New Cellphone app: How one can use it in iOS 26 (or get the outdated one again)

For the primary time in 18 years, Apple redesigned the oft-overlooked Cellphone app. The overhaul in iOS 26 simplifies the Cellphone app’s structure, placing your favorites, name historical past and voicemails in a single tab, and offering simpler entry to go looking.

Its fancy Liquid Glass-inspired structure goes hand-in-hand with the Cellphone app’s glorious name filtering options.

Right here’s how one can be taught to like the brand new design — and easy methods to nope out of it in case you don’t prefer it.

How one can use Apple’s new Cellphone app (or get the outdated one again)

After the huge kerfuffle over the redesigned Images app in iOS 18, Apple is being extra cautious with the brand new Cellphone app. You may select the structure you need: the identical design you’ve used for the reason that first iPhone in 2007, or the fashionable method.

Personally, I really like the Cellphone app’s new, simplified design in iOS 26. However lots of people simply need what they’re used to. Fortunately, switching to the outdated Cellphone app for a extra acquainted consumer interface is simple — and I’ll present you ways.

Desk of contents: How one can use Apple’s new Cellphone app

1. Replace to iOS 26
2. Swap to the brand new Cellphone app or stick with the outdated one
3. The brand new unified Calls display screen
4. Add or edit your favorites
5. See your filtered calls
6. Contacts and Keypad
7. Seek for a contact
8. Extra Cellphone options

Replace to iOS 26

First, you must replace your iPhone to iOS 26. It’s presently accessible as a software program replace in Settings > Normal > Software program Replace. iOS 26 runs on the iPhone 11, iPhone SE 2 and later (dropping help for the iPhone XS and XR).

Swap to the brand new Cellphone app or stick with the outdated one

After updating to iOS 26, while you launch the Cellphone app, you’ll see a tip on the high of the display screen asking in case you’d like to modify to the brand new design.

For those who change unintentionally, don’t fear — it’s super-easy to return to the old-school UI. To take action, simply faucet the Filter button within the higher proper, then faucet Traditional. In Traditional mode, you’ll see the normal 5 tabs alongside the underside: Favorites, Recents, Contacts, Keypad and Voicemail.

You may faucet the Filter button and change between Traditional and the brand new Unified mode everytime you need. Personally, I just like the Cellphone app’s new design. It simply takes somewhat little bit of studying. Right here’s the way it works.

The brand new Cellphone app unified Calls display screen

Within the Unified design, Apple merged the Favorites, Recents and Voicemail tabs into one: Calls. The overall concept is that your favorites are proven as huge playing cards throughout the highest, whereas your name historical past and voicemails are listed beneath, grouped collectively in a single listing. You don’t have to modify between as many tabs.

Add or edit your favorites

Within the new Cellphone app, you’ll be able to faucet the Edit button on the high and faucet Edit Favorites to place some contacts on pace dial.

Faucet + within the higher proper so as to add a brand new favourite out of your contacts. Select a reputation, then select the way you wish to contact them — by textual content, telephone name, FaceTime or e-mail. You may add the identical contact a number of instances in case you’d like alternative ways to get in contact.

Faucet − subsequent to a favourite to take away them and faucet Finished (the checkmark) within the higher left to avoid wasting your modifications.

See your filtered calls within the iPhone’s new Cellphone app

You could discover the brand new Calls display screen appears actually nice and clear. That’s in all probability as a result of it’s lacking the a whole bunch or 1000’s of spam telephone calls that often litter up the listing. They’ve been pushed into the digital junk drawer.

If you wish to see them, faucet the Filter button within the higher proper and faucet Unknown Callers. You’ll see the total listing of calls from unknown numbers and potential spam. You may faucet Mark as Recognized if considered one of these is definitely vital, or Delete if you would like it gone.

If you wish to take out the trash, per se, there’s a trick to deleting all of them. Scroll all the way in which to the very backside of the listing. With two fingers, swipe up and also you’ll begin choosing a number of the objects. Holding these fingers down, together with your different hand, faucet the clock within the higher left nook of your display screen to leap to the highest of the listing. You’ll have chosen all the pieces within the listing immediately. Now, faucet Delete.

For those who don’t need your unknown calls to be filtered out, faucet the Filter button within the higher proper and faucet Handle Filtering. That’ll take you to the web page in Settings the place you’ll be able to change it. Within the Name Filtering part, uncheck Unknown Callers and/or Spam.

To be clear, you’ll be able to go away this setting on and nonetheless obtain telephone calls from folks outdoors your contacts. All this does is select whether or not missed calls from folks outdoors your contacts present up within the Recents listing of the Cellphone app.

To vary whether or not you obtain calls from unknown numbers, scroll up a bit and select what you need from the Display screen Unknown Callers part.

Seek for a contact

A bonus of the Unified design in Apple’s new Cellphone app is a handy Search button on the backside proper. You may sort within the identify of a contact (or any of their contact particulars) to see filtered outcomes.

Barely annoyingly, while you sort within the identify of a contact, you’ll see their name historical past on the high of the listing. That signifies that their contact card is pushed beneath the keyboard, which it’s important to swipe away first.

Nonetheless, the omnipresent Search button on the backside is a handy characteristic of the fashionable iOS 26 design.

Extra iPhone options

After studying easy methods to use the brand new Cellphone app, take a look at these different unbelievable options:

• Arrange your Contact Poster to make a good looking customized name display screen in your contact.
• File a telephone name and transcribe it within the Notes app.
• Dwell Voicemail helps you to see a transcription of their voicemail message because it’s being recorded — and you may choose up at any level, if the decision seems to be vital.
• T9 dialing helps you to search for a contact from the keypad by typing within the letters related to every quantity — prefer it’s 2004 once more.

This text on the brand new Cellphone app was initially printed on September 4, 2025. We up to date it with the most recent data on February 20, 2026.

D. Griffin Jones is a author, podcaster and video producer for Cult of Mac. Griffin has been a passionate laptop fanatic since 2002, when he acquired his first PC — however since getting a Mac in 2008, he hasn’t turned again. His expertise in graphic and net design, together with video and podcast modifying, are self-taught over 20+ years. Griffin has a bachelor’s diploma in laptop science and has written a number of (unpublished) apps for Mac and iOS. His assortment of outdated computer systems is made up of 40+ desktops, laptops, PDAs and gadgets, courting again to the early ’80s. He brings all of those inventive and technical expertise, together with a deep data of Apple historical past, into his work for Cult of Mac.