iOS 13 Better Have a New Call Screen

Reading Time: 4 minutes.

iOS 12 was supposed to be an overhaul of the entire operating system. Apple was finally going to give us something new. No more boring grid of icons from 2007. However, iOS 11 was a hot mess. The OS was so buggy, I seriously considered leaving iOS behind. iOS 12 was instead a small update visually, but came with a number of strong reliability improvements. Apple finally hammered out the bugs they allowed to languish on the backlog for months. But the promise of iOS 13 is still on the horizon.

Apple was able to put off the changes they were making to the next version. There are a number of features users have begged Apple for over the past few years. Notification improvements, so they don’t cover up usable areas of the screen (the screen sliding method is preferable), better volume indicators that don’t cover up the middle of the screen, a new home screen, and, of course, a new call screen.

Right now, an incoming call takes up the entire screen. And, while this may sound ironic, phone calls aren’t important to many iPhone users. This 2007-era interface needs a huge update for our modern world. Now we’re plagued with telemarketers and robocalls, and they don’t deserve the screen real estate.

The Problem

A Huge Interface for a Small Feature

Phone calls are not your primary phone use. I know, it seems funny. But most of the time you spend on your phone is likely on the internet, reading, or playing a game. You probably spend more time taking photos or videos than making or receiving phone calls. Calling is a small feature of a phone. No one buys one phone over the other for its call quality anymore. We buy phones for performance, cameras, and screens. So why should the entire phone give way for a phone call? You likely don’t care about most calls you’re receiving, and you’d be just as likely to answer them if it was a notification. So why is Apple still taking up your entire screen for a feature that’s low in importance?

Videos, Games, and Other Sidelined Tasks

When a call comes in, it doesn’t just take up your whole screen. It stops whatever you’re doing. Recording video of your son’s big moment during the school play? Trying to catch your daughter’s first home run? Too bad! This incoming call just stopped your video. Even if you deny the call, re-open the camera app, and start recording with Flash-like speed, you’ve missed a few seconds. Now your son’s moment in the spotlight is gone, and your daughter teleported from swinging at home plate to celebrating in the dugout. Another iOS moment.

But this goes beyond capturing (or missing) cherished memories. Using your iPhone to broadcast a Keynote presentation at work? I hope you’re confident with public speaking, because technical difficulties are always embarrassing. Plus, now everyone will see your home screen as you desperately try to get back to Keynote. Hey, were you playing Fortnite before this meeting?

Speaking of Fortnite, hope you’re not competitive in any online games. Because if you’re hoping to win a quick mobile session, I’ve got some really bad news for you. If you get a call, you’re going to be a sitting duck for a few seconds. More than enough time for a well placed headshot. Actually, no, how funny would it be to build a box around someone and boobytrap it? Your embarrassment would last forever on Twitch.

You get the point. A phone call shouldn’t be the most important thing in your life. So much of our lives revolve around recording, playing, reading, or watching something with our phones. Just because someone wants to call us does not mean you should drop what you’re doing and answer. Often it would be rude, and it’s always inconvenient.

Telemarketers, Robocalls, and Other Scams

Now here’s the kicker. All of those important moments? All of that time wasted? If you live in the U.S., it was likely for a scam call. The United States government is owned by the highest bidder, and with a former Verizon lawyer in charge of the FCC, telecoms will always come before citizens. So, while people are tired of robocalls, Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint love the fact that you’re wasting your minutes on them, even if you send them to voicemail. Every minute you waste on a telemarketer is a chance for your cellular carrier to overcharge you.

Due to an extreme lack of regulation, most of your daily calls are scam calls. I can’t remember the last time my phone rang and it was a friend or family member on the other side of the call. I don’t answer unidentifiable numbers anymore unless I’m expecting a call. When my meetings are interrupted by calls, when my music cuts out while I work, and when my speech is interrupted, it’s a robocall, 99.9% of the time.

I now use the disconnected three tone message for my voicemail along with an app to block most robocalls and I’m on the do not call list. I’ve noticed that my calls have finally started dialing back (pun intended). Remember not to hit Decline unless you absolutely have to, as this confirms to the scammer that your number is valid. You have to let it go to voicemail and use your minutes.

This is an absurd amount of work to avoid scams that should be illegal. We’re giving so much power to scam callers and telemarketers all because Apple refuses to get with the times.

The Solution

This is an extremely easy problem to fix. Make the call an incoming notification. Make it brightly colored, maybe a little larger than your average notification, but a normal notification, none the less. Have an answer and decline button. Allow users to pull down to send a text or some other message.

Apple already solved this issue: notifications don’t take up our entire screens. We don’t have a popup every time someone likes a photo. This is excruciatingly simple to solve. For the love of all that is good, Apple, throw incoming calls into a notification. Your users have been begging for it for years. There were jailbreak tweaks for this since the very beginning of iOS. Apple, get it together.

---

Sources/Mockups:

• Zaib Ali, iOS Hacker
• Spencer Dailey, Ramblings
• Dean Hudson, Medium