One movement calls for help from your Apple Watch: spin the Digital Crown and keep spinning. It works in water lock, with the touchscreen off and gloves on.

🆓 Free for everyone - Beacon Safety is free on every plan.
​
🌐 Internet connection required - Your watch needs connectivity, either through eSIM or a paired phone nearby, so the alert can reach your friends.

🎓 Do the training once - Profile → Beacon Safety walks you through every gesture below on your own watch, so the first time you do it is not in an emergency.

Spin the Digital Crown rapidly and keep going. After a short countdown the alarm activates and your contacts are notified.

Keep rotating continuously. Brief pauses are fine, stopping resets it. Watch for the orange Keep rotating overlay: that is how you know the spin is being counted.

Spin the crown continuously again. A green countdown stands the alarm down, and your contacts get the all clear.

Open chat with the Action button, or Crown + Side button, and say "start alarm" during the purple SPEAK window.

To stand it down, open chat again and say "stop alarm" or "cancel alarm". Both work, in your own language too.

I spun the crown and nothing happened. You most likely stopped and started again. Brief pauses are fine, a full stop resets the count. If the orange Keep rotating overlay never appears, the spin is not being counted at all: spin faster and do not pause.

How do I know my beacon is even on? Look for the green dot with a blue ring pulsing out of it. That means active, and your contacts can see you. No blue ring means it is not active. A red ring means the connection dropped, so your contacts cannot see you.

There is no blue ring at all. The beacon only runs when it is switched on and you have completed the training for this watch. Check Profile → Beacon Safety.

The alarm went off but nobody was told. Your watch was offline. An alarm has to reach your contacts, so you need an eSIM plan or your paired iPhone on you in a waterproof pouch. No connection means no protection.

The voice phrase did nothing. Say it as one phrase, clearly, during the purple SPEAK window. Speaking before or after the window will not register.

My contact never got the alert. Emergency contacts come from your Surfr friends, and the follow has to go both ways. If either of you unfollowed since, they are no longer on your list. Open Profile → Beacon Safety to check who is on it, and ask them whether Surfr notifications are switched on.

For what Beacon Safety is, who sees your session, and what it does not do, read Beacon Safety.