Galaxy S26 could save you from spam calls with Google's help

Despite global government and regulatory efforts, spam calls have continued to rise in recent years. Samsung’s upcoming smartphones could help address this issue, as the company appears to be adopting Google’s own spam call detection solution.

A new report from Android Authority claims that the Galaxy S26 series will be the first non-Pixel smartphones to use Google’s Scam Detection feature. The model numbers of the Galaxy S26 series were earlier reportedly spotted in version 206.0.857916353 of the Phone by Google app, alongside references to “Sharpie,” which is Google’s internal codename for the Scam Detection feature.

On the Pixel 9 series and newer Pixel phones in select countries, Scam Detection works using the on-device Gemini Nano model via AI Core. Older Pixel devices use Google’s on-device machine learning models. Since the model numbers of Samsung’s upcoming phones appeared alongside those of the Pixel 9 series, it suggests that the Galaxy S26 lineup will also use Gemini Nano to detect and block spam calls.

The feature depends on a Google app called Android CallCore, which is available on the Play Store and powers call-related features on supported phones. Android CallCore recently gained the ability to identify spam calls, and log files from the Galaxy S26 Ultra indicate that the device already supports the Android CallCore app.

In terms of privacy, this would be a notable improvement over third-party services like TrueCaller.

It isn't clear if the spam call detection feature would be available in all countries or restricted to a few markets. Things can get clearer only after the announcement of the Galaxy S26 series next month.