These are the steps to retrieve Amber Alerts and other emergency notifications from a Nexus 5X phone. Mine has already upgraded to Android 7.1.1, but the steps should be similar for previous versions of Android on this device.

  1. Open the "Messenger" app, which handles regular text messages.
  2. Tap the three dots menu icon in the upper right and select "Settings".
  3. Tap "Advanced" which is the last item on the list.
  4. Tap "Wireless alerts", third up from the bottom.

The resulting screen is titled "Cell Broadcasts" and lists them in chronological order with the newest at the top. The date and time are also visible for each entry. (Don't get confused about old messages!) Tapping an entry brings up the full text in a small dialog box.

Why is this important?

I couldn't find this information anywhere else online. Searching on Google turns up dozens and dozens of postings where people want to turn off the Amber Alert notifications, which is a little depressing to think about. And the phone itself doesn't make it easy to retrieve the messages. None of those steps were particularly obvious to me, and I work in the software industry.

When my phone received an Amber Alert earlier this year, it displayed the text on the lock screen. In order to do anything with the phone, I had to first dismiss the alert. But once it was gone, I could find no trace of it ever having existed! This was a little upsetting, because the purpose of Amber Alerts is to encourage people to be on the lookout. How am I supposed to watch for a specific car if I can't go back and compare the license plate in the message? Or the other car details?

Strangely, my co-workers with different phones had it much easier. One fellow's phone actually listed alerts in a separate app that came with the phone. Recalling alerts was very easy for him. I really have to wonder why the Nexus 5X makes it so much more difficult. I suppose, in a better world, we wouldn't need things like Amber Alerts. But that's not the world we live in, and it does no good to bury these sorts of things. (Not to mention emergency alerts like tornado warnings.)

The weather is cold and the night is long, this time of year. Stay safe out there!