I’ve been running iOS 26 since the summer, and one feature alone makes the upgrade worth it

I'm going to be honest with you. Ever since Apple has used the summer months to roll out public betas of its iOS updates ahead of the fall release of the full version, there are times when I have grown weary of running unproven software on my phone. The interface changes, the occasional bugs, the prospect of things on my iPhone not just working like they always have — it can all be a bit much every now and again.

But every so often, you get a new feature on your phone that makes the vagaries of beta testing worth it. And, folks — iOS 26 brings such a feature front and center.

If you've read my iOS 26 review, you'd find that I'm mostly positive about the big changes that came with the just-released iPhone software update. Still, I will confess that I'm still learning to love — or at least tolerate — some Liquid Glass interface elements, and I definitely wish Apple Intelligence had more to offer this time out.

But none of that matters now that Call Screening is part of the iPhone picture.

iOS 26's Call Screening capabilities are reason enough to upgrade to iOS 26, no matter your reservations about any other aspect of the software. It is the very best kind of addition in that it takes a problem with the current iPhone experience and comes close to fixing it altogether. And it's not a feature that requires you ditch a perfectly functional older device in favor of one that can actually support the new capability.

What is Call Screening

If you haven't been hanging on every word about iOS 26 since Apple previewed the software update in June, here's what you need to know about Call Screening — it's a new addition to the Phone app, and it pretty much silences all those unwanted calls from robots, spammers and scoundrels that plague your everyday existence.

Call Screening intercepts calls from unknown numbers. Instead of ringing your phone, those calls talk to an on-device assistant who asks them to state their name and reason for calling. Only then will you get a notification that shows you their response and gives you the option of picking up the call.

You do not need an Apple Intelligence-supporting iPhone to take advantage of Call Screening. The feature works perfectly well on my iPhone 12 just as it does on more recent devices that I've used for iOS 26 testing. Your only limitation appears to be supported languages, as Call Screening works with Cantonese, English, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin Chinese, Portuguese and Spanish.

One of the first things you should do after you download and install iOS 26 is launch the Settings app, go to the Apps section, and Tap on Phone. Then, the only thing standing between you and an end to most spam calls is finding the Screen Unknown Callers Section and tapping Ask Reason for Calling.

How Call Screening works

I'm not exaggerating when I say that the number of times your phone will ring from an unwanted caller will drop precipitously. My wife, who has not upgraded to iOS 26 yet, gets multiple calls from strangers each day, which she usually sends to voicemail. I never even to bother, as the calls usually wind up in my Unknown Callers filter.

Granting known caller status to previous unknown numbers is very straightforward. From the Unknown Callers tab, just tab on the Mark as Known button.

I do wish it were a little easier to trim down the amount of numbers in my Unknown Callers list. Because my iPhone stores my entire call history, I have no way of easily deleting calls dating back a couple years. I've already expressed a desire for Apple to add a mass delete feature in a future iOS 26 update.

From an incoming caller perspective, leaving a message is straightforward — they just have to record a quick message. I received a call from a relative the other day who wasn't in my contacts list and isn't the most adept at following instructions about leaving messages, and they still managed to get through. As for the robocallers, well, they just talk and talk and talk, and I never have to pick up the phone if I don't want to.

Call Screening outlook

If every iOS addition worked as well and as instantly as Call Screening does, you would never hear one complaint out of me about any upgrade ever again. But even if Call Screening were the only addition to iOS 26, it's already made using my iPhone an immediately better experience. And that's worth all the effort of coming to grips with Liquid Glass.

More from Tom's Guide

• Apple just delayed iOS 26's mobile passports feature — what you need to know
• iPhone 17 launch should have been Apple Intelligence's time to shine — so what happened?
• iOS 26 Liquid Glass icons — how to get the stunning new look on your iPhone