I'm stoked about iOS 26 Call Screening, but it proves Apple Intelligence is still playing catch up — here's why

Tom's Guide

2 days ago

Apple had a lot to share with its announcement of iOS 26 during its WWDC 2025 keynote yesterday (June 9). Not only will the iPhone software get a dramatic makeover when it's released later this fall with Apple's new Liquid Glass design, but there were several new features introduced that are coming to the iPhone's core apps.
In particular, I'm excited that Apple's making it easier for iPhones to reduce the amount of spam calls thanks to a new feature called Call Screening. But after watching the Call Screening demo in action, it's nowhere as thorough as what some of Google's Pixel phones can do when it comes to the same task. I know this because I religiously lean on Call Screen with my Pixel 9 Pro XL to take phone calls on my behalf, relying on Google Assistant to help me make actionable decisions.
What sets Google's version apart is how it can come up with contextual responses — whereas Apple's implementation simply screens calls to see if they're spam or not. Without contextual awareness actions, it proves how Apple Intelligence is still playing catch up to what other AI leaders like Google provide.
The nice thing about Call Screening is that you might actually end up dealing with fewer spam calls in your life, which is always a good thing. This iOS 26 feature will automatically take calls from unknown numbers silently in the background,; if they're actual humans and share their responses, your iPhone will proceed to ring — complete with what appears to be a transcription of their message.
This is a good first step because I like how Call Screening won't ring your iPhone unless it determines it's not a telemarketer or spam message, so that saves you from having to deal with them. In the current iteration, the phone call appears on your iPhone with the notification that it's a possible spam call, but it requires your intervention to take the call to find out what it is. At least with Call Screening, you don't have to make that interaction.
Call Screen makes me feel like I have an actual assistant taking them for me
While we just found about Call Screening in iOS 26, Google's Call Screen feature still feels superior from my point of view — mainly for how the Google feature does more than to field the phone call. Google Assistant not only screens a phone call, but listens to the responses from people as to why they're calling. That gives you contextual actions for responding, showing off the strength of Google's AI.
Those contextual responses come in the form of quick replies that pop up in the app, where you make the call on which action to take. For example, if the call is about a package delivery, you'll get responses that can the caller to drop off the package by the door, come back another time, or something else.
I've used Call Screen on the Pixel for other things too, like a friend asking about a move date I've committed to. Google Assistant is smart enough to discern what they're asking and gives me relevant responses to choose, like telling them that I'll be there on time or perhaps to reschedule it.
I can't tell you enough about how Call Screen has been such a godsend ever since I started using it first with the Pixel 8 Pro. When I'm stuck in a meeting where I physically can't take a call, or simply don't want to speak with whoever's on the other end of the line, Call Screen makes me feel like I have an actual assistant taking calls on my behalf. That'll be tough for Apple to match.
While Apple's Call Screening seeming lacks the actionable responses that Google offers, I'm still hopeful that there's more to come with this feature. There wasn't a full deep dive into Apple Intelligence this week as there was at last year's event, with Apple hinting that more will be shared around this in the coming year, Call Screening could ultimately get the same contextual awareness as Google's version.
Perhaps Apple is saving a later event to introduce proper Apple Intelligence features with iOS 26? I hope so because so far this proves exactly how Apple is still trailing its rivals when it comes to offering robust AI capabilities.
Siri definitely has a big role to fill with Call Screening if it's going to do more than just be the in-between person for phone calls, as I suspect that it needs to be intelligent to not only transcribe the conversation accurately — but to also be smart enough to take action.