Apple is trying to make your phone usable as a phone again

At least 80 percent of Americans don’t answer calls from unknown numbers. It’s been five or six years since I stopped answering my phone. With the exception of family or work calls, most of which I’m expecting, everyone now goes straight to voicemail, where my iPhone software dutifully transcribes the messages, which are almost always robocalls or spam. And my text messages are even more of a mess than my unanswered calls. Apple has promised to help with a couple of new features in iOS 26. You might not have noticed, even if you’ve updated your iPhone, because the most ambitious featu