Is Your Phone Too Old to Receive Emergency Alerts? 📱

I know many of us are still using older smartphones, and it’s a valid question to ask if they can keep up with modern technology.

If you have an older phone, there’s a chance you won’t receive it, and it’s important to know why.

For your phone to get the alert, it needs to be on a 4G or 5G network. While O2 is still providing a 3G network, it’s being switched off by the end of 2025. If you’re on a 2G or 3G phone, you definitely won’t receive the alert. Ofcom estimates that around one million 2G phones are still in use in the UK.

What About Your Software?

Even if your phone is on a 4G or 5G network, it might not receive the alert if it’s running an older operating system. For example, if you have an Android phone with a version older than 11, or an iPhone with a version older than 14.5, you’ll likely miss the alert. Android 11 was released in September 2020, and iOS 14.5 followed in April 2021, so many people are still using these older versions.

You can easily check your phone’s software version in the settings menu. On an Android phone, open Settings, then tap ‘About phone’ or ‘About device’. On an iPhone, open Settings, then tap General, followed by About. If your phone is too old, you can at least make sure your friends and family with newer phones are aware of the upcoming test so they can check their settings.

What About an Old iPad?

It’s not just phones that have this problem. One reader found that his old iPad, stuck on iOS 12.5.7, could no longer load some modern websites. This is because web technology has moved on and your outdated browser can no longer handle the new features. You can try enabling Safari’s ‘experimental features’ in your settings to squeeze some extra life out of it.

Bibliography:

• Is my iPad too old for modern websites? Computeractive – Issue 715, 30 July-12 August 2025.
• Will your phone get the Govt’s emergency alert? Computeractive – Issue 715, 30 July-12 August 2025.

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