Android users in Ukraine will receive airstrike alerts delivered directly to their phones before expected attacks occur near them, Google announced today. in a updated blog post, the company said it is working with the Ukrainian government to implement an alert system for Android phones in the country. Feature came first seen by XDA Developers.
“Tragically, millions of people in Ukraine now rely on airstrike alerts to try to get to safety,” Google says in the ad. Android pings will be based on alerts already sent by the Ukrainian government and are adapted from a system built to send quickly earthquake warnings, according Dave Burke, Vice President of Engineering for Android.
Google has already been highlighting the ukrainian alarm application in the Google Play Store, which sends notifications of air strikes to Ukrainians in regions with active alerts. The new alert system begins rolling out today and will roll out to all Android phones in Ukraine in the coming days, Burke says.
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Google has reduced its presence in Russia, including pause all ad sales and the removal of Russian state-funded media apps from Google Play in Europe.
“The Russian invasion of Ukraine is both a tragedy and a humanitarian disaster in the making,” Google wrote on March 1. The company said it was working to “support people in Ukraine through our products, defend against cybersecurity threats, display high-quality and reliable information, and ensure the safety of our colleagues and their families in the region.”