Let’s be real, most people dodge unknown calls like junk mail. With scam calls, robocallers, and AI-generated voice fraud flooding our phones, it’s no surprise. The result? Trust in the humble phone call is in the balance. And for legitimate businesses, getting through has never been harder.
Cue iOS 26, Apple’s latest update dropping on September 2, 2025, with some new call features that aim to restore a bit of that lost trust in phone calls. However, it’s hard to ignore the controversy around ‘who did it first’, with articles like Apple borrows plenty from Android with iOS 26 (1) and iOS 26 is basically Android’s greatest hits from five years ago (2).
So let’s set the scene with a timeline:
2018 – Pixel Starts the Party: Google’s Pixel phones were ahead of the curve when they introduced features like Call Screen, Hold For Me, and later on, real-time Live Translate. Android users have been enjoying these tools for years, like having their own personal call assistant on their phone.
2024 – Samsung joined the chat: Fast-forward to January 2024, and Samsung brought similar features to the mainstream with the Galaxy S24 and its Galaxy AI. The highlight? Live Translate during calls in real-time, and yes, it even works offline in multiple languages. Pretty nifty.
2025 – Apple Arrives Fashionably Late: With iOS 26, features like Hold Assist (which… let’s be honest, is very similar to Google’s Hold For Me) are finally landing on iPhones. And suddenly, everyone’s paying attention, because let’s face it, when Apple moves, the world notices.
And it couldn’t come soon enough. According to Cognism, the average cold call success rate in 2025 has dropped to just 2.3%, nearly half in comparison to 2024. But let’s be clear, for those with a cold calling strategy, it isn’t dead, just bad cold calling is. The businesses breaking through today are powered by data, purpose, and relevance.
