Calling 911 on a smartphone is not always easy, and the actual act of dialing can waste valuable time. That is why Android's emergency SOS feature is so useful. However, we don't want to make it too easy, because if we make it too easy, we might accidentally activate the feature.

Unfortunately, such a situation happened earlier this year with the surge of calls from Android devices. Apparently, Google had made it too easy to activate the emergency dialing feature by pressing the power button five times in a row. However, according to X Android sleuth Mishaal Rahman, Google updated the process to stop the false alarms.

Now, in order to activate the emergency call feature, the user must confirm that they actually want to make a call. This requires holding down the phone's screen for three seconds. This ensures that if you accidentally press the power button, you will not have a very awkward (albeit brief) conversation with the 911 dispatcher about how it was not an intentional call.

Judging from Google's Personal Safety app on the Pixel 6 Pro, this two-step process is the default setting for triggering an emergency call; you can disable the second step and trigger the call by tapping the power button five times in the same way . However, in this case, the app must be informed of this.

Not all Android phone manufacturers use Google's Personal Safety app. So your experience may vary depending on what your phone actually is. Just keep in mind that pressing a button five times may not be enough to communicate a dispatch request and get the help you need.

While you are in the Google Personal Safety app, you may want to check out some of the other features available. These include emergency location sharing with trusted contacts, safety checks, etc. Pixel owners can also take advantage of the car collision detection feature, which automatically calls emergency services if it detects a car collision and you become unresponsive as a result.