The rich and the powerful demand immediate access to their lawyers and each other at all times — but apparently they just haven't figured out how to have their assistants turn off Call Screening on their iPhones.

Spam and scam calls are some of the most annoying things we all have to deal with when it comes to our phones. Apple’s iOS 26 update takes a firm step toward solving this problem with Call Screening, a new feature designed to filter unknown numbers ...

LONDON(AP) — iPhone users have a new tool to combat the scourge of nuisance phone calls: a virtual gatekeeper that can screen incoming calls from unknown numbers. It's among the bevy of new features that Apple rolled out with last month's release of iOS 26.

As a journalist, cold calling people is part of the job, as well as answering calls from unknown numbers. So, as a veteran of the cold-call art, let me give you my simple, polite tip: Just say, "Is this an OK time to talk?" Sometimes they'll say no, and you can just call later. No biggie! Everyone lives!

Thanks to a new iPhone feature, everyone now has an executive assistant in their pocket to filter unwanted calls.

You might know iOS 26's big bells and whistles, but its lesser-talked-about features can actually make your life easier.