Spam calls are apparently here to stay, but you have ways to fight back.
Spam calls should be a bygone concern, but unfortunately they’re still a plague many of us deal with. Services like Truecaller have
and spam filtering for years. But since Android and iOS have gotten great at handling spam calls on their own, you don’t need to rely on a third-party app — much less pay a subscription — to avoid unwanted callers.
In addition to functions on your phone, your carrier may offer its own spam protection features. Depending on the company, these might be enabled by default. If not, check your online account or the carrier’s app for a spam protection toggle.
and calls that your carrier identifies as junk won’t ring. They’ll be automatically sent to voicemail, and in the
option in the same Settings box. With this, recent calls from non-contacts appear under the
section (available via the mentioned top-right button in the Phone app). Use
to remove a given number from this section if needed.
is the default, where every incoming call rings normally. The most aggressive approach is
, which mutes all incoming calls from numbers not saved in your contacts and sends them to voicemail. You can view these silenced calls on the same
and ask them why they’re calling. You’re able to view a live transcript of the caller’s response on your screen and decide whether the call is worth answering. Call Screening is only available in select countries on iPhones running iOS 26 or newer.
While you presumably have friends and family saved in your contacts already, make sure to save any other numbers that contact you regularly, like doctors’ offices or work clients. These options are great for shutting up spammers, but you’ll need to be a little more vigilant to avoid missing legitimate calls from unsaved numbers.
Most Android phones offer spam detection for calls, although availability and capabilities vary depending on your phone’s model, its Android version and the dialer app you use. The official
is what most Android manufacturers ship with their devices, and it comes with caller ID and spam detection built-in. If your phone uses a different dialer, poke through its settings to look for a similar solution, or download Google’s Phone app and set it as the default dialer.
menu (three horizontal lines) at the top-left and choose
to have the app warn you of an incoming potential spam call before you answer it. To go further, enable
You can still view missed calls and voicemails from unknown callers in the Phone app. For both of these features to work, you’ll need a phone running Android 6.0 or newer, with the latest version of the Phone app by Google installed and set as the default.
Some Android phones, including ones from Samsung and Google, feature enhanced call screening options akin to the
feature on iPhone. If you own a Pixel 6 or newer, launch the Phone app and navigate to
to set up this feature. On supported Samsung phones, open the Phone app, tap the