a day ago
This iOS 26 Feature Might Keep Me From Switching Back to Pixel
I switched from a Google Pixel 3 XL in 2021 to Apple's iPhone 12 Pro Max, and in the years since, I've dearly missed Google's Hold For Me. This feature is so useful in saving me from the misery of listening to awful hold music whenever I needed to call up a business, my health insurance provider, my cellphone carrier or any of the other myriad adulting tasks that still require speaking with a representative. Instead, the Google feature would helpfully silence my phone while keeping the call active, listen to the hold music for me and then ring when it's time to return to the call while alerting the representative that I'll return shortly.
And so at the Worldwide Developers Conference 2025, when Apple announced Hold Assist -- which sounds awfully similar to Pixel's Hold For Me -- I was thrilled. I've been eying a switch back to Android for the rumored Pixel 10, partly because I've missed having these call controls for everyday issues. But with iOS 26, Hold Assist should detect hold music, and then give you the option to silence the call while keeping it active. Then, when the representative comes back on, the phone will notify you when it's time to return to the call. We'll have to wait until at least the public beta to start trying this feature out, but on paper, it sounds almost exactly like the Pixel feature.
The Hold For Me feature debuted in 2020 with the Pixel 5 and 4A.
Google/Screenshot by Sara Tew/CNET
While I'm glad that the iPhone will finally have an equivalent to this feature, it's worth pointing out that it's taken a long time for such calling enhancements to make their way outside of Google's Pixel line. Google introduced Hold For Me in 2020, but most other Android phones made by Samsung, OnePlus and others do not include their own take on the idea.
The new Call Screening feature for iOS 26 is similar to the Pixel's Call Screen option, but it sounds like Apple's rendition will take a more automated approach. Apple's Call Screen will collect information like the person's name and purpose from an unknown caller for you, and then present it as a summary to help you decide if you should pick up. You can also send more prompts as needed if you're still unsure.
In iOS 26, Hold Assist will keep the call remain active but phone will be silenced.
Apple/Screenshot
Google's solution lets you pick the questions that are asked to the caller and, instead of a summary, you watch as a text transcription of the call takes place.
What I appreciate most about these features is that they remember that the iPhone is a phone at the end of the day. And spam callers remain just as much of a problem now as ever, especially as AI voice clones add even more issues to the kinds of scams trying to reach people.
Until these features are available when iOS 26 arrives later this year, I will just continue to bring my patience to the next time I have to call up my health insurance provider. And keeping my fingers crossed that hold music can become a thing of the past when Hold Assist becomes widely available.
