Apple today announced that iPhone users in Japan are now able to use Apple’s Messages via satellite feature. The feature requires an iPhone 14 or newer running iOS 18.4 or later, or an Apple Watch Ultra 3 running watchOS 26.0.1 or later.
Emergency SOS via Satellite allows users to send text messages to emergency services and alert their emergency contacts even without cellular or Wi-Fi connectivity. Until today, Find My via satellite and Messages via satellite had been available in Mexico.
The feature, which is powered by Globalstar’s satellites, works as long as users have a clear view of the sky.
Japanese users already had access to emergency SOS via satellite, as well as the option to share location via satellite in the Find My app.
To use the feature on an iPhone, users can begin to send a text message to 911 in the Messages app, and tap on Emergency Services, or they can open Control Center and scroll down to the page with a cellular symbol. A tap on “Satellite” opens Apple’s Connection Assistant, where users can choose Emergency SOS via satellite.
Emergency SOS via satellite is also available in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The minimum iOS version requirement varies from country-to-country.
International travelers can use the feature while visiting countries where it is available, unless they bought their iPhone in Armenia, Belarus, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, or Russia.
