Tomorrow, at 11:00 a.m.: Nationwide warning day with cell broadcast

If you get an alert sent to your cell phone tomorrow around 11 a.m., it's probably just a test. Because tomorrow, Thursday, September 00, 14, there will once again be a nationwide warning day in Germany. The corresponding warning tests and probably later the all-clear will then be issued via a “cell broadcast” message. In order to further improve the system, the Federal Office for Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance has set up a feedback page. Starting tomorrow, you can anonymously describe your experiences with the warning test for seven days: https://www.warntag-umfrage.de 

Nationwide warning day: third attempt after dates in 2020 and 2022

After the mix of sirens, app and other warnings went poorly in September 2020, the warning systems and their combination were put to the test. It was then agreed that the old SMS technique of triangulating devices in affected areas might be a better approach. The 2021 floods in North Rhine-Westphalia also made a significant contribution here.

So the necessary regulations were put in place and the whole thing was repeated using the technology called cell broadcast. After the failure in September 2020, the next warning day took place after more than two years, in December 2022. This time the whole thing was a little more successful. Nevertheless, the system will continue to be tested and improved based on appropriate feedback.

Our articles and news mentions on the topic:

• Solution to unreliable disaster warnings: cell broadcasting (News, week 29, 2021)
• Disaster warning for all cell phones: Cell broadcast launched (News, week 33, 2021)
• Cell broadcast warning day in Germany: Thursday, December 8, 2022 (December 7, 2022)
• DE-Alert Warning Day 2022: How did it go for you? (December 8, 2022)

Receiving cell broadcast alerts: Settings on the iPhone

On the Apple iPhone you have the option to use certain options for mobile phone alerts in the settings of current iOS versions. If you don't want to be disturbed by the test warning tomorrow, you can deactivate receiving it. Or you can reactivate it if you turned it off after the last time.

You can also set whether you want to receive danger information in regular warning messages or only warnings about “extreme dangers”. Ultimately, you can also (de)activate everything altogether using the three switches. I don't want to discuss here whether and why individual switches should be activated or deactivated - at least for me everything is activated.

And this is how you get the corresponding iPhone settings for Cell Broadcast under iOS:

1. Opens the Settings on your Apple iPhone
2. Choose the point in it Messages from
3. Scroll down to the “Cell Broadcast Alerts” section
4. Activates the last switch Test warnings, if you want to receive the warning day message tomorrow
5. Above this are the two switches for Extreme Danger and Hazard information

Further information: https://warnung-der-bevoelkerung.de/bundesweiter-warntag/ 

Johannes Domke

[On vacation] After graduating from high school, Johannes completed training as a business assistant specializing in foreign languages. But then he decided to research and write, which led to his independence. He has been working for Sir Apfelot, among others, for several years now. His articles include product introductions, news, instructions, video games, consoles and much more. He follows Apple keynotes live via stream.