# Important note about the phone alert today {2023-10-04} **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 4, 2023, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/important-note-about-the-phone-alert-today-2023-10-04/991106 "2023-10-04T17:00:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2023, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/important-note-about-the-phone-alert-today-2023-10-04/991106/21 "2023-10-04T20:01:38Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > If you didn’t get the alert, how would anyone know? Do you (or anyone) now whether the phone automatically sends back a response? If so, they can know what they sent and what got acknowledged. The difference is what was never received. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2023, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/important-note-about-the-phone-alert-today-2023-10-04/991106/22 "2023-10-04T20:06:27Z")
You’d be hungry again in an hour. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2023, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/important-note-about-the-phone-alert-today-2023-10-04/991106/23 "2023-10-04T20:07:18Z")
On my phone I had to click OK to clear it… I’m assuming the provided some sort of notification back. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2023, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/important-note-about-the-phone-alert-today-2023-10-04/991106/24 "2023-10-04T22:43:53Z")
Too sweet? I could pop another metformin. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2023, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/important-note-about-the-phone-alert-today-2023-10-04/991106/25 "2023-10-05T00:14:18Z")
It went off in the NY courtroom: > [@](#): > > FEMA alert causes stir in courtroom > > A scheduled emergency test by the Federal Emergency Management Agency blared in the courtroom where former President Trump’s civil fraud trial is ongoing, causing a temporary stir before laughter erupted. > > When the alarm went off, the whole room froze, with at least one law enforcement officer appearing to reach for a weapon. > > One lawyer with the attorney general’s office grabbed the arm of another. > > But just a moment later, remembrance of the scheduled alert set in, resulting in a collective sigh of relief and jokes throughout the courtroom. > > Trump is not in the courtroom, but New York Attorney General Letitia James is. [https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/4237694-trumps-new-york-fraud-trial-enters-day-three-live-updates/](https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/4237694-trumps-new-york-fraud-trial-enters-day-three-live-updates/) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2023, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/important-note-about-the-phone-alert-today-2023-10-04/991106/26 "2023-10-05T00:22:27Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I would’ve liked to been in a highschool and heard. It was loud and annoying, and then everyone got out their phones and hit the “OK” button. Not sure what you were expecting. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2023, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/important-note-about-the-phone-alert-today-2023-10-04/991106/27 "2023-10-05T00:26:11Z")
_Oh, if I were a zombie, I’d never eat your brain! I’d just want your heart, I’d just want your heart, I’d just want your heart, 'Cuz I want ya_ ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2023, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/important-note-about-the-phone-alert-today-2023-10-04/991106/28 "2023-10-05T01:54:13Z")
> [@solost](#): > > ETA: the OP article says it will be one minute, and will only be sent once. I got it twice, once in English and once in Spanish. ---
**Author:** ![Retzbu\_Tox](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/retzbu_tox/32/11829_2.png) [@Retzbu\_Tox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Retzbu_Tox)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2023, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/important-note-about-the-phone-alert-today-2023-10-04/991106/29 "2023-10-05T02:34:05Z")
My phone only displayed a message and played the little tune I normally get with a text or Facebook notification. With a previous phone and different carrier I used to get loud Amber Alert messages that seemed fairly consistently to be from the wrong geographic region of the the USA, many hundreds of miles from me, so I turned off some of my emergency alerts. However, I have not deliberately done so with my current phone. I wonder if during the process of transferring contacts and apps from my old android phone to my current one, I also managed to shut off emergency alerts on the new phone. I’ll have to investigate my settings… ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2023, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/important-note-about-the-phone-alert-today-2023-10-04/991106/30 "2023-10-05T02:37:51Z")
I was imagining squeals and chaos. That was always fun in highschool. I guess not for teaching staff. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2023, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/important-note-about-the-phone-alert-today-2023-10-04/991106/31 "2023-10-05T03:20:51Z")
The large company where I used to work ran monthly PA tests with the phrase “This is a test of the emergency announcement system. If you are in an area where you did not hear this message, please call…” After the first two months, it was something everyone laughed at, but it ran for over ten years and they were still doing it when I left. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2023, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/important-note-about-the-phone-alert-today-2023-10-04/991106/32 "2023-10-05T12:40:12Z")
If you KNOW you should hear something & don’t that’s a VALID test as maybe the PA speaker is broken & needs to be fixed in case of a real emergency I have an OLD cell phone I keep behind my PC. It doesn’t have a Sim card; it’s sole purpose WAS to give me audio alerts for new emails (I don’t carry my phone in the house). When it also went off yesterday I reached for it to silence it. Holy $#! +!!! The battery swelled so much that it had popped the rear case off & actually broke the plastic on the inside" hulking" it’s way out of the battery compartment. Needless to say, it won’t be plugged in again & the only reason it’s not in the trashcan is that we have an upcoming electronics recycling day soon. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2023, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/important-note-about-the-phone-alert-today-2023-10-04/991106/33 "2023-10-05T13:32:08Z")
This has reminded me of the wonderful fire drill scene from the Office. ---
**Author:** ![pullin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2023, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/important-note-about-the-phone-alert-today-2023-10-04/991106/34 "2023-10-05T13:53:52Z")
In wonder how many car wrecks happened yesterday at the same time as the alerts. FTR: I turned my phone off yesterday afternoon. I guess it doesn’t “wait” to alert you when you power back up. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2023, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/important-note-about-the-phone-alert-today-2023-10-04/991106/35 "2023-10-05T15:35:38Z")
> [@pullin](#): > > In wonder how many car wrecks happened yesterday at the same time as the alerts. I was driving while both the phone alert and the car-radio alert went off. Both were ordinary familiar Emergency Broadcast System tones and were neither any louder nor any longer-lasting than past EBS broadcast tests. If anything, they were notably brief, in my estimation. The alerts weren’t at all jarring or even particularly distracting (especially knowing they were coming). Perhaps other people’s experiences differed There was really, _really_ nothing to it. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2023, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/important-note-about-the-phone-alert-today-2023-10-04/991106/36 "2023-10-05T15:59:26Z")
My iPhone didn’t get an alert. So, since this was a “test” of the system, something didn’t work. Should I tell someone? (other than you fine folks) ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2023, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/important-note-about-the-phone-alert-today-2023-10-04/991106/37 "2023-10-05T16:01:31Z")
I was wondering that too, since all I heard on my phone was a brief churrip and not a longer alert. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2023, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/important-note-about-the-phone-alert-today-2023-10-04/991106/38 "2023-10-05T16:17:08Z")
That’s what alerts sound like. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2023, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/important-note-about-the-phone-alert-today-2023-10-04/991106/39 "2023-10-05T16:17:44Z")
I only heard a single lert, though. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2023, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/important-note-about-the-phone-alert-today-2023-10-04/991106/40 "2023-10-05T16:25:36Z")
Yeah, that’s the way they work. I’ve got them a few times over the years. Severe weather warnings and Amber Alerts and Covid shutdown messages. Always a brief blip. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/important-note-about-the-phone-alert-today-2023-10-04/991106.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/important-note-about-the-phone-alert-today-2023-10-04/991106.md?page=3)