iOS 15.6 Adds Toggle for US Government Test Alerts

25 JULY 2022 - If your iPhone doesn’t make enough startling, senseless, and random noise for you - good news! MacRumors says last week’s iOS 15.6 update has added a “Test Alerts” toggle. Available in Settings for phones connected to a carrier in the states, the piece says:

Turning on "Test Alerts" enables test emergency alerts to be received on both the iPhone and Apple Watch. The toggle is located in the Settings app under Notifications → Government Alerts and is turned off by default. Apple says the government is responsible for the content and the frequency of the test alerts.

It’s not so much a new feature as an improved one. MacRumors says past iterations of iOS allowed test alerts either by “installing a special profile from Apple or dialing a code in the Phone app.” Hence the “not new, but improved” thing. “The toggle simply provides users with an easier way to opt in to receive test alerts,” according to the report.