Get Your iPhone to Ask Callers Who They Are Before You Answer

[MacRumors]

Spam and cold calls have become such a nuisance that many people simply don't answer their phone unless they recognize the number. In iOS 26, though, you can learn about who's calling before you respond, thanks to a clever feature that intercepts unknown calls and asks the caller to identify themselves before your iPhone even rings.

The "Ask Reason for Calling" feature is kind of like having your own receptionist. When someone who isn't in your Contacts calls, your iPhone automatically answers the call with a polite automated message asking for their name and reason for calling. The caller is placed on hold while their response is transcribed to text and displayed on your screen, letting you decide whether to accept, decline, or ask for more information.

It's a decent upgrade from the existing "Silence Unknown Callers" option, which simply sends all unrecognized numbers straight to voicemail. With the new approach, legitimate callers – like your doctor or a delivery service – can identify themselves, whereas robocallers and spammers are likely to hang up when greeted by the automated response.

How to Enable Ask Reason for Calling

The following steps show you how to turn on the feature:

1. Open Settings on your iPhone.
2. Scroll down and tap Apps.
3. Select Phone.
4. Under the "Screen Unknown Callers" section, tap Ask Reason for Calling.

That's all there is to it. Your iPhone will now intercept calls from numbers not saved in your Contacts and request information before alerting you.

Other Unknown Caller Screening Options

If you don't want to use the new Ask Reason for Calling feature, iOS 26 offers two alternative approaches for handling unknown numbers:

• Silence: This option automatically sends all calls from unsaved numbers to voicemail. The calls still appear in your Recents list, and you'll receive the voicemail if the caller leaves one. It's the same behavior as the "Silence Unknown Callers" toggle in iOS 18.
  
• Never: With this setting, calls from unknown numbers ring normally, just like calls from saved contacts. Missed calls appear in your Recents list as usual. It's your typical iPhone calling experience.

To switch between these options, go to Settings ➝ Apps ➝ Phone, and select your preferred option under "Screen Unknown Callers."

The Ask Reason for Calling feature works best when you maintain an up-to-date Contacts list. Any number saved in Contacts will ring through normally without triggering the screening process, so make sure to add the details of legitimate contacts as soon as you know them.

Article Link: Get Your iPhone to Ask Callers Who They Are Before You Answer

 

[Spock]

This confuses the heck out of people over a certain age, it’s great.

 

[ghostface147]

This mostly works.

 

[Robin Bonathan]

Great idea but not activated this as I get couriers call me about deliveries and local health centre for appointments which use special numbers.

 

[Justin Cymbal]

Silence: This option automatically sends all calls from unsaved numbers to voicemail

It would be great if there was a way to enable calls to override this ‘silience’ feature - IF the phone number includes an area code that has been pre-entered (within iPhone call settings) to ALLOW to override this feature

Oftentimes we are expecting an important phone call from either a doctors office or from work for which (we may not know the actual complete phone number) but where the area code IS in fact already known (OR) can be assumed to be one of the receiving callers, local area codes

 

[minimo3]

Unfortunately if it’s an automated spam call this tells the spammer that this is an active line and you’re now added to their call list.

 

[CarAnalogy]

My problem with this is this is the difference between a drop rule and a reject rule. I'd rather just drop the scam calls so they aren't even sure it's an active number. Any response at all just tells them to keep trying.

 

[CarAnalogy]

It would be great if there was a way to enable calls to override this ‘silience’ feature - IF the phone number includes an area code that has been pre-entered (within iPhone call settings) to ALLOW to override this feature

Oftentimes we are expecting an important phone call from either a doctors office or from work for which (we may not know the actual complete phone number) but where the area code IS in fact already known (OR) can be assumed to be one of the receiving callers, local area codes

Unfortunately all the significant robocalls I've seen lately use neighbor spoofing so area codes are not an effective way to identify the call.

For all the talk and supposed action by the FCC the last few years, there are still completely spoofed, foreign originating calls being delivered by the cartel telcos. I don't understand how that can still happen, but it is.

 

[Love-hate 🍏 relationship]

Most of the time people hang up and I lose my 45mns of waiting

 

[rustygh]

Unfortunately if it’s an automated spam call this tells the spammer that this is an active line and you’re now added to their call list.

Correct, and this makes it actually worse than not having it, it has not been thought out for how the real world works, not surprised.

 

[icwhatudidthere]

What does it actually say or sound like? Is it Siri?

 

[icwhatudidthere]

Yesterday I had my first future AI experience where my phone screened the call and the transcription was from another automated system (Lifelock) telling me it was an urgent notification that my data was found online. The phone then let the call through and started ringing me. It should’ve just kept recording the voicemail.

 

[Seanm87]

Most of the time people hang up and I lose my 45mns of waiting

Not what this article is talking about

 

[MarkNewton2023]

It is a great feature. I turned it on the day it was available. Thank you, Apple for helping me!

 

[Frantisekj]

It is about spammers find ways how to trick it to get through. Maybe not, hopefully.
Is it available just in some languages or most/all?

 

[polyphenol]

For some reason, maybe that I use the phone so rarely and do not give my number out more than necessary, I can't remember the last spam call I had. Quite possibly at least a year ago.

If only this had been available around 2010 which was probably peak spam call era for me!

Potentially useful, I agree, but I'll not be bothering unless spam calls become a nuisance again.

 

[Padaung]

Pixel phones have had a similar feature for a few years now and I can say with certainty that this absolutely works. I have found it to be brilliant. I've now enabled it on my Mum's Samsung phone and she has found it incredibly useful too, she hated the spam callers and found them incredibly persistent, but similar to me she has found they hang up as soon as they know it is a call filter and they try for a day or two and then give up (presumably remove the number from their list).

Spammers: yes, they learn that it is an active number, but they have probably got the number from a list somewhere that involves hacked/stolen data anyway so they are expecting the line to be active. Yes, they keep calling back but I've found that after a day or two the calls stop. Eventually they start again when a different person is trying to scam you, they try for a couple of days then they stop. But all you have to do is screen the call. As soon as they find out the call is being screened, they hang up.

Couriers: in my experience, they do leave a message to say who they are and give you a chance to respond.

Doctor/dentist surgeries, school office (who often withhold their internal numbers): in my experience, they always say who they are and give you a chance to respond.

 

[Arne-IC]

It’s worthwhile to know that this doesn’t work in Low Power Mode.

 

[Arran]

I haven't enabled this feature even though I get daily spam calls.

I like keeping it simple and old-fashioned voicemail is enough. If it's legit they'll leave a message. If it's urgent they'll call back a second time. Either way I'll get the message.

 

[pjschwartz]

Have been using this feature for months . . . Works great !

 

[The Game 161]

works well and a much needed feature and so glad it's here

 

[ReliableSource]

It’s worthwhile to know that this doesn’t work in Low Power Mode.

I’d gone through several levels of support trying to figure out why I couldn’t get it to work before I figured this out from a Reddit comment. So even some pretty high-level support people at Apple don’t have this as a troubleshooting step

 

[carswell]

I live in Quebec and deal with an equal number of francophone and anglophone callers. A lot of them are bilingual but some of them are not and need to receive instructions in a language they understand. Looks like this feature is worthless in this use case. Thanks for nothing, Apple.

 

[Arran]

Yesterday I had my first future AI experience where my phone screened the call and the transcription was from another automated system (Lifelock) telling me it was an urgent notification that my data was found online. The phone then let the call through and started ringing me. It should’ve just kept recording the voicemail.

This is how the spammers will circumvent it. Make up an intriguing but ambiguous reason for calling and, bingo, they're through.

 

[JungleNYC]

Death Penalty for scam callers will fix it