Call Screening arrived with iOS 26 in September 2025, and it is still the best built in weapon against spam calls on an iPhone running iOS 27 today. Instead of ringing for every unknown number, your iPhone answers for you, asks the caller who they are and why they are calling, then shows you the answer so you can decide whether to pick up. It is off by default, so you have to switch it on.
How to turn on Call Screening
- Open the Settings app.
- Scroll down and tap Apps, then tap Phone.
- Find the Screen Unknown Callers section.
- Tap Ask Reason for Calling.
That is it. The setting takes effect immediately. Call Screening is not an Apple Intelligence feature, so it works on every iPhone that can run iOS 26 or iOS 27, going back to the iPhone 11 and the second generation iPhone SE. It is available in English and several other languages, including Spanish, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin Chinese and Brazilian Portuguese.
The three Screen Unknown Callers options
| Option | What happens | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Never | Call Screening is off. Unknown numbers ring like any other call. | People who rarely get spam or must answer every call |
| Ask Reason for Calling | Your iPhone answers silently and asks the caller for more information before it rings. | Most people |
| Silence | Unknown calls never ring. They go straight to voicemail and appear in Recents. | Anyone who wants total quiet |
How Call Screening works on a real call
When a number that is not saved in your Contacts calls, your iPhone picks up without making a sound. Siri speaks to the caller in your iPhone’s default language and asks for their name and the reason for the call. An automated robocall has no person on the line to reply, so in many cases it never gets as far as ringing your phone.
If the caller answers, your iPhone starts ringing and shows what they said on screen, so you know it is the pharmacy or the delivery driver before you pick up. You can then answer, send the call to voicemail or ignore it.
Ask Reason for Calling is the better middle ground for most people. Silence is effective, but it also sends the doctor’s office, a school nurse or a new contractor straight to voicemail. Never leaves you answering every spam call. Screening lets legitimate callers through while filtering out most automated junk.
Related settings worth turning on
A few nearby switches in the same Phone settings screen make Call Screening even more useful.
- Unknown Callers filter: turn this on under Call Filtering to move calls from unknown numbers out of your main Recents list and into a separate Unknown Callers list. To see it, open the Phone app, tap Calls in the Unified layout or Recents in the Classic layout, tap the filter button, then tap Unknown Callers.
- Spam filter: calls your carrier flags as potential spam or fraud are silenced, sent to voicemail and moved to a Spam list.
- Call Blocking and Identification: under this menu, turn on Business Call Identification so your iPhone can show verified business names from Apple Business Connect or your carrier, and enable any caller ID apps you use.
- Mark as Known: if a legitimate number keeps landing in Unknown Callers, open that list and tap Mark as Known next to the call. Future calls from it will skip the filter.
What changed in iOS 27
iOS 27 was released on September 14, 2026, and Apple’s current user guide for it shows the same Screen Unknown Callers options, the same Unknown Callers and Spam filters and the same Settings path as iOS 26. If you already set up screening, you do not need to do anything after updating.
The new phone addition in iOS 27 is Call Context, an Apple Intelligence feature that can surface relevant details when you call a business or during a call, such as a confirmation code from an email when you phone an airline. It needs an iPhone that supports Apple Intelligence, unlike Call Screening. iOS 26 also brought Hold Assist, which can wait on hold for you until a live agent picks up, and the Messages app can screen texts from unknown senders in a similar way.
FAQ
Does Call Screening work on older iPhones?
Yes. It does not require Apple Intelligence, so any iPhone that runs iOS 26 or later can use it, starting with the iPhone 11 and the second generation iPhone SE.
Will screened callers know they are talking to Siri?
Siri answers and asks for their name and the reason for the call, so callers can tell they are being screened before your phone rings.
What counts as an unknown caller?
Any number that is not saved in your Contacts and has not been marked as known. Saved contacts ring through normally.
How do I turn Call Screening off?
Go to Settings, Apps, Phone and set Screen Unknown Callers to Never. Calls from unsaved numbers will ring as usual again.
The verdict
Call Screening is one of the most useful iPhone features Apple has added in years, and it costs nothing. Set Screen Unknown Callers to Ask Reason for Calling, turn on the Unknown Callers and Spam filters, and save the numbers that matter. You will still get the calls you want, and far fewer of the ones you do not.
Updated October 2026: rewritten for the final release of iOS 26 and the current iOS 27, with every setting checked against Apple’s support documentation.
Featured photo: Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash.
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