One movement calls for help from your Pixel Watch: shake the crown, spinning it back and forth as fast as you can. It works with the screen locked, with gloves on and spray on the glass.

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

👑 The crown does everything - Your side button belongs to Wear OS and never reaches Surfr, so every safety action is a crown movement. Which one you get depends on how you turn it.

🎓 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.

Learn these three and everything else follows:

Speed is what separates the alarm from the other two. Steady turning never raises an alarm, and shaking never unlocks the screen.

Shake the crown: spin it back and forth, fast. Six direction changes within three seconds and the alarm goes live, even with the screen locked.

Either direction can start it. Think of it as shaking rather than turning.

Shake the crown again, the same fast reversals. A countdown runs, then the alarm stands down and your contacts get the all clear.

Turn the crown anticlockwise, five full turns, to start talking. Then say "start alarm".

To stand it down, turn anticlockwise five turns again and say "stop alarm" or "cancel alarm". Both work, in your own language too.

Anticlockwise is the direction that scrolls up a list. The turns work with the screen locked.

Surfr locks the touchscreen while you ride, so waves and spray cannot tap anything.

Turn the crown clockwise, five full turns. Clockwise is the direction that scrolls down a list. It also unlocks by itself the moment your session ends.

The screen unlocked instead of raising the alarm. You turned too steadily. A slow clockwise turn is the unlock gesture. Go faster and keep reversing direction.

It started listening for a message instead. Same cause, other direction: a slow anticlockwise turn opens voice chat. Shake rather than turn.

I started turning one way, changed my mind, and nothing happened. Changing direction mid-turn deliberately cancels an unlock or a chat, because on a locked screen that is how you back out of a gesture you did not mean to start. Stop, then start the movement you actually want.

Tapping the screen does nothing. That is the water lock doing its job, not a fault. The crown works whether the screen is locked or not, so you never have to unlock first in an emergency.

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 phone on you in a waterproof pouch. No connection means no protection.

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.