iPhone users have reported that their device is stuck on “SOS mode” which is preventing them from making calls or sending text messages amid a major cell phone outage Thursday affecting thousands of users across the US.
For affected iPhone users, the easiest workaround to get the smartphone working again is performing a hard reset — what Apple calls a “force restart” — according to the Daily Mail.
To do this, press and quickly release the volume up button, then quickly do the same to the volume down button before pressing and holding the side button, per Apple Support.
When the Apple logo appears, release the side button and restart the iPhone as usual.
SOS mode kicks in when a cellular connection has been severed, meaning users can only complete calls to emergency services.
iPhone models 13 or earlier won’t go into SOS mode amid the outage — rather, users will see a “no service” indicator instead, tech news website Laptop Mag reported.
Users can also switch to “Data Roaming” to regain service by toggling the feature under the “Cellular Data” tab in settings, according to the Daily Mail.
However, turning on the roaming feature enables the use of cellular data services outside of the coverage area of the home network — which often results in additional charges from mobile service providers.
Mass losses of cell connection were caused by outages across AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon around 4 a.m. EST Thursday.
AT&T seemed to have experienced the largest number of issues, with nearly 32,000 reports at around 4:30 a.m., according to data from DownDetector, which tracks outages by collating status reports from sources including user-submitted errors on its platform.
More than 800 service outages were also reported on T-Mobile and Verizon, although a spokesperson for the latter put it down to users reporting problems trying to call people with other services.
Others reported issues on smaller carriers including Boost Mobile, Consumer Cellular, and Straight Talk Wireless.
The outage reportedly extends from New York, Boston, and Atlanta on the East Coast to Houston, Dallas, Los Angeles, Seattle, and San Francisco.
There were even outages reported in Montreal, Canada, though the cause of the issue remains unclear.
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