TIFU by using my iPhone as a hammer. The police were not amused.

r/

So, maybe not my brightest hour. I just wanted to get a nail out of the drywall and it would not budge. I had the idea if I could knock it in, maybe that would loosen it, and it would come out easier. Too lazy to walk a flight of steps, I thought, “I’ll just use my phone to tap it in”.

The good news is that it worked. The nail went in, I grabbed it with my fingernails, got a good grip and it came all the way out. Wahoo!!

The bad news is that it apparently triggered the “accident” setting on the phone and called 911. I would have thought it would have made a sound while doing that, but it didn’t. I guess I did not hear the 911 operator answering. About ten minutes later, the police are knocking on the front door. Two cruisers in the drive way and an EMT Ambulance pulling up. They were on alert as they thought it might be a kidnap/domestic violence issue. After we all figured out what happened, we had a good laugh (not!). If it happens again, I will fined and maybe charged. Lesson… don’t use your phone as a hammer. Should have been obvious.

TL;DR: Used by iPhone for very light hammer work; set of the accident trigger; police/ambulance show up; police not amused

Comments

  1. Particular-Area-6278 Avatar

    on the bright side, at least you know the EMS function works!!

  2. satansayssurfsup Avatar

    How does banging your phone alert emergency services

  3. Jewsusgr8 Avatar

    Lol iPhones continue to amuse me with their ‘features’ more and more everyday.

    From my time working on them directly I think you should be able to: In the iPhone’s Settings, there should be emergency SOS from last I checked.

    Should still be able to turn this off.

  4. Unkn0wnTh2nd3r Avatar

    you can turn the auto dial off, go into the settings > Emergency SOS, and then turn off “Call with 5 Button Presses”

    https://preview.redd.it/vgf0uof3r9ve1.jpeg?width=1290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=286cf0b41db1e187bcdb4ab9d24d5a5dc008d7ed

  5. xterraadam Avatar

    If it does happen again, and they ticket you, go to court. You did not call 911.

  6. SnooChipmunks2079 Avatar

    When our daughter was 3, they learned about 911 at preschool.

    Guess what she did when she got home?

    If you guessed, “call 911 and ask them to send the police over after dinner” you guessed correctly.

    The officer was very nice and thought it was pretty funny.

  7. Justokmemes Avatar

    Damn so if I drop my phone it calls the police? Yea Fuck that

  8. mattdean4130 Avatar

    I discovered this was a thing last weekend. Took my motorcycle for a little unplanned slide. Limped it home only to find like 7 missed calls from the police on my phone when I grabbed it from my jacket.

    Narc!

  9. wisdomoftheages36 Avatar

    You’re a special kinda stupid

    Buy a god damn hammer

  10. ThiefMaster Avatar

    > If it happens again, I will fined and maybe charged.

    Fined for / charged with what exactly? Calling emergency services as a joke is illegal, but this particular case doesn’t even seem negligent since you could reasonable expect it to NOT automatically make an emergency call without clearly and loudly alerting you…

  11. phalangepatella Avatar

    This is such a load of horseshit.

    When Crash Detection is activated on an iPhone, it doesn’t just measure a “bump” like if you used your phone as a hammer. We can debunk your post with just that.

    However…

    When Crash Detection is activated on an iPhone, it makes so much fucking noise you cannot miss it. Think almost “Amber Alert” type sound as loud as the phone can make it.

  12. DarthWoo Avatar

    Even if I had a really good case on it, I can’t even imagine the thought process that would ever lead me to using my current ~$200 phone in the role of a tool meant to hit things, much less using a significantly more expensive iPhone. 

    Maybe if I could reliably incapacitate an assailant by rapidly flinging it directly into their face, but that’s about it.

  13. MonkeyBrains09 Avatar

    That is an expensive hammer.

  14. itsmejak78_2 Avatar

    Oof

    I’m glad the only times I’ve accidentally called 911 with that sort of feature I’ve noticed and was able to tell the operator that it was just an accidental call, apologize and end the call

  15. spanman112 Avatar

    i’m not sure what’s dumber …

    …. using probably the most expensive and important device you have in your home as a fucking hammer?

    ….. or the people believing this happened.

  16. Falsus Avatar

    While using your phone as a hammer I don’t see how it would be your fault that an automatic system went off without your knowledge when it wasn’t necessary.

  17. Dr_L_Church Avatar

    My wife got a call while we were at Dave and busters from a 911 operator. Apparently the way she had her wrist bent playing the SpongeBob coin game was setting off the emergency alert on her Apple Watch. 2 minutes later it was about to call out again. She had ti take the watch off for the rest of the day.

  18. HooverMaster Avatar

    Sounds like the government should be sending apple a bill for false alarms tbh