Call Screener is a Premium feature that protects you from spam calls and voicemails using two layers:
Voicemail screening — routes unanswered calls through Hiya Spam Blocker. Spam callers get hung up on; legitimate callers can leave a voicemail in the app
Real-time screening — prompts unknown callers to state their name and reason for calling before your phone rings
If your iPhone has iOS 17 or later, you may have Apple's Live Voicemail feature turned on. Call Screener and Live Voicemail cannot run at the same time — Live Voicemail must be turned off before you activate Call Screener, or the setup won't work.
Open the iPhone Settings app
Tap Phone
Scroll down to Live Voicemail and turn it off
Return to Hiya Spam Blocker to continue
Call Screener is available in the US and Canada. Supported US carriers include AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, Boost Mobile, Cricket, Spectrum, Tracfone, Ultra Mobile, Mint Mobile, and Xfinity Mobile. Major Canadian carriers (Bell, Rogers, Telus) are also supported.
If your carrier isn't in the list during setup, Call Screener isn't available on your plan yet.
Open Hiya Spam Blocker and tap Settings
Tap Activate Call Screener
Follow the on-screen prompts — the app will guide you through carrier setup and a test call to verify everything is working
When you see the activation confirmation, setup is complete
Tip: For best results, also enable Silence Unknown Callers in your iPhone Settings.
Tap Activate Call Screener again to retry. If the error persists:
If you see the message “Something went wrong and we were unable to activate Call Screener”, the app will show a number to call to clear any existing call forwarding — dial it, then try activating again.
If the test call keeps failing: Go to Settings → Phone and confirm Live Voicemail is still off — other iOS settings or updates can turn it back on without warning. While you're there, check that Silence Unknown Callers is on (toggling Live Voicemail resets this to Never). Return to Hiya Spam Blocker and run the test call again.
Note: The Call Forwarding screen in iOS Settings only shows unconditional forwarding — Hiya's setup won't appear there, so an empty screen is normal.
After activating, you may notice that calls from your saved contacts are being screened. To prevent this, make sure Allow contacts is enabled in the app — this tells Hiya Spam Blocker not to screen or flag anyone already in your contacts list. See How to allow all calls from your contacts for steps.
Call Screener and In Call Protection use your microphone:
Call Screener uses it to answer screened calls on your behalf and to record a custom voicemail greeting.
In Call Protection listens during active calls to warn you in real time if it detects fraud or an AI voice.
Your privacy: audio is securely analyzed but never stored, and Hiya will never record you without your consent.
If you'd rather not allow it: you can decline or turn off microphone access in your device settings. Without it, Call Screener can't answer screened calls.
Open Hiya Spam Blocker → Settings → tap Deactivate Call Screener and follow the on-screen instructions. This removes call forwarding from your carrier line.
You need to disable call forwarding manually. Open your device's default Phone app and dial:
Verizon: *73
AT&T / T-Mobile: ##004#
Other carriers: Try ##004# or ##21#
