How to use Android 12's call filtering features?

In February 2020, we published an article explaining how to use Google’s convenient search scanning functionality for Pixel phones. Screen Call, Google’s scanning app, lets you scan calls for numbers you don’t know (or people you don’t particularly want to talk to).

Nearly two years later and with Android 12, the company has added some useful features that can not only save you from dealing with unwanted calls, but also the tedious and frustrating process of working with search menus. And some are available even if you don’t have a Pixel.

How does call scanning work? When you receive a call from someone who is not in your contact list, you get a “Screen call” button (with buttons to accept or reject the call). If you press “screen call”, the caller will receive a voicemail asking them to say who they are and why they are calling. Transcribed text of the message and replies will appear on your screen. Then you can choose whether you want to answer the call or not.

Unfortunately, as we all know, there can be big differences between Android phones depending on the manufacturer and model. As a result, auto search display, one of the newest features available, is currently only available on the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro.

So this article provides separate instructions on how to use Google’s search scanning feature for a Pixel 6 or 6 Plus and other phones currently running Android 12. For the latter, we used Pixel 3. However, if you have a Samsung phone, for example, you can access some of these features using: Downloading Google Phone app from Play Storeand you’ll probably find that these guidelines work for you too.

*If you do not know the caller, select the “Screen call” button.*

The caller's answer will appear on your screen and you can choose to accept the call or hang up. — *The caller’s answer will appear on your screen and you can choose to accept the call or hang up.*

Managing how Screen Call works is not difficult. Here’s how you can change your settings, depending on whether you’re using a Pixel 6 model or not.

Pixel 6 and 6 Pro

Tap the three dots in the top right corner of the phone app
Go to Settings > Spam & Call Screen

First you’ll see two controls that you can toggle on: “See caller and spam ID” (identifies phone, business, and spam numbers as well as known contacts) and “Verified Calls” (allows you to see the search ID of legitimately verified businesses).

*You can open the controls to identify business numbers.*

Tap “Call Screen” for all other controls. Here you can decide what you want to do with calls that fall into one of several categories: spam, possibly fake numbers, first-time callers or hidden numbers. In any case, you have two options: you can choose the phone to ring and then decide manually whether you want to scan the call, or you can let Google automatically scan the call and reject it if it’s an auto call. The only exceptions are spam calls, which you can also choose to silently reject so that your phone doesn’t ring at all.

*You can have certain calls scanned automatically on the Pixel 6 or 6 Pro.*

*Tap a category such as Spam to have it scanned automatically.*

You have to set up each of these categories separately: tap the category name and choose how you want these calls to be handled. The default is to let you decide manually whether you want to ring the phone and scan the call, so if that’s your choice, you can leave everything as is. One thing to note: According to Google, automatic scanning will not work if you are using headphones or speakers.

There are two more features you can enable on the Call Screen. You can record the audio of any displayed call. You can also have the scanned call answered by female or male voice; the default is female so tape it on “Voice” if you want to change it.

Old Pixels and other phones

If you’re not using a Pixel 6 or 6 Plus, you’ll be able to scan a call when the number isn’t in your Contacts list (but you won’t have access to the automatic scan available on the Pixel). 6 lines). You can manage call display settings here:

Tap the three dots in the top right corner of the phone app
Go to Settings > Caller ID & spam

On many other Android phones, you can set the scan settings to “Caller ID & spam e. — *On many other Android phones, you can find the scan settings under “Caller ID & spam”.*

You can choose to filter out suspicious spam calls so you don't have to deal with them. — *You can choose to filter out suspicious spam calls so you don’t have to deal with them.*

You’ll have access to three controls that you can turn on or off: “See caller and spam ID” (allows you to identify business and spam numbers as well as known contacts), Spam filtering (to prevent suspicious spam from ringing your phone) and Verified Calls (this is allows you to see search ID for legitimately verified businesses).

Whether you have access to automatic scanning or manual scanning, it’s undeniable that being able to scan unknown phone numbers can help us avoid having to deal directly with annoying and/or scam calls.

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