Apple is working on car crash recognition in iPhones and Apple Watches

Apple is working on a feature that should recognize car accidents and automatically call the emergency number in the event of an accident. That writes The Wall Street Journal based on internal documents and anonymous sources.

The feature should come to iPhones and Apple Watches sometime next year, at least in the United States, writes The Wall Street Journal. The feature, which is called crash detection, recognizes a car accident with, among other things, the fall detection of Apple Watches and the accelerometer. If Apple detects a crash, the device will automatically call 911. Apple Watches already have a similar feature that recognizes hard falls, including on a bicycle. The watch asks the user if they are okay, and if not, it automatically calls the emergency number.

The Wall Street Journal saw internal Apple documents and spoke to sources familiar with the plans. Apple is said to have collected anonymous data from iPhone and Apple Watch users to train the feature to recognize a car accident. According to the American newspaper, iPhones and Apple Watches have already recognized a possible car accident more than ten million times. In addition, the emergency number would have been called in 50,000 cases. Apple would use that information to get better at detecting car accidents.

According to the newspaper, the feature should come to iOS and WatchOS in early 2022, although it is not yet known whether the feature will actually come. It may also be the case that the feature will be released at a later date, or that it will be removed, sources at Apple tell the WSJ.