Your call center and others have alerted Apple to the problem. In mid-January, the company sent four representatives to observe Ms. Dummer and her team for a day; she said they had plenty of examples to show.
In a written statement, Alex Kirschner, An Apple spokesperson said: “We have been aware that in some specific scenarios these features have activated emergency services when a user did not experience a serious motor vehicle accident or hard fall.” The company noted that when a crash is detected, the watch beeps and sends a loud warning alerting the user that a 911 call is in progress, and provides 10 seconds to cancel the call.
Apple also said that software updates late last year were aimed at “optimizing” the technology and reducing the number of spoof calls. Mr. Kirschner added: “Crash detection and fall detection are designed to help users when they need it most, and have already helped save several lives.”
Apple maintains a collection of incidents in which the two technologies have come to the rescue. In one case, an Apple Watch alerted authorities after a driver in Indianapolis crashed into a telephone pole and the device dialed for help. In another, a clock called for help after a New Jersey man fell a steep cliff as you walk.
In Colorado, dispatchers had trouble remembering a case in which a watch had saved a skier in distress. (Ms. Dummer added that her team had “very rarely” received bogus 911 calls from other companies’ devices, such as Android phones.)
The problem extends beyond skiers. “My watch often thinks I’ve had an accident,” said Stacey Torman, who works for Salesforce in London and teaches spinning classes there. She could be safe on the bike, urging her class to increase energy or waving her arms in congratulations, when her Apple Watch senses danger.
“I want to celebrate, but my watch doesn’t really want me to celebrate,” he said. Oh great, she thinks, now my watch thinks I’m dead.
