Emergency SOS via satellite in Europe: where your phone can use it

The two lists, side by side

• Both iPhone and Pixel: Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
• iPhone only: Andorra and Iceland.
• Pixel only: Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Sweden.
• Neither: Malta, the Balkan countries outside the EU such as Montenegro and Albania, and Turkey, among others.

These come from Apple's article on Emergency SOS via satellite and Google's Pixel help page on Satellite SOS. Outside Europe, both cover the United States, Canada and Australia, and Apple's list adds Japan, Mexico and New Zealand. Both companies say availability depends on regulators and approvals and that they keep adding countries, so check the official page shortly before you travel. Google also notes that being on the list does not guarantee coverage.

What your phone needs before you go

iPhone: any iPhone 14 or later model, updated. Apple asks you to install the latest iOS before heading somewhere without coverage, and some countries were added in later versions; Andorra, Iceland and Norway, for example, need iOS 26.4 or later. The service is free for two years after the iPhone is activated. Where the phone was bought also matters: Apple does not offer satellite connectivity on iPhones bought in Armenia, Belarus, mainland China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan or Russia, and on models bought in Hong Kong or Macao only from the iPhone 16e. Visitors can otherwise use it in any supported country.

Pixel: a Pixel 9 or later, except the Pixel 9a. Google Messages must be your default messaging app; if you switch to another app, Google says Satellite SOS stops being available and you get a notification. For other Android brands, Google's list does not apply: look for your manufacturer's own satellite page. If you are choosing a phone for a trip, our compatibility list covers eSIM support, which is a separate question.

How the conversation works

Both systems start from a normal emergency call. Apple says to try the local emergency number first; if the call does not connect, the iPhone offers to text emergency services by satellite. You tap Report Emergency, answer a short questionnaire with taps, choose whether to notify your emergency contacts and follow the arrows to point the phone at a satellite. The iPhone then sends your answers, your location with elevation, your battery level and your Medical ID if you set it up. Some messages go straight to emergency services and others through an Emergency Relay Center, which Apple says works in English, French, Canadian French, Dutch, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese and Spanish.

On a Pixel, you dial the emergency number, 112 in Europe, and the dialler offers Satellite SOS when there is no mobile or Wi-Fi network. You fill in the questionnaire, decide whether to notify your contacts and follow the prompts to aim the phone. Google says the provider usually replies by text within a few minutes, and that you must stay outside with a clear view of the sky to receive the replies.

Where it struggles: trees, gorges and the far north

Satellites need sky. Apple asks for a clear view of the sky and the horizon, and Google warns that trees, terrain and buildings can block the link. In a narrow valley, under forest cover or inside a mountain hut, walk to open ground before trying. Connection times vary with the place and the conditions, so a message can take minutes rather than seconds.

Latitude is the less obvious limit. Apple says its satellite connection might not work above 62 degrees latitude, and gives northern Norway as an example. All of Iceland and the north of Norway lie above that line, so in those places treat satellite SOS as a possibility, not a plan, and keep the usual precautions: a route left with someone, a charged phone and a power bank. Our guide to phone signal in the mountains covers the rest of the preparation.

Run the demo at home, not on the mountain

Both phones include a practice mode that walks you through aiming at a satellite without contacting anyone. On iPhone, opening Satellite in Control Center or in Settings while you have mobile or Wi-Fi coverage opens the Satellite Connection Demo instead of the real feature. Apple notes that the demos only work in a country or region where the feature is available. On a Pixel, go to Settings, Safety and emergency, Satellite SOS, and follow the demo; Google warns that your mobile network turns off during it and comes back when you exit.

Doing it once teaches you where the phone wants you to stand and how long a connection takes, which is exactly what you do not want to discover when you are cold and stressed. While you are in settings, add your emergency contacts, since both phones can notify them, and on iPhone fill in Medical ID, which the iPhone shares once it connects.

What satellite does not do in Europe

Satellite SOS is for emergencies only. Apple's other satellite features have shorter lists: Messages via satellite, for texting friends and family, is offered in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Japan, and Roadside Assistance via satellite in Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom. None of these gives you mobile data, maps or WhatsApp. For the basics of calling 112 with weak signal, reading out coordinates and what the SOS label in the status bar means, see calling for help with no signal and why your phone says SOS.

A data eSIM does not change any of this: it carries internet where there is a mobile network, and satellite takes over only where there is none. For the parts of a trip that do have coverage, a Snoozim data plan keeps maps and messages working while your usual line stays active for calls.