Apple’s iOS 26 adds AI-powered call screening and spam-filtered texts to curb phone chaos

Apple on iOS 26 is rolling out features that use on-device AI to fight unwanted calls and texts, part of an ongoing push to reclaim the phone as a reliable communication tool amid a surge of robocalls and texting scams. The move comes as a growing share of Americans avoid answering unknown numbers, a trend reflected in data from researchers and industry trackers. A 2020 Pew Research Center survey found roughly four in five Americans tended not to answer calls from unknown numbers, and that sentiment appears to have intensified in the years since, amid a broader increase in scam activity. Texting spam, meanwhile, remains a persistent headache: Robokiller’s ongoing tally shows hundreds of millions of unwanted texts, with August figures tallying at about 19.2 billion nationwide, or roughly 63 spam texts per person for that month. The Federal Trade Commission has estimated that Americans lose as much as $470 billion annually to text-based scams. Experts emphasize that accountability for stopping this wave is diffuse, with carriers, regulators, and tech companies all playing a role, and no single fix in sight.

Apple’s most ambitious addition is a call-screening feature designed to keep you from picking up suspicious calls in the first place. When activated, unknown callers are greeted by Siri rather than the user. Siri asks for the caller’s name and the reason for the call, and the response is transcribed in real time as the call rings in. A notification appears on the iPhone with the transcription, and the user can choose to reply, answer, or let the call go to voicemail. If the caller passes the screening or if the user decides to answer, the system can still flag the contact as “Known” for future calls, reducing the screening burden over time. The feature is not enabled by default; users are prompted to turn it on when they first open the Phone app after updating to iOS 26, or they can enable it later in the Phone app settings under “Ask Reason for Calling.”

The approach reflects a broader trend in Apple’s strategy to balance user control with anti-spam protections, a move that other tech firms have pursued with mixed results. Google has released a suite of AI-powered call-screening features for its Pixel phones, designed to determine who’s calling and why, often with a live or semi-automatic screening process. Samsung has signaled that a similar call-screening option is on the horizon for Galaxy devices. Google’s Voice app also offers a straightforward, user-controlled method to identify unknown callers by asking them to state their names before a call is connected, effectively providing a pre-filter that can be reviewed by the user.

In parallel with call screening, Apple is expanding text-message filtering in iOS 26. For years, iPhone users could enable “Filter Unknown Senders,” which diverted messages from numbers not stored in a user’s contacts into a separate inbox. The new setup makes that Unknown Senders inbox easier to access by presenting a toggle labeled “Screen Unknown Senders” that moves to the main Messages view with a quick two-tap gesture. Users can decide whether to receive notifications for messages arriving there and can mark senders as “Known” to prevent future filtering. A second feature, “Filter Spam,” uses on-device spam detection to keep junk from the main Messages inbox and places filtered messages in a dedicated “Spam” folder beneath the Unknown Senders folder. A third option—“Text Message Filter”—creates folders for “Transactions” and “Promotions” and sends those types of messages there automatically. Third-party filters from apps such as Hiya, Nomorobo, and Robokiller can also be added to further tailor filtering.

As with any filtering system, the new tools carry trade-offs. After enabling multiple filters and folders, some users report that legitimate messages can be harder to spot, and important communications may slip through the cracks. For instance, a party invitation that arrives through a filtered channel might be missed if the sender was not labeled asKnown or if the message was miscategorized. While the new tools help curb the flood of spam, experts caution that there is no silver bullet that will eliminate all scam attempts. The reality, they say, is that attackers continually adapt their tactics.

Scammers’ resilience is underscored by recent experiences and research. Abhishek Karnik, director of threat research and response at McAfee, notes that scammers harvest fragments of personal data and use them to craft convincing cons and to tailor subsequent attacks. “By harvesting that information on the fly, they’re either able to scam you on the spot, or be able to enrich their database so that the next time around they can target you in a more directed manner,” Karnik said. In a landscape where caller IDs can be spoofed and voice cloning is increasingly accessible, the risk remains that even legitimate callers could be misclassified if the screening misreads what an actual caller intends.

Industry observers say the call-screening feature represents a useful layer of defense, but not a cure-all. The Federal Communications Commission has long urged consumers not to rely on caller ID alone, given the prevalence of spoofing. And while the iPhone’s on-device processing keeps sensitive data from leaving the device, attackers are already testing new techniques to bypass or exploit screening mechanisms. Moreover, the mere fact of engaging with an AI assistant can signal to scammers that a number is active, potentially inviting new styles of contact.

Beyond the technology itself, the fight against scams is still a social and regulatory challenge. Teresa Murray, a consumer advocate at the US PIRG Education Fund, emphasized that curbing robocalls and text scams requires a collective, societal solution. “This should be a collective, societal solution, because this is such a horrible problem in this country, and it has been for years and years and years,” Murray said. The conversation about accountability involves carriers, regulators, and tech companies, each contributing tools that may reduce harm but do not erase it entirely.

As the year advances, the industry will continue to test and refine these features in response to evolving scam tactics. Apple’s iOS 26 update marks another chapter in a long-running effort to reassert user control over communications, even as scammers adapt and exploit new technologies. A version of this story was also published in the User Friendly newsletter. Sign up to stay informed on the latest developments in technology and AI.