The Digital Scholar

  Police forces across the UK have raised concerns about a recent feature found on certain Android phones, which is leading to a significant influx of unintended and "silent" 999 emergency calls overwhelming emergency switchboards. The problematic feature, known as Emergency SOS , is triggered when users repeatedly press the side button on their phones. Police officials believe that this feature is partly responsible for the escalating number of emergency calls being made. Google, the developer of the widely used Android phone software, has stated that it expects phone manufacturers to release updates addressing this issue. Popular smartphone models such as Samsung's Galaxy, Google's Pixel, and OnePlus devices are among those running on the Android operating system. The National Police Chiefs Council explained that the recent Android software update introduced a new SOS emergency function that allows devices to call 999 by pressing the power button five times or mor