Tech Desk 
Jun 10, 2025
An undated image. — Apple
If you happen to be in the tech loop, you must be well aware that Apple's much-awaited developers conference kicked off with a groundbreaking opening keynote by Apple CEO Tim Cook yesterday, disclosing an assortment of enhancements to its wide range of flagship products.
Besides lifting the veil off almost everything, except the iPhone 17 series, which was anticipated by industry insiders and prolific tipsters, the biggest eye-catching announcement was the introduction of iOS 26, complemented by improvements across its design, performance, and artificial intelligence (AI) features.
Although its two standout features were not proclaimed to be exclusively developed with the Pakistani audience in consideration, the two call management features, including “Hold Assist” and “Live Call Screening”, seem to be directly addressing communication challenges faced by users in Pakistan.
WWDC 2025 highlights: What is Hold Assist in iOS 26?
Hold Assist functions as a digital assistant during calls on an iPhone. When put on hold by banks, telecom helplines, or food delivery services, your iPhone can wait on your behalf. The feature even notifies users when a representative is available to save users hours of frustration.
WWDC 2025 highlights: What is Live Call Screening in iOS 26?
Similarly, Live Call Screening fine-tunes iPhone users' protection against spam and unwanted calls. Whenever there's a call from an unknown caller, the iPhone can answer automatically without ringing, asking the caller to state their name and reason for contacting. iPhone users then get a transcription of the caller’s response, which helps them decide whether to answer or ignore the call.
These features are particularly beneficial for iPhone users in Pakistan, where spam calls have skyrocketed to an all-time high. This exposes scammers who impersonate bank officials or genuine service providers.
