Andy Walker / Android Authority Pixel 8a
TL;DR Google might be getting ready to introduce Call Screening on Pixel phones in India.
The feature lets users identify callers and their reasons for calling before answering the phone, helping thwart spam calls.
India might get the manual version of Call Screening instead of the automatic version available in the US.
India has over a billion cellphone users and is one of the most affected countries in the world when it comes to spam calls. Hundreds of millions of spam calls are reported daily in the country, yet Pixel phones don’t offer Call Screening as an option for Indian users. Pixel enthusiasts in the country have been requesting the feature for years, and it looks like their pleas may soon be answered.
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Google introduced Call Screening on Pixel phones in 2018. While India now receives all of Google’s flagships, this feature, along with other useful functions like Spam Detection, has been missing from the Pixel lineup in the country.
When I previously spoke to Mike Abary, Vice President of Devices & Services Business, APAC at Google, he acknowledged this gap and told Android Authority that the company is actively working to bring these features to India.
“It is not lost on us that we need to make sure that we bring this capability to India, and we have plans to do that. The delay is less about technical challenges and more about policy-related hurdles, which we are working to address,” Abary had said at the time.
Call Screening finally ready for its Indian debut?
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