Alert added to phone.

34  2018-01-21 by briangallia

Noticed last night that there were all these new alert options on my girlfriends phone.

Imminent threat. Major threat. Presidential message (which can't be turned off)

Its in there with the amber and weather alert settings.

After the Hawaii thing.... The thing is there was no mention of it being put there, just found it. I never hear on the news or anywhere that there was a new message system in place. No message from the phone company (unless it's unread,)

Anyone else notice this?

EDIT: It says they are weather related. But, after Hawaii, these just show up? Along with a presidential one that can't be turned off?

43 comments

1  Dopplegamer 2018-01-21

What phone do you have?

1  briangallia 2018-01-21

Phone or company?

It's a cheap phone for Boost Mobile.

1  kuebrick 2018-01-21

Hm I had an update pop yesterday and installed it without even looking further into it but now that you say that my Pixel 2 on Verizon has the same things added as OP states.

1  catfarmersdaughter87 2018-01-21

Where under settings do u find the alert options?

1  briangallia 2018-01-21

On her phone its under 'emergency alerts'

1  Trusty_Compass 2018-01-21

Settings / more on lg v20

1  Trusty_Compass 2018-01-21

Verizon v20, mine has presidential, extreme, severe, and amber alerts. Probably been there for a while because I remember getting alerts for fire and floods here in socal the last month due to the huge fire near santa barbara.

1  briangallia 2018-01-21

Could be, we just noticed last night. Thought I'd ask and see.

1  404_shame_not_found 2018-01-21

Yep they've been apart of the 3GPP cellular spec for over a decade (3GPP TS 22.268 if you want technical specifications). Unless you are on a very small carrier or outside the US I don't know of any carrier that hasn't supported them. Every phone I've seen in the last decade has also supported them.

1  briangallia 2018-01-21

Oh no, it is definitely newer than a decade. We only got this phone 2 years ago and much more recently than that I told my girlfriend to turn off the amber alerts. They were not there then.

1  404_shame_not_found 2018-01-21

It literally has been around since 2008 in release 9 of the 3GPP spec (https://portal.3gpp.org/desktopmodules/Specifications/SpecificationDetails.aspx?specificationId=639). It's possible your phone moved it in the UI or you haven't noticed it but it's been there.

Carriers were required to support it around 2013 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_Emergency_Alerts.

1  briangallia 2018-01-21

Um, no, it wasn't there.

1  404_shame_not_found 2018-01-21

I don't know anything about your phone but what I'm telling you is that this system has been in place for a decade and all the carriers and manufacturers selling in America have supported it for about that long. There are laws requiring domestic providers/phones to display the presidential alert (https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/why-youll-never-be-able-to-block-a-presidential-alert).

Most likely your phone updated the UI and you just see it now (they don't use it often).

1  briangallia 2018-01-21

Yeah, I guess I'm too dumb to browse through the settings menus on a crappy phone.

1  hoeskioeh 2018-01-21

What the flying fuck?!? When did that happen??? And why do I have that on my phone too????? (Incl the non-opt-outable presidential msgs... In Germany!)

1  dontpanic4242 2018-01-21

It's been there for years as part of a national warning system. Your phone was probably made for a US market.

1  404_shame_not_found 2018-01-21

It's actually a part of the international spec (3GPP spec for LTE/UMTS/GSM) and the carrier in any country can work with the Public Warning System their government provides. The spec just calls them presidential alerts (the developers for this option were US based).

Even if the carrier doesn't work with the government, the hooks for an alert to be sent are in the spec and included in all radio/phone equipment so the phone will still show it most likely (carrier controlled phone software can be modified to hide it).

1  BiscuitCat1 2018-01-21

I have the Apple phone 6 S and I only have Amber and emergency alerts which I can turn off. Very creepy though.

1  nickster701 2018-01-21

From my understanding IOS doesn't display the presidential notifications in the notification settings because you can't turn them off. I know this because I can see their existence on my Android and not on my mom's IPhone.

1  ingy2012 2018-01-21

Just checked and I have it too. LG Stylo 3 through straight talk.

1  ReservoirKat 2018-01-21

I seem to be the only person so far with an iPhone, and I still only have emergency and Amber Alerts. I will definitely keep checking to see if this changes though.

1  lacosaknitstra 2018-01-21

I have the same.

1  MrMarmot 2018-01-21

I have the same (no new alerts listed), using a 6S still, and I've refused to update the system for well over a year.

1  kalestew 2018-01-21

That is not the smartest software practice.

1  bonerjamz89 2018-01-21

Not on iPhone, for me at least.

1  JFRHorton 2018-01-21

Galaxy S7 here. Under Messaging->Settings->Emergency Alert Settings->Emergency Alerts I have only "Presidential Alerts" (mandatory) and "Imminent extreme", "Imminent Severe" and "Amber"

1  bukithd 2018-01-21

I've had those for at least 2 years. Not new.

1  freesp33chisstilldea 2018-01-21

That's been part of Android and iPhone for quite awhile now. You can turn all that bullshit off except the presidential shit unfortunately.

1  Tamerlane-1 2018-01-21

My iphone only has amber and emergency.

1  accountingisboring 2018-01-21

Same here.

1  dontpanic4242 2018-01-21

The presidential level probably isn't even shown as it can't be disabled.

1  Tamerlane-1 2018-01-21

That isn't what OP said

Noticed last night that there were all these new alert options on my girlfriends phone.

Imminent threat. Major threat. Presidential message (which can't be turned off)

1  kartana 2018-01-21

Where do you see those in the iPhone?

1  MrMarmot 2018-01-21

Go to Settings and look under Notifications. It lists all the aps you use, then has the alerts at the bottom. I'm using an old OS though.

1  Autocoprophage 2018-01-21

interesting, thanks for the heads up OP. My 4-year-old Android phone has these same alerts, they weren't there last time I looked at the alerts, and I've also had all my updates turned off during that entire period.

1  IAmThatIAm001 2018-01-21

I assume, only because she's female, that she has an iPhone? Yeah, that's why.

1  TuxAndMe 2018-01-21

These have been on my phone for years, at least 5 and they aren't new.

1  collegemami22 2018-01-21

Iphone 7PLUS Setting,notifications, all the way down "Government Alerts" amber alerts (off) and emergency alerts (off)

1  madeanotheraccount 2018-01-21

From: Mr Bigly

"Send help! The Democrats are holding us hostage!"

1  dicedtomatoes55 2018-01-21

UPDATE: This is a new thing. My mom updates her phone all the time, she doesn't have the Presidential alerts. I have an Android phone and I have the Presidential Alerts.

PROOF: https://imgur.com/a/XvQP4

1  404_shame_not_found 2018-01-21

It's not new, see my other comments in here. iPhones don't have the option because you can't disable presidential alerts (the spec will not allow them to be disabled and in US there are actually laws to display them).

1  Frogsfuckingsnails 2018-01-21

I've had this for years. Discovered it when the whole family's phone went off during the season finale of GoT a few years back.

1  404_shame_not_found 2018-01-21

I don't know anything about your phone but what I'm telling you is that this system has been in place for a decade and all the carriers and manufacturers selling in America have supported it for about that long. There are laws requiring domestic providers/phones to display the presidential alert (https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/why-youll-never-be-able-to-block-a-presidential-alert).

Most likely your phone updated the UI and you just see it now (they don't use it often).

1  kalestew 2018-01-21

That is not the smartest software practice.