How to Use iPhone Auto-Answer

You're expecting an important phone call. Wait, that might be it right now. But you can't answer it. Maybe you're driving and don't want to reach for the phone. Maybe you're cooking, and your hands are wet or greasy. Maybe you're exercising and don't want to fall off the treadmill.

Whatever the reason, you just can't pick up your phone right now or press the button to answer the call. If you don't want to miss the call, there is a solution.

Courtesy of iOS 11, you can tell your iPhone to answer incoming calls automatically. The trick is to access the setting for Call Audio Routing and turn on the option for Auto-Answer Calls. You can then set the number of seconds in which a call is automatically answered. You can even automatically answer FaceTime audio or video calls, Wi-Fi calls, and calls from services such as Skype. Let's try it out.

Update Your Phone

First, make sure you’ve updated your iPhone to iOS 11 or higher. Open Settings > General > Software Update. Your phone will either tell you that your software is up to date or give you the ability to download and install the latest update.

Call Audio Routing

Go back to the General screen in Settings and move to Accessibility. Swipe down the screen and tap on the entry for Call Audio Routing.

Auto-Answer Calls

At the Call Audio Routing screen, tap on the setting for Auto-Answer Calls. Turn it on. Next, set the number of seconds that you want to wait until the call is automatically answered. You can choose any duration from 1 second to 60 seconds. You can also select the current number of seconds and type a different number.

Answering the Phone

Go back to the Call Audio Routing screen to select how you want to receive phone calls that come through automatically. Keeping the setting at Automatic means the call comes through the regular iPhone speaker, not the speakerphone. So you'd need to be very close to your phone to even hear the other person.

Changing the setting to Bluetooth Headset means the call is routed to a Bluetooth device, which is handy if you're wearing such a headset. And changing the setting to Speaker means the call is heard through your speakerphone. Using speakerphone is probably the handiest one, since you can start talking to the other person as soon as the call comes through.

Test Auto-Answer

Now have someone call your phone. Try a regular audio phone call. Try FaceTime audio and video calls. And try a call from Skype. In each case, the call should be picked up automatically so you can simply begin speaking without touching the phone or pressing any buttons.

Turn Off Auto-Answer

After you're finished with your important call, you can disable Auto-Answer. Just go back to Settings > General > Accessibility > Call Audio Routing > Auto-Answer Calls and turn it off. Also remember to set Call Audio Routing back to Automatic.