Warning: You're Not Going to Like Apple's Redesigned Phone App

Unless you enjoy changes and confusion

Aug 09, 2025

AI art of someone looking at their phone in horror

It’s a given that consumers don’t like tech changes. They want everything to be exactly where it was.

It’s also a given that tech companies love to switch things around, to keep things fresh and interesting.

Against that backdrop, I’ve got to warn you: the changes in the next iOS software update to the Phone app in September are going to hurt at first. Longtime tools, like Voicemail and Recent Calls are hidden, the search button for Contacts has been moved, Favorites is retired and many people are going to be stumped working their way through everything.

Because as you know, Apple doesn’t tell you about this stuff, just that the new iOS will brings tons of new features and a new free look to your existing phones (going back to the iPhone 11) and it will of course be featured on the new iPhone series as well.

I downloaded the Beta version of iOS26 (note the new name, for the year) a few weeks ago, which anyone can easily do. It will be available to the general public in mid-September, usually a week before the release of the next iPhone, which is expected around September 25. And know that the final version could differ from what I’ve been playing with.

But here’s the dirty little secret I discovered about the Phone app. The all-new look will automatically kick in when you download iOS26—or buy a new iPhone when they go on sale. However, if you dislike it as much as I do, there’s a way to bring it back to the way you’ve always used it. More on that in a minute.

The current lineup:

In iOS 18, the current version, you see the 1 through 9 digits of the keypad, along with the pound and star button, and a sub-menu at the bottom of Favorites, Recents, Contacts, Keypad and Voicemail.

The new: The same digits, but a streamlined sub-menu of Calls, Contacts and Keypad. Favorites has been retired altogether, at least it has in my beta version.

But wait! Where’s voicemail? You have to click the Calls button, then hit the three line menu at the top right of the screen, which reveals Calls, Missed, Voicemails, Unknown Callers and Spam. Most of my unknown calls are Spam, and I guess the point of Apple offering this category is to give you the opportunity to update the category and add them as contacts.

Because another new feature, which I kind of welcome, is a screener that asks unknown callers to state their name and business before you agree to answer. Contacts don’t get this treatment, just people we don’t know. I don’t know about you, but 90% of my calls are spam and most of the time I won’t answer, preferring to listen back in case it’s a real person I indeed want to talk to.

However, this new feature doesn’t save from the Spam calls, just from having to answer them. And I want to be able to quickly access my voicemails, because that’s where I send people I suspect of Spamming of me, and that’s not always the case.

Search

We’ve established that the Contacts tab is still there, and so when you go to make a call, you can search for the contact you want by clicking the Spotlight tab. Which in iOS18, is at the top of the page, where it’s always been. But in iOS26, for some inexplicable reason, search is now at the bottom of the page.

Your Fix

After all that, there is a great, easy solution to keep things like they were, for the better.

Under the Calls tab, click the three line menu at the top right, and opt out of “Unified” back to “Classic,” and you’ll get the same ol’ Phone app you’ve known and loved all these years.

How Apple interpreted French and attempted to translate in a test

Live Translation

This is an interesting new feature for iOS26.

The pitch: you call someone and they are speaking in Spanish. Just click on Live Translation and you’ll have the caller translated for you so you can understand.

The reality: The tool is available in just four languages, Spanish, French, German and Portuguese. And when you’re ready to use it, you have to know that if you click the MORE button in the phone app during the call, that Live Translate is one of the options.

Click it, but not so fast—first you have to download the language in question. Then it finally works. If you think you might be interested, I’d recommend getting the download out of the way before making the call.

And again, please remember, the MORE button in the Phone App is new. It’s where this feature and the one below is hidden.

HOLD ASSIST

This one is also hidden under the “MORE” section, and promises to turn off the annoying hold music to let you do different things while on hold. And then, when it’s your turn, your phone will ring and you can connect to the customer service rep. However well intentioned it is, it didn’t work for me. I called American Airlines, where I was told I would be on hold for 10-15 minutes. I clicked on Hold Assist. But instead of getting in touch with me when it was my turn, the phone indeed did ring, within 5 minutes, and I was returned back to the same horrible hold music. No operator joined me. Well, hopefully that will be fixed by the time the general edition is released in mid-September.

Other new iOS26 Features

“Liquid Glass” is the hero feature Apple likes to talk about, a style update that gives “optical qualities of glass and a sense of fluidity” with app icons looking slightly different. My prediction: you’ll never notice.

The Camera app is also streamlined, with features like slow motion, timelapse, portrait mode and panorama hidden. I support this move, as the camera menu had gotten big and confusing to consumers. I think they’ll appreciate seeing just Video and Photo as their options. (The other features I mentioned are still available with a swipe of the Video or Photo buttons.) Unlike the Phone app, there is no way to go back.

Finally, back to the phone: perhaps you don’t make a lot of calls, but when you do, you want to know who called, what they had to stay, and be able to quickly return it, right? Just remember to switch to “Classic” in the app once you update to the new iOS to more easily find out who rang.

Note: the new features like Call Translation and Hold Assist work in both the streamlined or classic versions.