Your Android phone is your companion in life. Your girlfriend may leave you, and your car may suddenly stop working in the middle of the highway during your vacation, but your phone will always be there for you. Well, as long as you keep it charged and don’t accidentally drop it off a cliff and destroy its display. And now, your Android phone could even help save your life if it supports the Personal Safety app (via Engadget).As the people behind RapidSOS, the platform that both Android and iOS use to send data to first responders, announced in a new blog post, Android phones with the Personal Safety app can now automatically send medical data to first responders when making a call or sending a text to 911. The data could include caller name, allergies, medications, preexisting conditions, emergency contacts, and more, depending on what you’ve chosen to share.To turn on the new feature, open the Personal Safety app, go to your info, tap “Emergency info access” and choose “Share during emergency call.” We should note that the Personal Safety app comes preinstalled on Pixel phones since the Pixel 4, so if you are a Pixel user, you should already be able to enable the new feature. If you are not using a Pixel phone, you can always visit the Personal Safety app page on the Google Play Store and see if you can install it on your trusty smartphone.
Now, if automatically transmitting medical data in an emergency call sounds familiar to you, it’s because it’s not really a novelty. Ever since 2020, when Apple released iOS 13.5, iPhones have had the ability to transmit health data to first responders automatically in an emergency call. So it’s nice that Android phones equipped with the Personal Safety app can do the same. Of course, we honestly hope your phone will never have to use this new feature, but it’s nice to know that the dispatched medical team will have your medical information beforehand if something happens to you, God forbid.
