The telephone application does not often get much attention with iOS updates, but this changes in iOS 26. There are several new features to prevent unwanted calls and save you time.
Unified design
The telephone application has a new unified design, but there is also an option to use the original iOS 18 layout. The unified design places recent calls, missed calls and voice messages on a single screen.
The favorite contacts remain at the top of the interface, and there is always a tab to exchange towards the contacts and the keyboard. You can turn on or deactivate the unified view by pressing the icon with three lines in the upper right corner of the screen.
Calls
Apple has extended call screening features in ios 26. There is an option to request unknown callers (alias of people you have not saved in your contact list) for their name and the reason to call. When activated, it is an automated process.
The iPhone intercepts an incoming call and requests the person’s name and a short reason to call. The information is transcribed into text and relayed to you, and you can decide to request more information, accept the call or refuse the call.
The person at the other end of the call receives an automated response similar to a voicemail requiring more information, and they are suspended while you decide to accept or refuse the call.
To use this feature, switch to “Ask the reason to call” in the telephone section of the Settings application.
Unknown Silence Silence
Rather than asking for more information from unknown appellants, there is always an unknown silence appeal option that can be activated instead. As in ios 18, the switching of silences calls from not saved numbers, automatically sending them to vocal messaging. The calls that are silenced will appear on the recent list, and you will also see voice messaging to know why someone called.
If you do not want to use the unknown appellants of silence or the call request function, you can define the screen option of unknown appellants on “never”. With this parameter, calls from unclear numbers normally sound and missed calls are displayed on the recent list.
Call filter
In addition to improving calls, ios 26 has new call filter features. There is an option to move missed calls and vocal messages of unat -saved numbers to a dedicated list of unknown appellants, hiding them from the main view.
There is also a rocking to automatically silence the calls that are marked in spam by a carrier. If you have Verizon, for example, Verizon automatically scores some numbers as a spam, and the iPhone can automatically send these calls to voicemail and move calls to the spam list. This parameter will vary according to the carrier.
With these activated options, you can press the icon at the top right of the phone application to see the calls that have been moved to the unknown or spam calls section.
Mandian spam
When you press a voicemail from an unknown number, there is now a “report spam” button. The tapping on it sends the voicemail to Apple, and you can either report the message as spam and keep it or report it and delete it. The deletion of vocal messaging from an unknown number also reveals the possibility of reporting it in spam, and there is an option to report spam when listening to an incoming voicemail.
Report a voicemail because the spam does not block the caller, and this must be done with a separate step. Press the “I” button, scroll down the contact card downwards and press the block contact to block a spammer.
Increase
If you make a call and you are pending, there is a feature in ios 26 which will wait for you so that you can do other things. He listens for the music game, then alerts you when a person comes online so you can take the call.
You can activate hand assistance on any call by placing the call, then tapping the button “…” once the call has been connected. Your phone will ring and you will be alerted to resume when a person is at stake. If the iPhone detects music, it can also automatically encourage you to activate hand assistance.
Since the functionality works by detecting Hold Music, it can be imperfect when a number has a vocal automation reminding you of staying at stake, or if there is music with distinct words. You will see a transcription of all the words pronounced, so that you can determine when a person is really online.
Live translation
Live translation is a functionality that can translate incoming telephone calls from one language to another. When a call is in progress, press the “…” button, then press the translation live to use the functionality.
You can then select the language you want to translate (the language spoken by the person you are talking about) and the language you want to translate (your language). Currently, the live translation of the telephone application supports English, French, German, Portuguese and Spanish.
When a translation is underway, you will see a small opinion at the bottom of the phone application which says “translate (language)” and there will be a live transcription of the call. A voiceover of the traditional traditional which is said from one language to another, with a slight delay while this happens.
Live translation works on iphone to translate what you hear and what you say, so the person at the other end does not need to have a iPhone or a smartphone at all.
Call history
There is an extended call history available for each of your contacts in ios 26. In the telephone application, press the “I” option next to any name or number, then press the “call history” option. From there, you can see each time you talked with this person, in return for years.
Type to Siri
During a telephone call, you can now use the Tyi Siri feature to ask questions Siri or to perform a task.
Screen sharing and shareplay
Apple added Shareplay support and screen sharing to the telephone application in ios 26. During a call with a person who has a compatible device, press the “…” button, then choose shareplay sharing or screen to access the functionality.
When you use Shareplay, you can select an application to use with the functionality, like Apple TV or Apple Music.
With screen sharing, you can request remote access to a device, which is useful to help solve technological problems.
The two participants must use a device with ios 26, iPados 26 or MacOS Tahoe to use screen sharing and shareplay with the telephone application.
ESIM improvements
If you need to transfer an ESIM to Android or an Android ESIM to a iPhone, the process has been rationalized in ios 26. In the cell settings of iphone, there is an option “transfer to Android” for an existing SIM card, as well as an “transfer from Android” when adding a new SIM to a iPhone.
Telephone application for iPad and Mac
The telephone application extended to the iPad in ipados 26 and Mac in MacOS Tahoe. All features such as calls, Hold assistance and live translation also work on ipad and Mac.
To use the telephone application on ipad or Mac, you need a iphone on the same Apple account, and you must activate Wi-Fi calls so that calls can be accepted on other devices.
Learn more
More information on the features available in ios 26 can be found in our Roundup iOS 26.
