iPhone users are unable to make calls or send text messages as their devices go into “SOS mode” amid a massive cell phone outage that affected thousands of users across the United States on Thursday. is reported.
For affected iPhone users, the easiest workaround to get their phones working again is to perform a hard reset, which Apple calls a “force restart.” Daily Mail.
According to Apple Support, to do this, press and quickly release the Volume Up button, quickly press the Volume Down button as well, then press and hold the Side button.
When you see the Apple logo, release the side button and restart your iPhone as usual.
SOS mode is activated when the mobile phone connection is lost. This means that users can only complete calls to emergency services.
iPhone models 13 and earlier won’t go into SOS mode during an outage, instead users will see a “No Service” indicator, tech news website says laptop magazine report.
According to the Daily Mail, users can also restore service by switching to “data roaming” by toggling the feature in the “Mobile Data” tab in Settings.
However, turning on the roaming feature allows you to use cellular data service outside of your home network’s coverage area, often incurring additional charges from your mobile service provider.
The massive loss of cellular connectivity was caused by a power outage at AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon around 4 a.m. ET Thursday.
AT&T seemed to have the most problems, with nearly 32,000 reports as of 4:30 a.m. According to data from DownDetector: It tracks outages by collating status reports from sources such as errors submitted by users on the platform.
T-Mobile and Verizon also reported more than 800 outages, which a spokesperson for the latter said were due to users reporting problems trying to make calls on other services.
Other reported issues include smaller carriers such as 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.
Power outages have also been reported in Montreal, Canada, but the cause of the problem remains unclear.
