They should, and if they don’t other people should. It’s a life saving feature using a device manage people already carry, and I don’t think many people are aware of it.
Top Gear did this, back when they were still on the BBC.
They dropped one presenter and a camera crew out of a helicopter around the top of a hill-climb OHV track in the Canadian wilderness, and had them activate an emergency beacon. The other two had to perform a rescue race in pickup trucks.
Kinda pricey for the standalone, but not too bad. $300 for a starter Garmin. But you'll have about a $160 per year subscription. (I've had one for years--it's been invaluable peace of mind on solo trips.)
The Garmin uses Iridium; the iPhone is apparently Globalstar. So don't try using the iPhone at the poles. ;)
Great to see it coming to phones. Maybe Pixel will get on board.
