Much to our dismay, the number of spam calls and messages seems to increase yearly. Not only do robocalls tend to bother people at the most inconvenient moments, but they’re potentially dangerous if someone falls into their trap. Thankfully for Google Pixel 6 owners, your device offers multiple helpful features to protect against unwanted calls and messages. Follow the simple steps in this guide to ensure all these protections are turned on to help keep the spam annoyances from ruining your day.
Set up Call Screen
Spam calls are often linked to scams that try to get information from you, such as your bank account details. Google’s impressive Call Screen feature can automatically intercept suspicious calls on your behalf. It can even block them before your phone rings. And with the Google Pixel 6a on the horizon, it’s shaping up to be one of the best and most affordable ways to get the Call Screen feature on a modern Pixel smartphone.
Since Call Screen isn’t enabled by default, you can start using it on your Google Pixel 6 or 6a by doing the following:
- Open the Phone app.
- Tap the three-dot menu and go to Settings.
- Tap Spam and Call Screen.
- Select Call Screen.
- The feature will activate automatically and be enabled if you’re connected to a Wi-Fi network.
Some VPNs may have to be disabled temporarily to activate Call Screen. Give it a few minutes to set up at the most, but it should work just fine once you turn off the VPN.
You might consider changing the default options to Automatically screen and decline robocalls for the best results. Don’t worry; this won’t screen or block anyone on your personal contacts list. Even if the Google Assistant deems a call important, you can still manually screen it by tapping Screen call.
Google Assistant may not catch and block every instance of spam, but it does a decent job. Call Screen could end up being one of the main on-device features we use by default to fight spam calls in the future.
Block unknown callers
Since spammers can hide their number from you sometimes, blocking all unknown callers is another way to ensure they don’t get through to you. This setting should be enabled by default, but you can do the following to double-check:
- Open the Phone app.
- Tap the three-dot menu, then go to Settings.
- Locate and tap the Blocked numbers section.
- If the Unknown option is not enabled, tap to turn it on.
Enable spam protection for messages
Spam calls have easily annoyed many of us over the years; however, spam messages only recently started to get out of control. The Google Messages app on your Google Pixel 6 or 6a smartphone has a feature that can help stop those annoying text messages. This feature may already be enabled on your device, but just in case, here’s what you can do to turn it on:
- Open the Messages app.
- Tap the three-dot menu and go to Settings.
- Select Spam protection.
- If it’s disabled, tap the switch to turn it on.
Check the default spam-blocking app
It’s easy to overlook this setting, but you’ll want to double-check the system’s default spam-blocking app. It should be set as the Phone app for maximum protection at all times; however, the entry can sometimes be entirely blank. To make sure the spam-blocking features are working correctly on your device, check the following:
- Open your Settings App to the main screen.
- Go to Apps.
- Select Default apps.
- Then go to the Caller ID & spam app section.
- If it’s currently assigned to None, tap it once, then select the Phone app to ensure it’s set as the default.
Spam call settings for Google Fi users
Google’s own wireless network, Google Fi, is naturally popular with Pixel 6 smartphone owners in general. The Google Fi app has a few ways to protect your privacy and security, but the main thing we wanted to highlight here is the spam call blocking setting.
This setting might be enabled on your device already, but you can quickly check it by doing the following:
- Open the Google Fi app.
- Scroll down and tap Spam & blocked numbers.
- If the Block spam calls setting is off, make sure you enable it.
Report the spam calls and messages that slip through
Even if you follow all of the above tips to avoid spam calls and messages, some of them may still sneak past detection regardless. Spammers can use multiple throw-away numbers or even spoof their area code. Both are old methods to try and trick you into answering their calls, but they’re still being used today. This makes it challenging to stop them all, but spending that extra time reporting them helps the entire Android and Pixel community.
To report spam calls, here’s what you need to do:
- Open the Phone app.
- Tap the Recents tab.
- Long-press the number you wish to report and tap Block/report spam.
- With the Report call as spam checkbox selected, press Block to confirm.
To report spam text messages:
- Open the Messages app.
- Long-press on the message you wish to report.
- Tap the three-dot menu, then select Block (or the circle icon with the line through it).
- With the Report spam checkbox selected, press OK to confirm.
Many wireless carriers now use a set of protocols called STIR/SHAKEN to help reduce the phone number spoofing problem. You don’t have to do anything either; it just works. Combining STIR/SHAKEN with the spam-fighting efforts on Google’s part is a big win for all of us.
No more spam
Spam calls and messages have become such an issue that they can distract you from the more essential things in life. However, the techniques used to help stop or control them are constantly improving as time goes on. If you combine the tips mentioned above, your Google Pixel 6 or 6a smartphone should finally be free from most of these everyday spam annoyances.
