iOS 11.3 to add support Advanced Mobile Location for first responders

In iOS 11.3, Apple is adopting support for Advanced Mobile Location, a much more accurate way for phones making emergency calls to report the location of the caller. The move should spur more governments to add support for AML to assist in responding to life-threatening emergencies.

AML is currently only supported in parts of Europe and New Zealand; iOS 11.3 should help accelerate deployment

The technology was developed by HTC and UK mobile carriers and has been promoted by the European Emergency Number Association. It essentially activates GPS and WiFi services while making an emergency call, then sends a text with the precise location of the caller to emergency responders.

Most cellular phones can only be located to about a mile (2km) radius by the carrier. Using AML, much more accurate GPS or WiFi location information can pinpoint the scene of an emergency down to around 50 yards (meters) or less. The system does require new support to be installed at emergency services.

Last year, Google added support for the service to Android handsets using the 9.0 update to Google Play Services, a step necessary because most Android phones are never updated to the most recent version of the Android OS. Devices that can update their Google Play Services component should have functional support for AML.

The service isn't yet widely supported. As of last fall, only the UK, Belgium, Estonia, Lithuania, New Zealand, Sweden and the state of Lower Austria had implemented support for the service, while ten other countries were planning to deploy it by the end of 2017.

Apple adding support to iOS 11.3 will dramatically increase the number of users who can automatically report their location in the event of an emergency, and the move should prompt other countries to adopt support for the life-saving technology. Users on iOS tend to rapidly update their iOS versions, with Apple long retaining the crown for the fastest deployments of security, safety and other improvements.

Apple has previously implemented emergency locating features that work everywhere and don't require governments to install special equipment. Apple Watch and iPhone can already send the user's current, accurate location to any given contact using Siri voice commands, and it also supports Medical ID and the ability to dial emergency numbers without unlocking a device.

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4 Comments

chia

said about 6 years ago

Thank you AppleInsider, it’s a nice little touch to have used the photo of a British fire engine for a feature that was developed in Great Britain.

[Deleted User]

said about 6 years ago

btw... 1 mile = 1.61km and 50yards = 45.72m.

I was in the health app a few days ago and noticed it will automatically send your location to your emergency contacts if you dial an emergency number. Nice feature.

caladanian

said about 6 years ago

adm1 said:

btw... 1 mile = 1.61km and 50yards = 45.72m.

I was in the health app a few days ago and noticed it will automatically send your location to your emergency contacts if you dial an emergency number. Nice feature.

Where in the health app?

uroshnor

said about 6 years ago

The article isn't strictly correct in a few areas.

Apple has supported location services level accuracy for emergency services since 2010 (maybe 2011 ?) with 3GPP Release 10 support. However, this approach had two problems :smile:

- Apple was one of handful of vendors who exposed the full level of the phones awareness of location to the carrier network when requested - a lot of hem were just cell tower accuracy

- it requires the carrier to put in & maintain infrastructure to support it being accessible by the emergency services call centre

US, Japan and South Korea required carriers to implement this, but many other countries did not.

So the big advantage of AML isn't the accuracy on iPhone - its that the governments didn't need to go to the effort of forcing the carriers to implement that part of the 3GPP standards, and the carriers didn't need to spend the money to do it.

AML forces the effort back onto the handset OS vendor.

Google denied to ship AML in Android from 2016, so ~50% of the market went from patch support to a consistent GNSS level of accuracy, without involving the carriers.

The problem with AML is it uses SMS to send the location of the phone, and SMS is both insecure and unreliable delivery. There's a big risk with AML that in an emergency situation like an active shooter, mass casualty event, or natural disaster, that the SMS delivery will be delayed or dropped due to network congestion, and the feature will be useless just when its needed. It is likely to be fine for "steady state" events like a car crash or other accident though - so its not useless, just has significant limitations.

Whilst some of the governments involved view it as "THE" solution, AML in its current form is probably not much more than an interim step, and the reliability security and privacy issues are addressed either by an improved version of AML, or something else