The Phone App, Front to Back (Android)

The Phone App and How It's Laid Out

Open the green Phone app and look along the bottom (on Pixel) or the top (on Samsung). You will see a few little buttons — these are your tabs, and each one is a different room. Tapping between them is how you get around.

You cannot hurt anything by tapping between these tabs. Poke through all of them now, just to see what is in each one. The tab you are looking at is the one lit up in color. Voicemail may appear as its own tab, or as the number 1 you press and hold on the keypad — page 12 covers both.

• Recents — a running list of calls you made, answered, and missed. On Samsung this may be called Recents and share the screen with the keypad.
• Contacts — your full address book (covered in its own guide).
• Keypad — the number pad, for dialing a number by hand.
• Favorites — your handful of most-called people, one tap away.

Making a Call — Two Ways

There are really just two ways to place a call: tap a name you have saved, or type a number by hand. Most days you will use the first.

• Open Phone and tap Contacts (or Favorites).
• Find the person and tap their name.
• Tap the call button (the green handset), or the phone number itself. It starts ringing them.

When to Use the Keypad, When to Use Contacts

Both make calls — the difference is simply whether the person is already saved in your phone.

• You already have the person saved — which is nearly always, for family and friends.
• You want the phone to show their name on future calls instead of a number.
• You want the call to be one easy tap, with no chance of a wrong digit.

Answering and Ending a Call

When a call comes in, what you see depends on whether the phone is awake in your hand or locked in your pocket. Both are easy once you know the difference.

If the phone is ringing at a bad moment but you do not want to send the caller straight to voicemail, press the volume down button (or the power/side button) once. The ringing stops, but the call keeps trying — you can still answer, or let it go to voicemail on its own.

• Phone awake: tap the green Answer button.
• Phone locked: swipe the green handset upward (on some phones you drag it to the side). A little arrow usually shows which way.
• Not now? Swipe the red button, or tap Decline, to send them to voicemail.

The Buttons You See During a Call

Once a call connects, a set of round buttons appears. They look busy, but you will only ever use two or three. Here is what each one does, so none of them can surprise you.

A button glowing or filled-in means it is turned on. Tap it again to turn it back off. Nothing here is permanent — it all resets when the call ends.

• Mute — turns off your microphone so they cannot hear you. You still hear them.
• Keypad — brings up the number pad for 'press 1' menus.
• Speaker — plays the call out loud so you can set the phone down.
• Add call — brings a third person onto the line (page 17).
• Video call — switches to a video call, if the app and the other person support it.
• Hold — pauses the call for both of you (page 9); not every carrier offers it.

Speakerphone and Turning Up the Volume

If you strain to hear on calls, this page alone is worth the book. Two simple adjustments — speaker and volume — make a world of difference.

While you are on a call, press the volume up button on the side of the phone. This raises the call volume specifically. Do it during the call, not before — the side buttons control different volumes at different times.

• During a call, tap the Speaker button.
• The caller now comes through the phone's loudspeaker — set it on the table and talk hands-free.
• Tap it again to go back to holding it at your ear.

Muting Yourself and Putting a Call on Hold

Two useful ways to step away from a call for a moment without hanging up — and they are easy to mix up, so here is the plain difference.

If your phone shows a Hold button, tap it to pause the call for both of you — handy if you need to answer the door. Tap it again to come back. Not every carrier or phone offers Hold, so do not worry if you do not see it.

• Tap the Mute button (a microphone). It fills in or lights up to show it is on.
• You can still hear them; they just cannot hear you — a cough, a comment to your spouse, background noise.
• Tap Mute again to un-mute and rejoin the conversation.

Favorites and Speed Dial — Your People, One Tap Away

Favorites are the short list of people you call most. Once set up, calling them is a single tap — no searching, no dialing.

Many Android phones also let you press and hold a single number on the Keypad to call a favorite — for example, hold 2 to call your daughter. On Samsung, open the keypad menu (three dots) and look for Speed dial numbers to set these up. On Pixel, favorites in the Phone app do the same job with a single tap.

• Open a person in Contacts and tap the star at the top. That adds them to Favorites.
• Or open the Favorites tab, tap Add (a plus or the word Add), and pick a person.
• They now appear in the Favorites tab, ready for a one-tap call.

Recents — Who Called, Who You Missed

The Recents tab is your call history — every call made, answered, and missed, newest at the top. It is one of the handiest lists on the phone.

To clear the list, open the menu (three dots) and choose Clear call history, or swipe a single entry and tap Delete. Clearing Recents does not delete any saved contacts — it only tidies the history.

• Red names or numbers (or a red missed-call arrow) are calls you missed.
• Tap any name or number to call them right back in one tap.
• Tap the little i or arrow beside an entry to see details, or to save the number as a contact.
• A number with a small message icon means they left a text or voicemail.

Setting Up Voicemail and Recording Your Greeting

Voicemail lets people leave you a message when you cannot pick up. The first time, you set a password and record a short greeting — then it just works from then on. On Android, voicemail is run by your phone company, so the first steps happen right on the keypad.

• Open the Keypad and press and hold the 1 key. This dials your voicemail.
• Follow the spoken instructions to set a password (a few digits) — write it down somewhere safe.
• When it offers, choose to record a personal greeting.

Listening to Your Voicemail

There are two ways to hear a message. The old way is to dial in and listen. The nicer way, if your carrier offers it, is Visual Voicemail — you see your messages as a list and play them in any order, no dialing required.

If your phone has a Voicemail tab in the Phone app, tap it. New messages have a dot. Tap a message to play it, drag the little slider to replay a part you missed, and tap the trash can to delete. Many carriers even show a written transcript so you can read what someone said — wonderful for catching a phone number.

• Open the Keypad and press and hold 1.
• Enter your password if asked, then follow the spoken menu to play, replay, or delete.
• Turn on Speaker if it is hard to hear.

Call Screening — Ask Who's Calling First

Google Pixel phones have a genuinely clever trick called Call Screen. When an unknown number rings, your phone can answer for you, ask the caller who they are and why they are calling, and show you their answer as text — all before you decide to pick up.

Samsung does not have Pixel's exact Call Screen, but it shows a caller ID and spam label on unknown calls, so you often see 'Spam' or a business name before you answer. You can also install the free Google Phone app from the store to get Call Screen, though it is not needed. Keep it simple — the built-in labels do most of the work.

• When an unknown call comes in, tap Screen call.
• Your phone politely asks the caller to say who they are. You read their reply on screen.
• You can then tap to pick up, or hang up if it is junk.

Spam Protection and Silencing Unknown Callers

If your phone rings all day with numbers you do not know, a couple of settings can give you back your peace. Both Samsung and Pixel have them; the wording differs a little.

In the same Phone settings, look for an option to filter or silence unknown callers (on Pixel it may say 'Filter spam calls'; on Samsung, 'Block unknown/private numbers'). Turn it on and callers who are not in your Contacts go quietly to voicemail, where you can check them at your leisure.

• On Pixel: in the Phone app, open the menu (three dots) > Settings > Caller ID & spam, and switch it on.
• On Samsung: in the Phone app, open the menu > Settings > look for Caller ID and spam protection, and switch it on.
• Now suspected junk calls arrive labeled 'Spam' or 'Scam likely,' so you can skip them.

Blocking a Number for Good

If one particular number keeps bothering you, you can block it. A blocked caller can no longer ring you or leave voicemail — they simply stop getting through.

In the Phone app menu (three dots) > Settings, look for Blocked numbers. There you can see everyone you have blocked and tap to unblock anyone you blocked by mistake. Blocking is never permanent — you are always in control.

• Open Recents and find the call.
• Tap the number (or the i beside it), then look for Block or Block/report spam.
• Confirm. On both Samsung and Pixel you can also choose to report it as spam, which helps warn others.

Getting Three People on One Call

Sometimes you want two people on the line at once — you, your sister, and the doctor, say. That is a conference call, and it is just a couple of taps.

You can add another person the same way, up to your carrier's limit. Tapping the red End button hangs up the whole call for everyone. Not every phone plan supports merging, so do not worry if you do not see Merge.

• While on the first call, tap Add call. The first person waits quietly.
• Call the second person as you normally would.
• Once they answer, tap Merge (or Merge calls). Now all three of you are talking together.

Wi-Fi Calling and Clearer Sound

If calls sound crackly at home, or you have a weak signal in one room, Wi-Fi Calling can help. It lets your phone place regular calls over your home internet instead of the cell tower — often clearer, and it works even where the signal is thin.

Once it is on, calls just work as usual — you dial and answer the same way. When you are on Wi-Fi, the call quietly travels over the internet. There is nothing extra to remember.

• On Pixel: Phone app menu > Settings > Calls > Wi-Fi calling, and switch it on.
• On Samsung: Phone app menu > Settings > look for Wi-Fi calling, and switch it on.
• Your carrier must support it (most big ones do). If you do not see it, your plan may not offer it.

Do Not Disturb — Quiet, But Not For Everyone

Do Not Disturb silences your ringer and notifications so the phone stays quiet — during a nap, at church, or overnight. The clever part is you can let the people who matter ring through anyway.

In the Do Not Disturb settings (press and hold that same button), you can allow calls from Favorites or Contacts, or let a call ring through if the same person calls twice in a row. That way an emergency from family still reaches you while the junk stays silent.

• Swipe down from the top of the screen to open Quick Settings.
• Tap the Do Not Disturb button (a moon or a circle with a line). The ringer goes quiet.
• Tap it again to turn it back off when you are ready for calls.

Phone Scams and Spoofed Numbers

The telephone is a scammer's favorite tool because a voice feels personal and urgent. You do not need to be fearful — you need to know the handful of shapes these calls take. Once you can spot them, they lose their power.

• 'This is the IRS / Social Security' — threatening arrest or lost benefits unless you pay right now. Real agencies do not call and threaten like this.
• 'This is Medicare, confirm your number' — fishing for your Medicare or Social Security number. Medicare does not cold-call to 'verify' you.
• 'Your grandson is in jail and needs bail' — a panicked story pushing you to wire money fast. Hang up and call your grandson directly.
• 'This is tech support, your computer has a virus' — asking to get into your computer or for payment. Real companies do not call you like this.
• 'Confirm your bank details, or a code we just texted you' — never read a code or password aloud to a caller.

Plain-English Word List

The handful of terms that come up around phone calls, translated into plain talk.

What's in the 27-page PDF

• Pages 3-7: The basics — the tabs, making, answering, and ending calls, and the buttons on screen
• Pages 8-11: Everyday comfort — speaker and volume, mute and hold, Favorites and speed dial, and Recents
• Pages 12-13: Voicemail done right — setup, your greeting, and listening
• Pages 14-19: Peace and quiet — call screening, spam protection, blocking, conference calls, clearer calls, and Do Not Disturb
• Page 20: Phone scams and spoofed numbers
• Pages 21-22: Your everyday cheat sheet and a plain-English word list

Why I wrote this

I write these as printable handouts because a guide you can keep in a drawer beats a web page you have to find again. No jargon, no judgment, no rushing. If you'd rather have someone sit beside you and go through it together, that's a flat $99 first visit with the 30-day follow-up included — serving Portage County from Atwater, Ohio. — Bill