You didn’t receive an alarm via cell broadcast at 11 a.m. on the warning day? Then you should check these sources of error to find out why the warning SMS did not reach you.
If you did not receive such a cell broadcast warning on the warning day, you should check a few things. (Source: Screenshot BBK)
Germany is rehearsing an emergency and on September 14th at 11 a.m. a test warning will be sent to the population in several ways by the Federal Office for Civil Protection and Disaster Relief (BBK). One of these is cell broadcast technology. This should reach all cell phones in the catchment area without you having to install an app or register somewhere.
If you haven’t received a message, you should start troubleshooting. We explain what could be the problem.
Airplane mode / No network?
Messages sent via Cell Broadcast will only reach you if you are connected to a cell phone cell. So if you don’t have a network or your cell phone is in flight mode, you won’t receive any notification. So turn off flight mode on your device and check whether the SIM card is inserted correctly.
Is your cell phone compatible with Cell Broadcast?
First you should check whether your cell phone supports cell broadcast at all. Newer cell phones from the iPhone 6s or with Android 11 should be able to receive the messages. The BBK also keeps a list of compatible and non-compatible devices, which, however, does not claim to be complete.
Have you installed the latest updates?
To ensure proper reception, the latest updates must be installed on your cell phone. There is a special feature on Apple cell phones. The iPhone must have either iOS 15.6.1 or 16.1 installed; according to O2, devices with iOS 15.6 or 16.0 do NOT receive a warning message.
Check cell broadcast settings
Last but not least, you should check your cell broadcast settings. Have you really activated all warning messages? For example, on some devices there is the option to suppress test warnings. The following instructions will help you:
Checked everything, but didn’t find any errors?
If you have completed the checklist without finding the cause of the problem, the problem may lie with your network provider. It is best to contact customer service here or contact the BBK if you have any questions.
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