All new Samsung phones will automatically block spam calls

It should soon be easier to dodge robocalls and other unwanted phone chats on a Samsung phone. Samsung has struck a deal with Hiya to automatically block spam calls through its Smart Call feature, keeping fraud from reaching your ears without having to depend on your carrier for help.

The effort will lean on Hiya’s real-time detection tech and goes a step beyond the flagging that you see with some phones. You just have to enable Smart Call by visiting Call Settings and enabling “Caller ID and spam protection.”

The anti-spam call feature will first be available on devices like the Galaxy Note 20 series, and should come with all newly released Samsung phones from 2021 onward. The company’s current deal with Hiya lasts until 2025.

This isn’t a completely novel concept. Google, for instance, introduced a Call Screening feature on Pixel phones that listens to the content of calls and blocks scammers without ringing your phone. However, Samsung’s sheer size could make this important — hundreds of millions of people could eventually have an automated defense against fraud and other forms of spam calls.

Whether or not it’ll be as necessary is another matter. The US and other countries have been cracking down on junk calls, and carriers have been proactively labeling (and now blocking) robocallers. Samsung’s addition may be most useful in places where that protection isn’t available, or to catch those calls that slip through the cracks.