Samsung will reportedly debut a handy automatic call screening feature when it announces the Galaxy S26 smartphone early next year, helping it rival some of the best smartphones from Apple and Google.
The new feature, which would enable users to utilise a helpful assistant to determine where they want to answer that call from an unknown number, could arrive with One UI 8.5 – the next planned major update.
One UI is Samsung’s home grown interface that sits on top of Android and that’s significant given Google Pixel phones that run on pure Android have been offering Call Screen feature for quite some time now.
Samsung currently offers a Bixby Text Call feature that requires manual activation. It will reply to calls with a text message on your behalf. Now, according to Android Authority snoops, Samsung is in the process of developing its much better automatic system that’d go about its merry way, making notes about the caller potentially trying to sell you something or outright scam you.
The site discovered code within the latest One UI 8.5 build pertaining to automatically screening all unknown numbers and known spam and call numbers.
While Samsung will be keen to match Google feature that’s been around since 2018, the company’s real motivation is probably Apple getting its act together. In iOS 26 Apple brough its own Call Screening feature to iPhone.
It can be automatically enabled for unknown numbers and has Siri answer the call before you hear a ring. The assistant will ask the caller for their name and reason for calling. At that point, once the call is screened, users will be given options for how to proceed.
Apple explains: “Call Screening automatically answers calls from unknown numbers without interrupting you. Once the caller shares their name and reason for their call, your iPhone rings and shares their response so you can decide if you want to pick up. You can also choose to silence calls from unknown callers and send them directly to voicemail.”
Apple also has Hold Assist in iOS 26, which will do all the tedious hanging around on hold and notify you when the human you’re trying to speak to is available.
If Samsung launches a call screening for the 2026 Galaxy S26 series, it’s highly likely to be backwards compatible with any handset compatible with the Android 16-based One UI 8.5 also due out next year.
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