Google Assistant on Pixels gives you one more way to wiggle out of phone calls

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There’s a reason many people prefer Google Assistant over other digital assistants. Google has built many features into Assistant that give it great utility in practical situations. Admittedly, some features are Pixel-only, but they still work out beautifully. Pixel Call Screen is one of those, and now Google is making it more useful by letting you ask known callers if the call is urgent so you can react accordingly.

Call Screen on Pixels works great for filtering out spam calls, but its utility drops off when it is a known person from your contact book. Google Assistant will try to ask for more information in such situations, but your acquaintances won’t welcome the idea.

To address this, Google Assistant Call Screen on Pixels has gained a new option that only appears when there is a call from someone on your contact list. As spotted by 9to5Google, there is a new “Ask if urgent” button that pops up, letting you direct Google Assistant to pick up the call and politely ask your acquaintance if their call is urgent.

Google demonstrated this feature at the Pixel 8 launch event, and it has begun rolling out to Pixel devices in supported regions. It’s a neat addition that will come in very handy if you are in the middle of something important and can’t pick up calls but still want to ensure that you aren’t missing out on anything urgent that may pop up. If the call is not critical, you can call the person back later.

Automatic phone call screening is available on all Pixel devices in the US. Other regions like Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Spain, and the UK can screen calls manually.