Google’s New ‘Call Reason’ Feature Lets You Mark Outgoing Calls As Urgent
It’s hard to get people to answer the phone, although I don’t really blame those who don’t answer. We’re so inundated with spam calls these days that refusing to answer incoming calls en masse isn’t really a bad strategy. When that call may be from someone trying to break into your bank account or alert you to fraudulent credit card charges that never happened, it may be best to wait until your friends and family text.
But let’s say the call comes from you to someone you know and trust, and let’s say they see it’s you calling them. Even if they know the call isn’t spam, there are plenty of reasons why someone won’t answer the phone, including, of course, because they don’t really want to talk at the moment. But if you really need to reach someone and don’t want meetings, travel, or the lack of desire for a phone call to get in the way, Google is working on a solution you can try right now.
Call Reason lets you mark calls as urgent
The new feature, called “Call Reason,” is designed to separate important phone calls from others. When you start dialing, Google will give you the option to mark the call as urgent. If you choose to do this, the person you are calling will see a pop-up saying “It’s urgent!” » on the call screen. Hopefully this pop-up will encourage them to respond; however, I imagine they will stop responding if you start using it too often.
That said, not everyone ignores calls on purpose. If you’re not near your phone when it rings, or if it’s on silent in your pocket or bag, you obviously won’t catch the emergency label on the call screen. In this case, Android adds the urgent tag to the missed call in its recipient’s call history. As long as the person you’re trying to reach checks their missed calls, they should see that this one has been marked as urgent, although if it’s a true emergency they may have received additional calls and messages from you anyway.
It looks like Google has been working on this feature for a while. Android Authority previously spotted something called Expressive Calling in the Phone app APK, which would allow the caller to add animations and emojis to calls. In addition to this functionality, it was possible to report the reason for a call when dialing.
What do you think of it so far?
How to try Call Reason
Google is still testing the Call Reason feature, but anyone using the current version of the Google Phone app will be able to try it. (However, it’s still rolling out, so you might not see it yet.) The feature also only works with saved contacts and on calls for Android users who have Google’s Phone app set as their primary calling app.
When the reason for the call appears on your phone, you will see it appear after you make your call. The UI says “Mark call as urgent?” ”, with a prompt informing you that the call will ring and indicate that it is urgent. Tap “Notify” and you’re all set. Once the recipient sees the call, they will see the “Incoming call” banner replaced with an animated message “It’s urgent!” arise. It’s a fun design, but maybe a little Also fun, when you probably use it in important situations.
Credit: Google
Alongside Call Reason, Google announced a number of new features for Android 16. There are now improved parental controls locked behind a parent-chosen PIN; new UI customization options, such as expanded dark mode support and new custom shapes for home screen icons; and the continued rollout of Google’s AI notification summaries, which Lifehacker writer David Nield has yet to find very useful.
