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Your phone can occasionally throw error messages at you that you can't decipher. Sometimes, these errors don’t even arrive as alerts but are passively placed somewhere you can see them. Does your phone suddenly say "SOS" or “SOS only”? Are you unable to make calls and realize your phone isn’t showing the network bars anymore?
The SOS message appears at the top of your iPhone screen on the status bar. It’s typically present in place of your cellular network bars. It’s likely that you’ve seen SOS on your iPhone at some point, maybe when traveling, or during the recent network outage, if you’re on AT&T.
Not sure why your phone says SOS, or what it means? We’re here to help. Below, we explain what the SOS message on your phone means, and what you can do to fix it.
Let’s cut to the chase -- if your phone says SOS, it means that you aren’t connected to a network, but can still make emergency calls to services like 911 in the US. This usually happens when you’re in an area with no network coverage or if your network carrier is experiencing an outage. However, it can also appear because of a temporary loss of network coverage or, sometimes, a software glitch.
The word SOS itself refers to an old distress signal used to call for help or rescue in an emergency; the letters don't mean anything, they're just easy to tap out in Morse code. On an iPhone, the message will say "SOS" or “SOS only,” but on Android phones, it may say “Emergency calls only," in addition to seeing zero network bars, likely with a cross (x) next to the icon. The different messages will usually mean one of two things:
NET
Your phone can occasionally throw error messages at you that you can't decipher. Sometimes, these errors don’t even arrive as alerts but are passively placed somewhere you can see them. Does your phone suddenly say "SOS" or “SOS only”? Are you unable to make calls and realize your phone isn’t showing the network bars anymore?
The SOS message appears at the top of your iPhone screen on the status bar. It’s typically present in place of your cellular network bars. It’s likely that you’ve seen SOS on your iPhone at some point, maybe when traveling, or during the recent network outage, if you’re on AT&T.
Not sure why your phone says SOS, or what it means? We’re here to help. Below, we explain what the SOS message on your phone means, and what you can do to fix it.
Let’s cut to the chase -- if your phone says SOS, it means that you aren’t connected to a network, but can still make emergency calls to services like 911 in the US. This usually happens when you’re in an area with no network coverage or if your network carrier is experiencing an outage. However, it can also appear because of a temporary loss of network coverage or, sometimes, a software glitch.
The word SOS itself refers to an old distress signal used to call for help or rescue in an emergency; the letters don't mean anything, they're just easy to tap out in Morse code. On an iPhone, the message will say "SOS" or “SOS only,” but on Android phones, it may say “Emergency calls only," in addition to seeing zero network bars, likely with a cross (x) next to the icon. The different messages will usually mean one of two things:
Apple says that the SOS or SOS only message in your status bar means you can still make emergency calls despite not having a cellular connection, but the feature is only available in the US, Canada and Australia.
If your phone says SOS, it doesn’t mean you’ve accidentally triggered a distress call. It just means that you can access emergency services without being connected to your cellular network.
We have a complete guide on what to do if your phone is stuck on Emergency SOS mode. If possible, you should ensure that your cellular network isn’t experiencing an outage. If there is an ongoing outage, your best option is to wait it out.
If your network doesn’t have a reported outage, or the outage has been marked as resolved but your phone still says SOS, here are some steps Apple recommends you try on your iPhone:
