Apple has announced plans to let iPhone owners send text messages using a satellite connection when in areas where there is no mobile phone signal.
This feature of the upcoming iOS 18 update is set to work for iMessage chats between Apple devices as well as for classic text messages, the company announced at the WWDC conference for software developers.
Both text and emojis can be transmitted using the new satellite feature, which Apple says is end-to-end encrypted. Until now, Apple has only offered an emergency calls via satellite on recent iPhones.
At its annual WWDC conference, the iPhone maker traditionally gives a preview of software and functions that will be introduced with new device generations later in the year.
The emergency satellite call feature, a first in mainstream smartphones, was designed to help whenever no other network is available, be it in a dead zone or in the wilderness.
Users of newer iPhones can also inform others of their location via satellite, regardless of an emergency situation, if they are travelling outside of other networks. This works via the map display in Apple's Find My app.
Apple has increasingly leaned into safety offerings and marketed the potentially life-saving features of its devices, such as the claimed ability of the iPhone to detect a car accident or the Apple Watch to detect when the wearer falls.
