I was never happier than when Apple rolled out call screening in iOS 26 a few weeks ago. Before, I was getting at least two, but often four, spam calls per day, and now, I don’t even notice them.
From reports I’ve seen online, it seems like Call Screening is disabled for most after the update, so to turn it on, you need to open the iOS Settings app and search for the Phone settings. Once there, you need to scroll down until you see a section called ‘Screen unknown callers.’ There are three options here and you want to choose ‘Ask who’s calling.’
Once you have this enabled, Siri will answer every call from an unknown number before it rings or vibrates. The digital assistant will ask the person for their name and the reason for calling. Then, when the person answers, it will transcribe that answer so you can choose to pick up or not.
If you look at your phone screen, you’ll see a grey phone icon in the dynamic island or as a notification. If you tap on that, you can see the transcription as it happens or pick up immediately, cutting off the virtual assistant.
If you want, there is also a setting to take this a step further, and it will always silence unknown callers by sending them straight to your voicemail.
I’ve been using this feature since the iOS 26 beta launched this summer, and honestly, it’s been fantastic. I was getting a lot of spam calls, but now the spammers just hang up as soon as they hear the robot voice answer the phone. Anyone honest who hits it, like some calls for work, or my jeweller (an 80-year-old woman) have all listened to the assistant and said their name and why they’re calling, prompting my phone to ring and me to pick up.
I have had some issues with some delivery people who also seem to bounce off it before even giving it a chance. I talked to one of them afterward, and he told me that he thought it was a voicemail, but from the length of the call, there’s no way he really listened to it. I also had a FedEx delivery person listen to it and then say, “No, Bro.” That said, when I picked it up and told him I could see what he was saying, he was pretty embarrassed and apologetic.
Hopefully, more people will start to catch on, and the delivery industry at large will start informing its workers about this new tech. (I know that’s a pipe dream). Still, it seems like anyone with a level head is able to listen in for a moment and get through call screening without issues. Honestly, I’m primarily worried about scammers starting to get past by lying to Siri. If an unknown number popped up and said something, I could easily see myself picking up and getting caught in their web again.
Even with the few hiccups people have had with the screening, I still think it’s the best iOS 26 feature available. I don’t have to deal with a bunch of spam calls blowing up my phone at inopportune times, and that’s huge for me. And if I have an important call coming that day, I turn off the feature.
Doesn’t Google have this feature?
Google has had a version of call screening for a few years now, but since Android is a little fragmented, like when I was using a OnePlus phone during its release, I couldn’t use the new feature. When I moved to my Pixel 9, it was buried under a weirdly complex, but seemingly common bug.
I wasn’t able to see anything related to call screening in the settings of the Phone app, so after a quick search online, a Reddit thread pointed me in the right direction. That said, this isn’t a new issue, and I can find posts dating all the way back to 2023 with this issue and fix.
All of that said, if you go into the phone’s Settings app, then choose ‘Apps’ and search for ‘Phone.’ Once in there, clear the app’s cache and then force quit it. Once you do that you should once again see the Call Screening options in the Pixel Phone app.
Then, if an unknown number tries to call you, Google’s digital assistant will intercept it, hopefully stopping you from interacting with spam callers. Unlike Apple, Google has a mode that will only try to do this to numbers it suspects are spam calls Verified numbers that you don’t know will still act like a regular phone call. I haven’t spent enough time with this to tell if it works well or not, but it’s a smart idea.
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