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Google's Crisis Alerts could be planning a big expansion to new phones (Update: Screenshots)
- Google Play Services now shows early signs of support for Personal Safety Crisis Alerts.
- It’s possible that Google could use this shift to bring Crisis Alerts to more phones than before.
Update, August 21, 2024 (05:45 AM ET): We have managed to surface screenshots that swap the “Pixel” wording with the more generic “Android” term, indicating that a wider rollout could indeed be on the cards.
Crisis Alerts will be located under Location services, as well as Safety & emergency settings.
Original article, August 6, 2024 (12:19 AM ET): Google’s Personal Safety app sure carries a lot of weight, responsible not just for detecting car crashes but also for managing our emergency contact info, giving us some piece of mind with safety checks, or even triggering an emergency SOS. But now we’re wondering if Google might be planning to split some of that functionality up, and in doing so make it available to a much larger group of Android users.
The Personal Safety app may feel like a Pixel exclusive a lot of the time, but as we were reminded just last month, a few other manufacturers have also given their phones access. That’s still just a fraction of the Android user base, and for features that are so potentially life-saving it might make sense to try and make them available to as many users as possible. What better way to do that than through Google Play Services?
Looking through Play’s new 24.31.33 build, we’re discovering a whole mess of text strings that sure appear to reference Personal Safety’s Crisis Alerts:
<string name="crisis_alerts_debug_setting_public_alert">Test Public Alert</string>
<string name="crisis_alerts_debug_setting_sos_alert">Test SOS Alert</string>
<string name="crisis_alerts_details_key">Crisis Alerts Details Preference Key</string>
<string name="crisis_alerts_notification_high_importance_channel_name">Crisis Alert Alert</string>
<string name="crisis_alerts_notification_low_importance_channel_name">Crisis Alert Updates</string>
<string name="crisis_alerts_notification_medium_importance_channel_name">Crisis Alert Notification</string>
<string name="crisis_alerts_public_alerts_title">%1$s, %2$s</string>
<string name="crisis_alerts_settings_activity_label">Crisis Alerts</string>
<string name="crisis_alerts_settings_description">Get notified about natural disasters or public emergencies affecting your area</string>
<string name="crisis_alerts_settings_how_it_works_body_2_text">Keep in mind: your phone may not notify you about all public emergencies.</string>
<string name="crisis_alerts_settings_how_it_works_body_text">Android uses your device’s approximate location to find info about crises affecting your area even when the app is closed or not in use.</string>
<string name="crisis_alerts_settings_illustration_key">Crisis Alerts Settings Illustration Key</string>
<string name="crisis_alerts_settings_switch_key">Crisis Alerts Main Switch Key</string>
<string name="crisis_alerts_settings_warning_box_key">Crisis Alerts Not Available Country Key</string>
<string name="crisis_alerts_sos_content">Get local information and latest updates</string>
<string name="crisis_alerts_unavailable_common">Crisis Alerts isn’t available: %1$s</string>
<string name="crisis_alerts_unavailable_location_off">Location switch is off</string>
<string name="crisis_alerts_unavailable_location_off_link">Turn on Location</string>
<string name="crisis_alerts_unavailable_no_coverage">not supported in this region</string>
<string name="crisis_alerts_unavailable_no_coverage_link">Supported countries</string>
<string name="crisis_alerts_unavailable_offline">you’re offline</string>
<string name="crisis_alerts_unavailable_offline_link">Go to Settings</string>
<string name="crisis_alerts_warning_notifications_restricted">Missing notifications permission</string>
<string name="crisis_alerts_warning_notifications_restricted_link">Grant permission</string>While we can definitely see this change as Google preparing to shift how its software handles Crisis Alerts, for the time being, at least, the idea of access spreading to more devices is more hopeful than anything. Having Play Services manage these notifications absolutely feels like the way to quickly implement Crisis Alerts on as much hardware as possible — but it’s also far from a guarantee that this is the direction Google’s pursuing.
Ultimately, this could just be an internal reorganization that has no outward impact on access to Crisis Alerts. We’ll remain diligent in looking for evidence supporting either of these outcomes.