On May 7th, all Indian states will carry out mock drills as directed by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). The goal is to evaluate how well our emergency response systems like evacuation protocols, communication channels, air raid alerts, and control room operations, hold up under pressure.
These drills will include emergency alert messages sent to your phone. Want to make sure you receive them? Here's how to activate alerts on your device right away.
How to Enable Emergency Alerts on Android
If your smartphone runs on Android 11 or newer, here's how you can turn on emergency alerts:
- Head to your phone's Settings.
- Scroll down and tap Safety & Emergency.
- Go to Wireless Emergency Alerts.
- Switch on options for Extreme Alerts and Severe Threats.
- Adjust alert settings to suit your vibration and sound preferences.
Keep in mind, the exact layout of settings may differ based on your phone brand. For clarity, we've included Motorola-specific screenshots in this article.
How to Enable Emergency Alerts on iPhone
If you’re using iOS 17 or later, here's how to enable test emergency alerts on your iPhone:
- Launch the Settings app.
- Select Notifications, then scroll all the way down.
- Under Government Alerts, toggle on Test Alerts.
Government alerts can show up as full-screen notifications with a piercing sound, even if your phone is set to silent.
