Your Pixel phone can now screen calls to ask if they’re urgent – here’s how it works

At the Pixel 8 event in early October, Google revealed that the Function Call screen on their flagship series will have new “contextual responses” for incoming calls. It turns out that this update is more capable than we thought, as users can also ask contacts if their call is urgent.

This option was discovered by 9To5Google and can be considered the friendlier way to screen people. The other method, as the publication points out, involves Google Assistant asking the other person “who they are and what they want,” which can seem quite distant to friends and family. When you receive a phone call, a new button will appear under a contact’s profile to activate the screening process.