Why Is My Phone on SOS? Updates on the Verizon Outage

In case you’re a Verizon customer, you probably noticed that your phone was on SOS today, January 14 2026. People across the United States complained that their cellular service was down.

According to downdetector.com, there were around 200,000 reports of outages by early afternoon for east coaster and late morning for west coasters. So, what’s happening with Verizon, and what can you do if your iPhone is in SOS mode?

Learn about the outage and find out what to do if you were affected here.

Me liking every post about the Verizon outage pic.twitter.com/XJi4brjPTT

— Digital Gal (@DigitalGalX) January 14, 2026

Why Is My Phone on SOS?

If you’re a Verizon Wireless customer and your phone is in SOS mode, it’s due to a widespread outage with the carrier.

An iPhone could be in SOS mode because the device is not connected to a cellular network. If a carrier isn’t having an outage, Apple suggests that iPhone customers restart their devices and try reconnecting to their network. However, if there is a widespread network outage, then iPhone users should contact their carrier.

Why Is There a Verizon Outage in 2026?

Verizon confirmed in a public statement via X that its team was aware of an “issue” impacting wireless services for customers.

“We are aware of an issue impacting wireless voice and data services for some customers,” the statement read. “Our engineers are engaged and are working to identify and solve the issue quickly. We understand how important reliable connectivity is and apologize for the inconvenience.”

We are aware of an issue impacting wireless voice and data services for some customers. Our engineers are engaged and are working to identify and solve the issue quickly. We understand how important reliable connectivity is and apologize for the inconvenience.

— Verizon News (@VerizonNews) January 14, 2026

Is Verizon Still Down?

It depends on the area and customer, but at the time of publication, there are still outages being reported across the country. Complaints on downdetector.com rose in the late morning for west coasters and early afternoon for east coasters. Most of the reports were coming from those on the East Coast, from New York to Florida.

Story is developing …