{"id":208411,"date":"2025-10-12T22:21:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-12T22:21:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/208411\/"},"modified":"2025-10-12T22:21:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-12T22:21:09","slug":"apple-just-added-a-powerful-anti-scam-tool-to-iphones-heres-how-to-activate-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/208411\/","title":{"rendered":"Apple Just Added A Powerful Anti-Scam Tool To iPhones \u2014 Here\u2019s How To Activate It"},"content":{"rendered":"

Spammers who constantly call and claim to know us are a daily distraction for too many of us. Unwanted calls from telemarketers and people pretending to be government officials or bank agents are the top consumer complaint, according to<\/a> the Federal Communications Commission.\"Older<\/p>\n

Stefania Pelfini La Waziya \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

But there is a new free call screening tool that can help us reclaim our wasted time.<\/p>\n

As part of Apple\u2019s\u00a0iOS 26<\/a> software update, released last month, there is a new call screening feature for unknown callers.<\/p>\n

The primary advantage of enabling the \u201cAsk Reason for Calling\u201d setting is that it will prevent the time-consuming \u201cWho is this?\u201d back-and-forth conversations.<\/p>\n

Once you activate the iOS call screener, Apple\u2019s Siri will become your phone\u2019s bouncer and in its robotic voice, it will ask your caller who is calling and the reason for the call. The transcribed conversation will appear as a message and you can direct Siri to ask more questions, pick up the phone or reject the call.<\/p>\n

But this feature is not a default setting \u2015 you need to turn it on yourself if you\u2019re an iPhone user. Here\u2019s how.<\/p>\n

How To Turn On iOS 26\u2032s Call Screening Feature\"Smartphone<\/p>\n

Illustration: HuffPost; Photos: Getty<\/p>\n

Related: “I\u2019m Sitting There With My Jaw On The Floor”: Guys Are Sharing The Minor Things Women Say, Do, Or Wear That Drives Them Wild, And I Didn’t Expect Any Of These<\/a><\/p>\n

To access this feature, you first need to update your phone to the latest iOS 26 software, available under the General menu after tapping \u201cSoftware Update.\u201d<\/p>\n

After that, select Settings, then Apps on your iPhone. You should then tap Phone and scroll down to the section \u201cScreen Unknown Callers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here is where you can select from three options:<\/p>\n

If you choose \u201cNever,\u201d call screening is turned off and your iPhone will ring when unknown numbers call you.<\/p>\n

If you select \u201cAsk Reason for Calling,\u201d calls from unknown numbers will require you to answer questions from Siri before your iPhone rings.<\/p>\n

If you select \u201cSilence,\u201d calls from unsaved numbers will be silenced, sent to voicemail, and appear in your phone\u2019s Recents list so you can review the transcribed voicemail at your convenience.<\/p>\n

This kind of call screening feature might be familiar to Android users.\u00a0Google\u2019s Pixel phones already have access to a call screening feature. Under Google\u2019s \u201cCall Screen<\/a>\u201d feature, Google Assistant will automatically tell a caller that you\u2019re using a screening service, and will require them to state a reason for calling before they can reach you.<\/p>\n

Related: Here Are 19 Shocking Stories From People Who Decided To Quit Attending A “Mega-Church”<\/a><\/p>\n

Before Apple introduced its new feature, iPhone users might have needed to download a third-party app. The big advantage of the iOS update is that call screening is now built into the device, allowing you to choose the degree to which someone can have easy access to you.\"Older<\/p>\n

Elena Popova \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cAsk Reason For Calling\u201d is a good middle ground for people who don\u2019t want to send all calls from all unknown numbers to voicemail. This way, an unsaved number like your doctor\u2019s office can reach you about a recent visit, but a scammer pretending to be your bank might be more likely to give up and try an easier target.<\/p>\n

Beyond using these built-in features, you can also register your number on the Federal Trade Commission\u2019s\u00a0Do Not Call List<\/a>. Real telemarketers do use this list to keep track of whom they can\u2019t call.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019d like to take a little more control over who can call you, try this type of call screening for a week. Since turning on Apple\u2019s call screening service for my own iPhone, I no longer have to deal with unfamiliar phone rings distracting me throughout the day. And that kind of silence is priceless.<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.<\/a><\/p>\n

Also in Goodful: This Self-Awareness Test Will Tell You How Emotionally Intelligent You Really Are<\/a><\/p>\n

Also in Goodful: Medical Professionals Are Sharing 20 Patients Who Turned Out To Be Correct About Wild Self-Diagnoses<\/a><\/p>\n

Also in Goodful: Doctors Are Sharing The “I Can’t Believe I Need To Explain This To You” Convos They’ve Had With Adults, And I Can’t Believe These Are Actually Real<\/a><\/p>\n

Read it on BuzzFeed.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Spammers who constantly call and claim to know us are a daily distraction for too many of us.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":208412,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[1572,49,48,4721,3484,34056,61,101555],"class_list":["post-208411","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology","tag-apple","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-federal-communications-commission","tag-getty-images","tag-software-update","tag-technology","tag-unknown-numbers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208411","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=208411"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208411\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/208412"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=208411"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=208411"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=208411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}