Why does it say SOS at the top of my screen, it won’t let me send texts, or make calls?
Your phone service is out. Might be something wrong with your sim, or sim slot, or your service provider or your account has an issue.
“If you see SOS or SOS only
If you see SOS or “SOS only” in the status bar, your device isn’t connected to a network, but you can still make emergency calls. This feature is available in Australia, Canada, and the United States.”
SOS simply means you carrier has no signal in your current area but your phone detects and has signal from a rival carrier and in the event of an emergency 
it will let you make a call to emergency services using the rival/other telco. We often see this in Australia due to it being such a big country with lots of bush/rural areas with patchy service.
They should change the acronym to SOL to accurately reflect what it means
I get this a lot. My cell coverage is terrible, so I revert to “enable WiFi calling”. When I leave and return, however, I sometimes have to turn this option off and on to make phone see my WiFi network. I used to switch the phone completely off, until I discovered this shorter route. If there’s a better solution, I’m game too!
On my commute to and from work, there is a stretch where no service is available and it throws my phone into SOS. The bitch about it is that when you are back in an area with service the phone won’t pick it up, and it stays in SOS. To get around this, engage airplane mode and turn it back off. This forces the phone to search for a signal.
It stands for “Save Our Ship”. Clearly your phone thinks you are at sea
It means George Santos is listening to you
Have you paid your cell bill recently?
You dont have service.
Mine is doing this right now. I just posted about it here. I think this is the 2nd time it’s happened to me. I always get reception here where I am. Very weird. I woke up from a nap just now and this is what I’m seeing. I think it happened once before but in the middle of then night. I didn’t do anything about it at that point and it the issue was resolved in the morning first I’m seeing it middle of the day.
I’ve seen it in certain areas when traveling in Anguilla.
also in germany and most other eu countries
Thanks. I noticed this on my 12 Pro the other day when in deep inside a building surrounded by major mechanical and electronic equipment. I’d not seen it before. This was in the U.S. There were no bars, unsurprisingly given the circumstances, but “SOS”. Since the phone is about three years old, it couldn’t be the new satellite feature (which I doubt would work in those circumstances anyway) so your answer makes sense: no AT&T bars, but perhaps a hint of connectivity via Verizon or some other carrier.
Is this a new feature from a recent iOS update? It’s quite appreciated in any case.
WiFi calling is a blessing. When I was out of country on vacation for a week it saved me some money not having to get an international plan for the month!
I would recommend you try another cellular carrier. What country are you in and who is your current carrier?
200 days later n this helped me out🙏🏽
1 yr later n this helped me out🙏🏽
This is what I want a reply to. Same thing is happening to me in a place where def is signal (my family members on the same line have signal) why won’t the internet provide any answers besides reset and contact your carrier #frustrated 