glimpse of what emergency SOS messages over satellite will appear like on Android.
Looks like Google Messages is certainly getting ready so as to add support for Satellite Connectivity. They’ve added UIs for conversations and SOS messages utilizing satellite connection: pic.twitter.com/IDxse7QNCwAugust 17, 2023
Android sleuth Mishaal Rahman notes in a tweet that the interface proven within the picture is just a placeholder in the meanwhile, suggesting that satellite-based emergency SOS support will likely be an integral a part of Messages reasonably than a separate app.
The placeholder components showcase a messaging interface that is not not like your common conversations. There’s a compose field that makes it clear you are sending a “Satellite message” and a personality counter on the fitting aspect. This means that the characteristic will restrict what number of phrases you may ship when typing an emergency SOS message.
That limitation is smart, as typical SOS messages have fewer characters than regular SMS. Nonetheless, Messages’ implementation of satellite-enabled messages appears extra user-friendly than Apple’s Emergency SOS characteristic since you may personalize the textual content you are sending as an alternative of selecting from a number of pre-written messages.
On the opposite hand, Emergency SOS, which debuted with the iPhone 14 collection, restricts customers to pre-determined textual content with no choice to personalize their very own message.
It’s not shocking to see Google getting ready to incorporate support for emergency SOS over satellite in Messages. Hiroshi Lockheimer, Google’s senior vice chairman of platforms and ecosystems, confirmed in September of final 12 months that Google was planning to introduce satellite connectivity to the following model of Android.
At this second, it isn’t clear which sort or model of Android telephones will choose up support for satellite connectivity, however the characteristic definitely requires sure modem {hardware} to operate, as per Rahman, so not each Android 14 machine will be capable to embrace this characteristic.