Why does iPhone sometimes try to make you answer calls?

Have you ever gotten a call from someone you didn't want to talk to at the moment, stared at the screen and wondered why the Decline button always disappeared at the worst possible moment? Don't worry, your iPhone isn't biased or forcing you to answer a call you've been avoiding!

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iPhone has two ways to answer a call

While there are always memes joking about how Apple sometimes lets you decline calls and sometimes forces you to talk, Apple intentionally designed two different interfaces for the iPhone's incoming call screen.

When you get a call on your iPhone (or even iPad), you’ll see Decline and Accept buttons or a slider to answer. On the first screen, you can press any button to perform the desired action. When you see the slider, just drag it to the right to accept the call.

Many people think that the slider is Apple's way of forcing you to answer a call you want to ignore, but that's not the case. The screen you get when you receive a call depends on whether your iPhone is locked or unlocked.

It's easy to accidentally press the Accept or Decline button, especially if your iPhone is in your back pocket! So to avoid accidentally picking up or declining a call, you'll only see the slide to answer screen when your device is locked.

Even if you have Touch ID or Face ID enabled on your iPhone, as long as you're on the lock screen, you'll see the slider until you unlock your device and start using it. This makes it nearly impossible to accidentally accept or decline an incoming call.

On the other hand, when you're using your iPhone, you'll see options to accept or decline the call. Depending on the options you've set in Settings > Apps > Phone > Incoming Calls , you'll either see a Banner or the call will take up the entire screen ( Full Screen ).

With the former option, incoming calls will initially appear as a small notification at the top of the screen, with a red X and a blue check mark. When you tap on the call notification, it will expand to a full-screen page, where you'll see Accept and Decline buttons .

​​​​​You can still reject any call!

As we’ve seen, the slide-to-answer interface that appears when your iPhone is locked isn’t meant to force you to answer; it’s intentionally designed to prevent accidental answer or decline of calls. Since this screen only shows the slide to accept the call, many people assume there’s no way to decline the call and let the phone ring until it stops automatically.

Luckily, you can mute or decline an incoming call even in this situation. To mute the call, just press the side button or either volume button on your iPhone. To decline the call, quickly press the side button twice. That’s it! Depending on where you are, declining the call will either send it straight to voicemail or disconnect it immediately.

Even if you've been a long-time Apple ecosystem user, it can be frustrating at times when you can't easily decline a call, especially when someone calls while you're sound asleep! Although not receiving incoming calls on your iPhone can be even worse.