There’s a new Priority Notifications feature in iOS 18.4 to ensure important messages and alerts get prominent Lock Screen placement. But a different feature entirely was added in a recent iOS update—‘Critical Messages’—that enables apps to send your iPhone highly important messages via SMS. Here’s how it works.
New messaging feature involves very specific parameters to prevent spam
With an iPhone update over the last few months, Apple has given developers a new capability to send SMS alerts to users. But it’s only intended for very specific and ‘critical’ situations.
Here’s the description from Apple’s documentation:
The Critical Messaging API provides a way for apps to deliver critical messages to a set of phone numbers. This can serve a number of purposes. For example, if an enterprise wants to receive check-ins from employees working in hazardous or rural environments, being able to automatically message a corporate check-in point may help check the safety of those employees without disrupting their work, or if the employee is unable to access or unlock their iPhone.
Since this feature could potentially be abused by some developers, there are very specific conditions Apple has set to ensure that Critical Messages doesn’t lead to spamming users with advertising or other unwanted alerts.
For example, Apple specifies: “You may not use the Critical Messaging API for sending unsolicited messages or for phishing or spamming, including but not limited to engaging in any types of activities that violate anti-spamming laws and regulations, or that are otherwise improper, inappropriate, or illegal.“
From a user’s standpoint, it’s unlikely you’ll receive Critical Messages often. Similar to the existing Critical-level notifications, they’re expected to be rarely deployed only for very important, time-sensitive notices.
If you do find yourself receiving Critical Messages you don’t want, there’s an opt-out option in iOS that can be applied to individual apps.
To opt out, simply open your iPhone’s Settings app, then go to Privacy & Security ⇾ Critical Messages. Any apps that have requested permission to send these types of messages will appear here and can be disabled.
What do you think of the iPhone’s Critical Messages feature? Let us know in the comments.
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