On Sunday 23 April the government will be carrying out a national test in the early evening which will see people receive a test message on their mobile phones with a loud, siren-like sound and a message on their mobile phone screen. Note that the Government does not need to have your phone number for this to work.
People do not need to do anything other than acknowledge the message when they receive it as it's just a test for the new system.
The new alert system could create a risk to people experiencing domestic abuse, who for their safety have a secret or secondary mobile phone. The alert will play a sound even if the phone is on silent, which may make the phone detectable to perpetrators. The alert will play a loud siren and vibrate, and your phone will not be useable until you acknowledge the alert.
Refuge has shared a video with instructions on how to turn off the emergency alerts on both Android and iPhone, or see notes below.
If you have friends or family that don't have access to the internet or may not be aware of this system, then it's worth sharing with them so they are aware. More information can be found on the Government website here: gov.uk/alerts
Steps for Android users:
- Go to the settings app of the Android device
- Search for ‘Emergency Alerts’ using the search bar at the top of the screen
- Click or tap on the first option that pops up
- Once in the device’s Emergency Alerts settings page, turn off Emergency Alerts by pressing all the toggle buttons (blue means on, grey means off)
Steps for Apple users:
- Go to the settings app of the Apple device
- Scroll down to find and click or tap on the ‘Notifications’ tab
- Scroll all the way down again to find a dedicated section for Emergency Alerts
- You will see ‘Extreme Alerts’ and ‘Severe Alerts’ buttons, but this sometimes varies depending on which iPhone or Apple device you are using.
- To turn them off, press all the toggle buttons (blue means on, grey means off)
