Phone

Facebook Messenger gains iOS 10 integration on the Lock screen and in Phone app

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 22, 2016

Facebook just pushed a major update to its Messenger software in the App Store. On iPhones with iOS 10, the app now takes advantage of Apple's new CallKit framework to make audio (VoIP) calls from Messenger look and behave like normal cellular calls with full support for Lock screen and Phone integration.

Bumped to version 89.0, the app now shows incoming VoIP calls from Messenger contacts right on your Lock screen complete with fullscreen contact images, standard controls like the Mute, Keypad, Speaker, Add Call and Video buttons and more.

How to use voicemail transcription on iPhone

Anthony Bouchard ∙ Updated June 19, 2018

One of the more useful features for iPhones that comes packed inside of Apple’s new iOS 10 release is voicemail transcription, which transcribes your voicemails into text so you can read them rather than listen to them.

The feature is available to users in the United States and it’s very much still in its beta stages despite the fact that iOS 10 is now a public firmware, but if you want to know how to use it, or to see if you can use it yet, then you’ll be happy to know it’s quite easy to follow.

How to have your iPhone announce who’s calling you

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated July 30, 2019

Among the 100+ new features in iOS 10 came the ability to have your iPhone announce who's calling when receiving a phone call. Based on the caller ID, your iPhone will vocalize the name of the caller, or tell you it's an unknown caller in case the number isn't in your contacts.

This is a nice little addition that can actually be configured in the Settings.

WhatsApp rolls out its iOS 10 update with Phone/Siri support & more

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 14, 2016

WhatsApp is one of the showcase apps for CallKit, Apple's new framework allowing VoIP calls to integrate with iOS 10's Phone app and behave like cellular calls. Today, WhatsApp has rolled out its anticipated update which enables integration with Phone and Siri on iOS 10 while bringing out half a dozen other features and improvements like forwarding multiple chats at once, a new iOS 10 widget that lets you go to a recent WhatsApp chat or see which chats have unread messages, and more.

Super VoiceMail: A slick new way to handle your iPhone’s voicemail

Anthony Bouchard ∙ August 27, 2016

Just last week, we showed you a jailbreak tweak called AnsweringMachine that took the jailbreak community by surprise and showed us that the iPhone's voicemail system has a lot to be desired. On the other hand, another new release called Super VoiceMail also looks very promising.

In this review, we'll show you what Super VoiceMail has to offer and help you decide which of the two jailbreak tweaks you should go with.

Phone++ now available for iOS 9, supercharges your Phone app

Anthony Bouchard ∙ August 27, 2016

If you've got a jailbroken iPhone, then it's time to supercharge that stock calling app with a new jailbreak tweak called Phone++.

In this review, we'll show you how Phone++ can improve access to your contacts from your favorite social apps and make your life easier.

AnsweringMachine: the amazing voicemail experience iOS never had (until now)

Anthony Bouchard ∙ August 21, 2016

iOS' voicemail system has always had a lot to be desired. On the other hand, a new jailbreak tweak called AnsweringMachine aims to fill all the gaps that users have wanted for the iPhone for ages.

In this review, we'll talk about what you can do with AnsweringMachine and show you why it's a significant upgrade from the stock voicemail system.

Apple and other tech giants join forces with FCC to crack down on spammy robocalls

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 19, 2016

Robocalls, phone calls that uses a computerized autodialer to deliver a pre-recorded message, may become a thing of the past as Apple, Google and other Silicon Valley giants join forces with the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to crack down on spammy automated phone calls, according to Reuters this morning.

AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson is expected to make the announcement at the first “Robocall Strike Force” meeting at the FCC later today.

iOS 10 Preview: Phone gains spam alerts, VoIP integration, transcribed voicemails & more

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 11, 2016

iOS 10 turns the iPhone's boring Phone app into a software platform in its own right. Developers are now permitted to add previously unheard-of capabilities to Phone using Apple's new application programming interface (API), called CallKit, allowing Voice over IP (VoIP) calls from apps like Skype and WhatsApp to behave like cellular calls.

CallKit-enabled apps put contact images on the Lock screen for incoming VoIP calls and are deeply integrated with Contacts and Phone's Recents and Favorites.

Phone on iOS 10 packs in other exciting improvements that we honestly started to believe would never get implemented on the iOS platform, like voicemail transcription à la Google Voice and third-party extensions for detecting spammy calls automatically.

So let's get to it...

How to check your iPhone’s numeric cellular signal strength

Anthony Bouchard ∙ Updated February 24, 2022

When you have an iPhone, your carrier’s signal strength can be one of the most important things that helps you decide which carrier to go with. In this tutorial, we’ll show you how to enter Field Test mode on your iPhone and view the dBm (decibels per milliwatt) value rather than just the basic signal bar indicators.

iOS 10’s Phone app gains Voicemail Transcriptions, Spam Alerts, VoIP support

Anthony Bouchard ∙ June 13, 2016

iOS 10 was shown off at WWDC 2016 on Monday, and with all of the new features Apple brought to the table, the Phone app is certainly one of the spotlights that deserves attention.

Apple's new Phone app in iOS 10 is going to get a lot of useful new features to make using the phone aspect of your iPhone a whole lot better.

This tweak keeps music from resuming after hanging up a call on your iPhone

Anthony Bouchard ∙ Updated August 5, 2024

Anyone who uses their iPhone to pick up calls, whether they're phone calls or FaceTime calls, knows that when music is playing, iOS will automatically pause the music until the phone call ends. When it does, iOS will resume the song where it left off.

Those who don't like how the music resumes after a phone call really have no way to disable the feature on a stock iPhone; instead, you would have to go back to the app that is playing the music and pause it manually.

A new free jailbreak tweak called PauseAfterCall solves this problem.