Phone safety features for runners and hikers

The four jobs a phone can do when you are out alone

It helps to sort phone safety features by the job they do, not by the menu they live in. When you run, ride or hike alone, there are really four jobs. First, reaching emergency services fast when you can use your hands. Second, telling a stranger or a paramedic who you are and what they need to know about your health. Third, letting someone you trust see where you are while you are out. Fourth, raising the alarm when you cannot, because you are hurt, lost or out of battery.

iPhone and Android both cover the first two jobs well, and they are free and already installed. The third job is covered by location sharing in Find My, Google Maps and the apps you record workouts with. The fourth job is the hardest one, and it is where the built-in tools have the most gaps: most of them need you to press something, and the ones that act on their own are tuned for car crashes or specific kinds of falls.

The rest of this guide walks through each feature in that order, with links to a full setup guide for each one. Nothing here replaces calling 911 yourself. If you are hurt and can reach your phone, call first and sort out everything else after.

Reaching 911 fast: Emergency SOS on iPhone and Android

On iPhone, Emergency SOS is started by pressing and holding the side button and either volume button until the sliders appear and the countdown ends. In Settings, under Emergency SOS, you can also turn on Call with 5 Presses so that pressing the side button five times quickly starts the call. After the call ends, your iPhone sends your emergency contacts a text with your location unless you cancel, and for a period after that they get updates when your location changes. Apple's guide covers the details, including what happens when your phone is locked.

On Android 12 and later, Google's version lives in Settings under Safety & emergency, then Emergency SOS. Pressing the power button five or more times starts it, and you choose whether it needs a touch and hold or starts on its own after a countdown. It can call your local emergency number, share your location with your emergency contacts and record video. Google notes that it does not work in airplane mode or with Battery Saver on. Samsung Galaxy phones have their own Emergency SOS under Settings, Safety and emergency, with a side button trigger and options for sending messages to contacts. Our guide on how to set up Emergency SOS on Android covers both paths.

Practice the gesture once at home so your hands know it. If you ever trigger a call by accident, Apple and Google both give the same advice: stay on the line and tell the dispatcher you do not need help. For the full sequence on iPhone, read what happens when you use Emergency SOS on an iPhone, and for how Apple's tools compare with Holler, Holler vs Apple Emergency SOS.

Telling responders who you are: Medical ID and emergency info

If a passerby or paramedic finds you and you cannot speak, your phone can tell them your name, allergies, conditions, medications and who to call. On iPhone this is Medical ID in the Health app. Apple's steps are short: open Health, tap your picture, tap Medical ID, then Get Started or Edit. Turn on Show When Locked so it can be read from the lock screen, and Emergency Call so it can be shared during an emergency call (Apple says in the U.S. and Canada). Your Medical ID emergency contacts are the people iPhone texts after an SOS call, and Apple Watch Fall Detection uses the same list. Walk through it in how to set up Medical ID on iPhone.

On Android, Google's Personal Safety app (shown as Safety in your app list) holds medical information and emergency contacts under Your info, with an option to show it when locked. Samsung keeps Medical info and Emergency contacts under Settings, Safety and emergency. The idea is the same everywhere: fill it in, turn on lock screen access, and check that the people listed know they are listed.

Keep entries short and useful. A responder wants allergies, serious conditions, blood thinners or insulin, and a phone number that will be answered. For ideas on what belongs there, see what to put on a Medical ID. If you also carry a paper card or ID band, our free emergency card maker prints one that matches.

Letting someone watch your route: Find My, Google Maps and workout apps

Live location sharing is the feature most runners and hikers actually use. The options differ mainly in who can open the link.

Find My on iPhone shares your location with a friend for as long as you choose, and Apple lets you set a custom duration or end time. It is easy if everyone involved has an iPhone. Google Maps location sharing works on iPhone and Android: you choose how long, pick a contact with a Google Account, or copy a link that works for up to 24 hours for someone without one. Our guide to sharing your location on Google Maps for a run has the exact steps, and how to share live location between iPhone and Android covers mixed households.

Workout apps and devices add their own. Strava Beacon sends up to three contacts a link that opens in a browser while you record an activity, with updates about every 15 seconds when you have service. Setup is in how to use Strava Beacon, and the comparison is at Holler vs Strava Beacon. Garmin LiveTrack does something similar from a Garmin watch or bike computer paired to the Garmin Connect app, with an Auto Start option so you never forget. See how to share Garmin LiveTrack and Holler vs Garmin LiveTrack.

All of these share where you are. None of them, on their own, tells anyone that you have stopped or that you are late. Your contact has to be looking. That is fine for a partner who checks the map now and then, and not fine if they are asleep or in a meeting when something happens.

Raising the alarm when you cannot: Check In, Safety Check and crash detection

This is the job that matters most on a solo outing, and it is where the built-in tools are newer and narrower.

iPhone Check In, in Messages, notifies a friend when you arrive or when a timer ends. If you do not respond to its prompts, your friend automatically gets a link with the details you chose to share, such as your location, battery and signal. Both of you need iOS 17 or later. The timer version suits a loop run or out-and-back hike. Full steps and its limits are in how to use Apple Check In.

Android's Personal Safety app has Safety Check. You pick a reason and a duration of up to 24 hours. When time is up, you get 60 seconds to mark yourself safe before emergency sharing begins, and Google says that if your phone turns off or loses signal, Safety Check still starts the share at the scheduled time with your last known location.

Then there is automatic detection. Apple says iPhone Crash Detection is designed for severe car crashes involving passenger vehicles. Apple Watch Fall Detection is designed for hard falls and can be set to always on or only during workouts. Pixel 4a and later phones have Car Crash Detection. Read iPhone Crash Detection for runners and cyclists and does iPhone Crash Detection work while running or cycling before you count on any of these during a run or ride.

• Check In and Safety Check depend on you starting them before you head out.
• Automatic detection is tuned for particular events and can miss others. Apple and Google say their detection will not catch everything, and Garmin calls its incident detection supplemental.
• A missed check-in only helps if the person who gets it knows what to do next. Agree that plan in advance.

When you lose signal: satellite features and what still works

Trails, canyons and rural roads often have no cell service. On iPhone 14 and later, Apple's Emergency SOS via satellite lets you text emergency services when you have no cellular or Wi-Fi coverage, as long as you are outside with a clear view of the sky. It can share your Medical ID and notify your emergency contacts, which is another reason to fill those in at home. Find My on supported iPhones can also send your location by satellite.

Almost every live sharing feature, including Strava Beacon, Google Maps sharing and Garmin LiveTrack through your phone, needs a data connection. When it drops, your contact sees your last known position until you reconnect. That is still useful, but plan for it: tell your contact where the dead zones are, and read what to do when you lose cell service hiking before remote outings. For multi-day or truly remote trips, a dedicated device is worth weighing; see satellite messenger vs phone safety app.

A short setup to do before your next outing

You do not need every feature. You need the few that match how you go out, set up correctly and tested once. Work through them in this order on either platform.

Where Holler fits alongside what your phone already does

Keep your phone's built-in features switched on whatever else you use. Holler is built for the gap they leave on a solo outing: one live link for the run, ride or hike you are on, sent to a small circle of people you choose, called Guardians. Guardians open it in any web browser, on Android, iPhone or a work laptop, with no app or account.

You can set an optional return time. If you have not checked in five minutes after it, Holler's server sends your Guardians an overdue alert by email and app or browser push, even if the app on your phone was closed or your battery died. There is also a manual SOS and an optional stationary alert that asks if you are OK when you stop moving for the time you choose. Holler runs in your phone's browser today, and the iPhone app is in private beta.

Holler does not call 911 or contact emergency services, and it cannot send text messages. It is for your people. Your phone's Emergency SOS is still how you reach responders.

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