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New feature, Google screening of incoming calls

kommando828

ULTIMATE Member
Call came in today and a new button to me was on the answer page 'Call Screening', pressed it and some text came up which was the text being told to the caller. Google is screening this call, state your name and purpose of call and it will be screened before passing on the call' or something like that. The caller hung up so the text was on the screen for a fleeting few secs. The button may have been there for some time but it worked and number is blocked and reported as spam.

Android 12 on Pixel 3a
 
That's a good idea, I'm getting issues with some Bitcoin muppets who seems to think I've expressed a interest in Bitcoin despite telling them where to go so thus would be very welcomed.
 
Call came in today and a new button to me was on the answer page 'Call Screening', pressed it and some text came up which was the text being told to the caller. Google is screening this call, state your name and purpose of call and it will be screened before passing on the call' or something like that. The caller hung up so the text was on the screen for a fleeting few secs. The button may have been there for some time but it worked and number is blocked and reported as spam.

Android 12 on Pixel 3a
Interesting, both handy and scary at the same time.
 
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Googling Google ;) gets you


Set up automatic call screening​

Important: Call Screen doesn’t work with third-party call recording and screen recording apps. We recommend that you turn off these apps before you use Call Screen.

  1. Make sure that you have the latest version of the Phone app. If you see Update, tap it.
  2. Open the Phone app
    phone
    .
  3. Tap More
    More
    and then
    Settings
    and then
    Spam and Call Screen.
  4. Make sure that See caller and spam ID is turned on.
  5. Tap Call Screen.
  6. Under 'Unknown call settings', tap the types of caller that you’d like to screen.
  7. To screen automatically, choose Automatically screen. Decline robocalls. Otherwise, choose from:
    • Ring phone
    • Automatically screen. Decline robocalls.
    • Silently decline
  8. Optional: To save audio from screened calls, turn on Save Call Screen audio.
    • If you turn on "Save Call Screen audio", only what the caller says gets recorded. The audio that your phone plays to the caller isn’t recorded. If you pick up, your call isn’t recorded.
When I go into it it was turned on, I had asked it to reject spam calls automatically in Android 11 so this must have turned this on when this feature was added during Android 12.

The caller hears

"Hi. The person you've reached is using a screening service from Google and will get a transcript of this call. Go ahead and say why you're calling."

The recording is held on the phone and not by Google.
 
Doesn't work for my S20+ on Android 12. It says Pixel and "select Android devices". Doesn't specify which select devices these are though, which doesn't help. I would suspect it would include the S21, S22 phones and maybe some other since Samsung already used Google messages on these devices unlike samsung messages on my S20 series and below
 
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Well been using it now on all unrecognised numbers for a month, all can't be bothered to record their reason for calling so the call is dropped after the google message appears on my screen. So I then block them and report as spam. Too early to say but the numbers of spam calls is reducing, selling on a google monitored number may not be profitable as it wastes one of their own numbers and they have to spoof another.
 
What kinda phone and Android version are you on?
I'm Pixel 6 Pro, Android 12. It'll only do it with unknown numbers, but I definitely seen it pop up.

Just tested from another sim and phone, it comes up, you tap it on your screen, it shows you a transcript what it's saying on the other line (I could hear it too).

And when you speak, it transcripts it on the screen too, and waits for you to answer. Very smart.
 
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I've been waiting for this feature to come to this country for a long time. It's been available in the USA and some other countries, at least on Google branded devices.

I have the Pixel 5, part of the beta programme too, unfortunately I don't see the options yet. Even if I do see the options eventually, as I understand it UK users are only able to manually screen calls. On the other hand USA users can automatically screen calls instead. I'll stick with my own and current call screening implementation until if and when they rollout their automated method to UK users as well.

EDIT: I see a limited set of options for call screening now, sadly it's not automatic like it can be for USA users either. For the moment I'm staying with my own current call screening solution, although not elaborate as Google's (it asks the caller to press a number to get through to me) it works.
 
Last edited:
I'm Pixel 6 Pro, Android 12. It'll only do it with unknown numbers, but I definitely seen it pop up.

Just tested from another sim and phone, it comes up, you tap it on your screen, it shows you a transcript what it's saying on the other line (I could hear it too).

And when you speak, it transcripts it on the screen too, and waits for you to answer. Very smart.

Ok seems to be pixel and Android 12 only then
 
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