The SOS icon on your iPhone can mean one of two things. It can either mean that you have activated Emergency SOS, or it can mean that you are in an area with no cellular service and can only make emergency calls.
What is Emergency SOS?
Emergency SOS is a feature on iPhones that allows you to quickly and easily call for help. To activate Emergency SOS, you can press and hold the side button and either volume button for five seconds. Your iPhone will then start a countdown and call emergency services. If you have enabled "Call with Hold and Release" in Settings, you can release the buttons after the countdown starts and then drag the slider to call emergency services.
What does SOS mean in the status bar?
If you see the SOS icon in the status bar of your iPhone, it means that you are in an area with no cellular service and can only make emergency calls. This icon will only appear if you have enabled Emergency SOS in Settings.
How to get rid of SOS only on iPhone
If you see the SOS only icon in the status bar of your iPhone, it means that you are in an area with no cellular service and can only make emergency calls. There are a few things you can do to try to get rid of this icon:
- Restart your iPhone.
- Check your network settings.
- Re-insert your SIM card.
- Turn off cellular data.
- Enable data roaming.
- Select the correct network.
- Enable LTE.
- Update your iPhone and carrier settings.
If you have tried all of these things and the SOS only icon is still there, you may need to contact your carrier for assistance.
How to turn off SOS on iPhone
If you no longer want to use Emergency SOS, you can turn it off in Settings. To do this, go to Settings > Emergency SOS and turn off the following switches:
- Call with Hold and Release
- Call with 5 Button Presses
- (If you have an iPhone 14 or later) Call After Severe Crash
Conclusion
The SOS icon on your iPhone can mean one of two things. It can either mean that you have activated Emergency SOS, or it can mean that you are in an area with no cellular service and can only make emergency calls. If you are not sure what the SOS icon means, you can always check your settings to see if Emergency SOS is enabled.
