When cell service is down, you can send iPhone texts via satellite

In Florida? Update your iPhone to iOS 18 right now.

No, not for the new homescreen designs—for the satellite messaging. If cell service goes down when Hurricane Milton hits the coast, your iPhone could be a lifeline to friends, family and emergency services.

Matt Van Swol lives 10 miles outside of Asheville, N.C. When Hurricane Helene took out cellular networks and the electricity that powers Wi-Fi connections, he couldn’t tell his family he was safe. But once the storm passed, he stepped outside, and pointed his iPhone 15 Pro Max at the sky.

“It said ‘Connected.’ All of a sudden, my phone just starts lighting up with these texts from my parents and friends,” said Van Swol, age 30, who works for a smart-home company. “I cried immediately, to be able to get a text out to my parents.”

Starting with the iPhone 14 line, Apple has quietly turned its popular handsets into satellite phones. First, people could use them to contact emergency services. With the latest software update, you can text family and friends, too. In the aftermath of Helene, many relied on iPhones. The Journal’s Rachel Wolfe, reporting from Asheville, used satellite texting on her iPhone 14 Pro to send her story updates to her colleague.

Whether or not you’re in the path of Hurricane Milton, here’s how to enable satellite messaging on your iPhone:

What you need

The hardware needed to connect to satellites is in all iPhone 14, 15 and 16 models. Not sure which phone you have? Go to Settings, then General > About > Model Name.

The emergency SOS capability should just work. But to enable satellite texting, you have to be on iOS 18. Check or update your software under Settings > General > Software Update. If you’re up-to-date, you can send iMessage or SMS texts to anyone when you don’t have cellular or Wi-Fi coverage.

All iPhone users receiving your messages should be running iOS 18, too. And it works best if you add anyone you might need to reach to your Family Sharing or emergency contacts, in the Health app.

You’re on Android? Satellite texting hasn’t yet caught on for those phones. But the new Pixel 9 is Google’s first phone with the ability to contact emergency services via satellite.

Where you need to be

If you are out of cellular range, a pop-up will ask if you want to use Messages via satellite. You need to be outside with a clear view of the sky and horizon. (Clouds won’t block signals, but trees will.) The iPhone’s software guides where to point your device. Once connected to a satellite, it may prompt you to move left or right—or turn around—to maintain the connection.

“You look like a moron when you’re doing it, you’re just spinning around on your back porch,” Van Swol said laughing.

In the days after the storm, Van Swol and his wife, Erin Derham, would walk to a nearby golf course where they had better luck sending and receiving messages.

It isn’t fast: Apple says in ideal conditions, it might take 30 seconds to send a message. If you are under trees with “light or medium foliage,” it might take a minute.

When I tested the original iPhone 14’s emergency SOS capability, I definitely had to fiddle to connect with a satellite—even while standing in a wide open field.

What you can send

Apple says you can’t send pictures, videos or audio messages. (More details here.)

Van Swol said he had difficulty sending iMessage texts. Wolfe had better luck. There was a 500-character limit on the iMessages she sent, and each took about a minute to send.

Getting responses was also hit or miss. Van Swol said responses would come in slowly, especially when he first connected after being offline for 36 hours. Wolfe said she didn’t receive all the messages from her colleague until she got back on cellular.

Still, both North Carolina testers were relieved they had the right software and hardware. “It’s just a fluke that we updated our phones the day before the storm,” Van Swol said.

I hope you’ll never need to use this feature, but you should update, too. You might be glad you did.

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Write to Joanna Stern at joanna.stern@wsj.com