Filter Out Messages From Unknown Senders With This iOS 26 Trick
Apple's iOS 26 update introduced a feature that filters out messages from unknown senders, helping users manage spam. This feature automatically sorts these messages into a separate folder without notifications. Users can easily enable this feature through their device settings and check the filtered messages at their convenience.
- ▪The iOS 26 update includes a call screening feature to block spam calls.
- ▪Messages from unknown senders are filtered into their own folder in the Messages app.
- ▪Users can enable the filtering feature through the Settings app under Messages.
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| Original publisher | CNET |
| Canonical URL | https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/filter-out-messages-from-unknown-senders-with-this-ios-26-trick/ |
| Publication time | Wed, 29 Apr 2026 10:00:39 +0000 |
| Retrieval time | 2026-04-29T10:21:54.507Z |
| Last seen | 2026-04-29T10:21:54.507Z |
| Headline source | Publisher (no WeSearch rewrite) |
| Excerpt source | publisher body |
| Excerpt method | First ~120 words (~800 chars) of extracted publisher body, fair-use limited. |
| Summary | WeSearch · cerebras-chat (WeSearch summarizer) |
| Summary source text | contentText |
| Citation coverage | Summary is a WeSearch-generated derivative; primary citation is the original publisher URL. |
| Cluster | gooc-rDGZKI3 |
| Cluster logic | Grouped by semantic title/content similarity across sources within a rolling window. Same-publisher template collisions are excluded from coverage comparison. |
| Ranking reason | Story pages are not engagement-ranked. Hub feeds use recency, with optional source-diversified chronological ordering (cap consecutive stories per source). No personalized ranking. |
| Publisher visit | Yes — open original |
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| Retrieval / RAG | May the content be exposed for third-party retrieval-augmented generation? | Not asserted |
| Model training | May the content be used to train AI models? | Not asserted |
| Commercial reuse | May the content be reused commercially? | Not permitted |
Basis: Derived from the published RSS/Atom feed. Contact: [email protected]. Reviewed: 2026-07-24.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
When Apple released iOS 26 in September 2025, the update brought a useful call screening feature to your iPhone that can help block spam calls on your device. The update also includes a feature that can filter out texts from unknown senders, which can help keep your inbox spam-free. With this feature enabled, those messages will be filtered to their own folder in Messages without notifying you. Once these messages are in their respective folders, you can look through them at your own pace to make sure you haven't missed anything important, or you can delete them without a second thought.Here's how to enable the text screening feature on your iPhone in a few easy steps.How to block spam and messages from unknown sendersThis feature was automatically enabled for me when I updated to iOS 26,…
Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at CNET.
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