Australians, you now get satellite roadside assistance on iPhones
A quiet update for iPhone 14 owners and above running iOS 18.4 or later, Apple's Road Assistance via Satellite is now available in Australia.
Australia is one big bloody country. While the telcos proclaim coverage for over 90% off the population, the catch is that our population is heavily centred around the coast, which means there are huge chunks of land where there's no such thing as a mobile signal.
Satellite connection is definitely the answer here, and the telcos are doing their part to offer satellite coverage. But what happens in the meantime if you aren't on the right telco and your car breaks down in the middle of nowhere?
Well, if you happen to own an iPhone 14 or later running iOS 18.4, you can now take advantage of Apple's Road Assistance via Satellite.
While the feature launched a little while ago for the US and UK, today it has launched for Australians as well. If you need assistance and have no mobile or Wi-Fi coverage, you can connect your phone to satellites to request assistance from the NRMA, RACV, RACQ, RAA, RAC, RACT, or AANT, depending on where you are in the country.
It only works if you have no cellular or Wi-Fi coverage, and is available to Australians and international visitors (so long as you didn't buy your phone from Armenia, Belarus, China mainland, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, or Russia.)
How to call up Roadside Assistance via Satellite
The good news is that calling for roadside assistance is straightforward. Though because you aren't going to have a connection, it's probably worth knowing how to access it before you hit the outback and need it.
Controls are done through Connection Assistant:
- Choose Roadside Assistance to request help for your vehicle.
- Swipe down from the top right of your phone's screen to Control Centre
- Navigate down to the Connection menu, which looks like a radio transmitter
- Choose Roadside Assistance, and follow the onscreen instructions.
You can also use Messages, if you have no connection.
- Start a new message
- Type "Roadside" and an option to contact Roadside Assistance via Satellite will appear
- Select that option and follow the on-screen instructions.
[via MacRumors]
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Nick Broughall
Nick Broughall
Nick Broughall
