Apple Watch Fall Detection: Everything You Need to Know

The Apple Watch is a popular smartwatch for seniors. Like many wearable devices, it tracks your heart rate, counts your steps, and collects other health data throughout the day. It also has some medical alert features, like fall detection, that can provide peace of mind to older adults and their loved ones.

The Apple Watch fall detection feature recognizes sudden, forceful, and high-impact movements that might indicate a fall. In this guide, we’ll look at how it works, and what you should know about its reliability.

How the Apple Watch detects a hard fall

The Apple Watch uses multiple sensors to detect falls. It combines measurements from an accelerometer (which tracks impact force) and a gyroscope (which monitors movement) to recognize when you might have fallen. The watch's system then uses algorithms to analyze the motion and decide if the motion matched up with a fall or a regular activity, including exercise. 

When an Apple Watch detects you've fallen, and you haven't moved for about a minute, it automatically begins this fall response process:

1. For 30 seconds, the watch will tap your wrist, sound an alarm, and send an alert. The alarm sound will get louder over the 30 seconds to ensure you (or anyone near who could help) can hear.

2. You can dismiss the alert, say, "I'm OK," or say, "Contact emergency services."

3. Your watch will automatically call emergency services and your emergency contacts if you don't respond to the alert.

4. Your watch will share your location (via GPS) to your emergency contacts once the call ends.

5. Finally, your watch will record falls in the Health app on your iPhone to help you and your loved ones keep track and remember incidents.

How to turn on fall detection

If the date of birth you entered when setting up your Watch makes you 55 or older, fall detection is turned on by default. To switch it on (or off) manually:

• Go to the Settings app on your Apple Watch

• Choose SOS, then Fall Detection, and turn on Fall Detection.

• Choose “Always On” if you’d like it on constantly or “Only on during workouts” to enable the feature only when you’ve started a workout using the Watch

You call also enable fall detection on the Watch via your iPhone. To do this, open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone, tap My Watch, tap Emergency SOS, then turn on Fall Detection.

Apple Watch fall detection reliability

The Watch fall detection functionality isn’t perfect. Apple support notes: “Apple Watch cannot detect all falls. The more physically active you are, the more likely you are to trigger Fall Detection due to high-impact activity that can appear to be a fall.”

In a 2021 test of 300 simulated falls, the Apple Watch only correctly identified 14 of them as falls. This means it missed about 95% of actual falls during testing. However, very few long-term real world tests of smartwatches and wearable fall detection devices have been documented, so it’s hard to be too conclusive on their effectiveness. Plus, the technology is evolving and improving all the time.

Is the Apple Watch a medical alert system, too?

The Apple Watch has some features that are similar to a medical alert device, but does not perform all the functions of a medical alert system.

Medical alert systems connect a person with a medical emergency to 911 or a monitoring center that contacts first responders. The best systems have two-way communication and ease of use.

If the Apple system detects an emergency that results in a fall, help will be on the way if you don't respond. You can cancel the alert or indicate you need help, but you cannot talk to anyone at a monitoring center to offer more detail. If you do not need the rescue squad to come or if you took too long to respond, the call to 911 would be a false alarm.

To make emergency calls via you Watch, your phone must have wifi or cellular connection. In that case, the wearer can use the watch to make a phone call or send a text. Users need an iPhone to make the best use of all the features.

An Apple Watch has an average battery life of 16 hours for many models. Having fall detection on also drains the battery slightly faster. Using an Apple Watch as a medical alert system means making sure that the battery is charged regularly.

Additional Apple Watch safety features 

Besides fall detection and crash detection, the Apple Watch has several features that can help you in a medical emergency:

• Emergency SOS:

• Quick Access: Call emergency services by simultaneously pressing and holding the side button and one of the volume buttons. 

• Automatic Call: If you continue to hold the buttons, the iPhone will begin a countdown and automatically call emergency services. 

• Medical ID: Allows you to store important medical information (allergies, medications, etc.) that can be accessed even if your phone is locked. 

• Find My:

• Locate Your Device: Allows you to locate your lost or stolen iPhone on a map. 

• Mark as Lost: Can remotely lock your device, erase data, and display a custom message. 

• Safety Check: (iOS 16 and later) 

• Review Sharing: Helps you review and reset information sharing and access with people, apps, and devices.

• Emergency Reset: Quickly stops all sharing with current apps and devices. 

• Personal Safety Features:

• Location Sharing: You can share your location with loved ones and other trusted contacts. 

• Check-In: Sends automatic location updates to contacts. 

• Privacy Features:

• App Tracking Transparency: Gives you control over how apps track your activity across other companies' apps and websites. 

• Location Services: Allows you to control which apps have access to your location data

Some Apple Watch have crash detection features that will call 911 in case of a car crash. As with fall detection, crash detection is imperfect and does not appear to detect all crashes.

What other features do Apple Watches have?

Aside from the safety features listed above, the Apple Watch is a great extension of the iPhone. Below are some powerful features.

Health monitoring

You cannot use the Apple Watch app to call for help for other medical conditions, but the watch has a heart monitor app that can alert you to high or low heart rates and irregular heart rhythms. In these situations, it cannot diagnose a heart attack or call for help unless you make the call. The two features below can help you track your health and share information with healthcare providers.

• Tracks heart rate, activity, sleep

• Medical ID lets you list certain allergies medical conditions that could be helpful during an emergency

Communication & convenience

As an Apple product, the Apple Watch connects with your phone and can help you do things without digging through your purse (or the couch cushions) for your phone! Speaking of digging for your phone…my favorite feature is the “find my phone” button, which causes your phone to make an alarm. As someone who loses my phone all the time, this is super helpful! 

• Makes and receives calls and messages

• Sets reminders for medications, appointments, and other important tasks and is equipped with Siri, the voice assistant

• Makes contactless payments with Apple Pay

Independence

Apple Watches can help keep seniors safe when on the go, promote independence, and help with social connection. 

• Phone Calls: Make and receive calls directly from the watch.

• Messaging: Send and receive messages, including replies to texts

• Siri: Voice assistant for hands-free control and information

The Apple Watch offers many useful features for seniors. However, some older users may find the technology a little challenging. Many of the Watch’s features are accessed via a small touchscreen (the watch face) or by a ‘Digital Crown,’ which is a small dial on the side of the watch.

Which Apple smartwatch models use fall detection?

Many current models of Apple Watches offer fall detection.

• Apple Watch SE

• Apple Watch SE 2 through Apple Watch Series 8

• Apple Watch Ultra and Ultra 2

How much do Apple watches cost?

Apple Watches start at two price points, depending on their features.

• Apple Watch SE: This is the most affordable option with fall detection, starting around $249.

• Apple Watch Series 8 and newer: These models offer more advanced features and typically start around $399.

The initial investment in an Apple Watch seems high, but many medical alert systems have high monthly fees that quickly exceed the cost of having an Apple Watch.

Should seniors invest in an Apple Watch?

For some seniors, an Apple Watch can be a great investment. But as a fall detection device or medical alert system, it appears to have some limitations. It’s better to look at the fall detection as a bonus feature that may be helpful, rather than the #1 reason to get an Apple Watch.