It’s a number I don’t know so I let it ring

It could be the job interview or a warranty salesman. I stared at the phone until it stopped. — Applicant, 2017

In 1991 the senator pushing the robocall law stood up in Congress and said these calls make you want to rip the telephone right out of the wall. Nobody has argued with him since. In 2020 the Supreme Court opened a robocall case by pointing out that Americans fight about nearly everything, but they all hate robocalls. The law passed. The phone kept ringing. So now the phone answers for you. A voice asks the caller for a name and a reason, and the answer shows up as text on your screen. Google put that on its Pixel phones. Apple got to it in 2025. Took them long enough.

What it broke: the call you were expecting. Some delivery drivers and plumbers hear a machine asking questions and hang up.

The full file

The 1991 law came out of real numbers. By the Supreme Court's count, more than 300,000 solicitors were calling over 18 million Americans every day back then. In 2019 alone the government took in 3.7 million complaints about robocalls.

Google's version starts with a recording. The caller hears that the call is being screened and is told to give a name and a reason. If it's junk, you tap a button and the assistant asks them to take your number off their list. An Associated Press reviewer tried it on the Pixel 3 in 2018 and called it a good idea that might not save much time. Fair enough.

Apple's version has gaps, and the consumer group U.S. PIRG listed them. A caller who just says hello gets put through. You read what they said instead of hearing it, so a computer voice can still get to you. An AP writer who tested it picked up because the caller gave the writer's own name. It was a survey. Still better than guessing.

Relates to No. 08270.