Respond to Incoming Calls with a Message on an iPhone
To respond to an incoming call on your iPhone with a text message, tap the Message button when receiving a call, then tap the message you want to send. You can tap Custom to write your own message, and you can use the Settings app to set what messages appear.
Contents
Steps
Responding with a Text Message
- Receive a call on your iPhone. You'll see the option to respond with a text message when you get an incoming call.
- Tap the Message button on the incoming call screen. This looks like a message bubble, and can be found on the right side of the screen, above the Slide to Answer or Accept button.
- Tap one of the preconfigured messages. There are three premade messages you can choose from. Tap one to decline the call and send the message.
- You can change these messages to whatever you'd like. See Changing the Default Message for details.
- Tap Custom to write your own message. This will open the Messages app and allow you to write a custom text message to send the caller.
Changing the Default Messages
- Tap the Settings app. You can find this on one of your Home screens, sometimes in a folder labeled "Utilities."
- Tap Phone.
- Tap Respond with Text.
- Tap one of the message fields.
- Type the message you want to use.
- Tap the X to delete a custom message.
- Tap your new messages when responding to a call. Your new custom messages will replace the original options that appear when you choose to respond with a text. Tapping one will send it immediately.
Tips
- While you can't set a voice message to respond with, you can tap the Decline button to send the caller to your voicemail message.
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- Decline a Phone Call with a Text Message
