It takes just a few moments to make sure that your loved ones are informed in the event of an emergency, and that responders have the ability to access your medical and insurance details.
The Google Pixel Watch 4 and earlier models encourage you to establish critical safety and emergency functions. Since you likely bypassed this step to dive into using your new smartwatch, assistance is needed now to activate these features, ensuring your Watch 4 can request help during an emergency, even when there’s no cellular signal.
You are able to update your emergency and medical information in two locations. On your Pixel Watch 4, swipe down from the primary watch face, tap the Settings gear icon, and scroll down to the Safety & Emergency section. Alternatively, in the Pixel Watch mobile application, if your smartwatch is connected via Bluetooth, you can locate the same Safety & Emergency section under Settings on the main app screen.
Certain functions of the Pixel Watch 4 are automated; others necessitate prior manual configuration, such as Safety Check. This guide walks you through the surprisingly extensive array of safety features on the Watch 4 that can provide you and your family reassurance — or possibly save your life.
Configure and personalize Emergency SOS on the Pixel Watch 4
1. On your Watch 4 (or previous Pixel Watch model), access Settings, scroll to Safety & Emergency, and select Emergency SOS. If it’s not enabled already, switch the feature on.
2. Tap on Ways to initiate SOS. By default, you have to press the crown five times, then press and hold the screen for three seconds. Alternatively, you can set the Watch 4 to Automatically call; after the five button presses, it’ll contact 911 after a five-second pause.
– If you opt for the latter, decide whether to toggle Play a sound on or off; it’s a loud alert to notify you that it’s about to make a call, with a cancellation option displayed.
3. Finally, select Who to call for assistance. By default, Emergency SOS connects you to Emergency services, but you can opt for a personal contact instead by tapping Manage contacts and selecting an option from your saved contacts.
Switching to a personal contact makes Emergency SOS feel less “official.” You can quickly reach out to family members for help, without incurring ambulance fees or involving law enforcement, but there’s no assurance they will answer promptly as 911 would.
I suggest keeping 911 as the default choice. You can depend on the Personal Safety app to inform family members.
Select what information is shared during an emergency
1. Press the crown and open the Personal Safety app.
2. Scroll down to Emergency info access.
3. Tap Share during emergency call to permit “Emergency Location Service” to share your GPS location and Medical Info with emergency responders.
4. Back in the main app view, tap Emergency contacts to manage your contacts; tap Add contact to include more or use the trash icon to delete contacts.
5. In the primary app view, select Medical Info and then Edit on phone.
6. On your paired device, you can input your date of birth, blood type, height, weight, allergies, pregnancy status, medications, address, organ donor status, and any other medical details. This information will be shared if you enabled “Share during emergency call” above.
Using the Personal Safety app for Safety Checks or Emergency Sharing
If you frequent the gym at night, return late from campus, or face any situation where you have concerns for your safety, the Pixel Watch’s Personal Safety app is a proactive solution to manage those worries.
1. Launch the Personal Safety app from the app drawer, then select Emergency Sharing.
2. Under “Share with,” toggle specific emergency contacts on or off, then tap Share real-time location.
Your contacts will receive an SMS reading, “You’re receiving this message because you’re an emergency contact for [Your name]. [Name] is sharing their real-time location with you: URL. Please call or text [Name] directly for updates.”
This guarantees that trusted individuals are aware of your safety concerns, so that they can either check in on you or contact 911 for you, enabling you to concentrate on your situation.
An alternative is Safety Check, which allows you to set a timer for how long you believe you’ll be out; emergency contacts will receive a similar message with your live location link if you fail to Stop Safety Check before the timer elapses.
1. In the Personal Safety app, select Safety Check > Next.
2. Specify your activity type: Walking alone, Going for a run, Taking transportation, Hiking, or Other.
3. Choose your timer length and tap the checkmark.
4. Toggle specific emergency contacts on or off, then toggle Notify contacts if you’d like them to receive a message when you begin or conclude a Safety Check; otherwise, they’ll only get a message when your timer runs out.
5. Tap Start Timer.
6. In the activity menu that appears, tap the X to terminate the
