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How about the delay? The message is not delivered instantly. Plus, such a system would be required to be already scaled up, and stay in that state always, to support sending messages to millions of "subscribers", which would only add additional delay.


If you use broadcast messages, the number of subscribers shouldn't matter. There already exists a system like this in the US: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commercial_Mobile_Alert_System

> CMAS will allow federal agencies to accept and aggregate alerts from the President of the United States, the National Weather Service (NWS) and emergency operations centers, and send the alerts to participating wireless providers who will distribute the alerts to their customers with compatible devices via Cell Broadcast, a technology similar to SMS text messages that simultaneously delivers messages to all phones using a cell tower instead of individual recipients.[3][4]


Fromy experience sitting in a movie theater when a NWS storm alert went off, it took well over a minute for all messages to be delivered.


Will CMAS/cell broadcast bypass iOS Amber Alert and Emergency Alert "Government Alert" settings?


No. This would almost assuredly be sent as a level 2 extreme alert. The only alert that can bypass the settings is an alert directly from the president.


Well don't freaking turn off earthquake alerts!


If earthquake alerts are their own category, I probably won't. However, if they're lumped in with much more common events (thunderstorm! non-custodial parent spending time with child!) that I don't care to hear, then I will.


Wouldn't it be possible to use an IPv6 broadcast, thus making messaging of "everybody" trivial?

All that would then be required is that cell phones, pads and computers give some sort of non-mistakeable warning sound upon receiving these packets.




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