We are driving a car and receiving a call "> Help to set up Android Auto in the car Set up automatic reply on Android and iOS
Before seeing how to set up the automatic speakerphone, we will have to configure our smartphone to automatically answer calls as soon as we receive them, so that we can start the conversation without taking our eyes off the road. On Android we can set the automatic answer by going to the Phone menu (reachable in the system settings or as options of the Calls app) and tap on Automatic answer .
In this menu we activate the Auto Answer item, set a fairly short delay (3 seconds is fine) and choose in which scenario to start the automatic answer ( Always is also fine, since we will use the speakerphone to listen to the interlocutor).
If, on the other hand, we have an Apple smartphone, we can activate automatic call answering by going to Settings -> General -> Accessibility -> Call routing -> Answer automatically and activating the switch on the screen.
Once the voice is activated we indicate how many seconds to let pass before the phone automatically answers incoming calls (3 seconds are enough, but we can also set more time).
Now that the devices are able to automatically answer incoming calls, let's see together how to automatically activate the speakerphone as soon as the call is active.
Automatically initiate hands-free calls on Android
On Android, this functionality can only be obtained by downloading an app dedicated to the purpose such as Auto Speaker, available for free download from here -> Auto Speaker .
Once installed on your Android smartphone, simply start it and make sure that the Active item is selected.
With the default settings the phone will automatically activate the speakerphone as soon as we receive a call, so that you don't have to use your hands and get distracted behind the wheel. If we set the silent or the vibration, the app will not work in order to respect the user's choice not to be disturbed. In the advanced settings of the app we can set various parameters to adjust this functionality such as keeping the screen on for the duration of the call, automatically setting the speakerphone volume to the maximum, setting a delay to turn the speakerphone speaker on and off and how to adjust if there are Bluetooth headsets or headphones inserted. The app works very well on almost all recent Android: in case of problems we can use the Calibration function to adjust the activation of the speakerphone on any Android device. Unfortunately, on some Android devices it may not work properly, so it is better to test it well otherwise it will not be possible to get the automatic speakerphone. There are also other similar apps in the Play Store, but they are no longer updated: this is the only one with which you can automatically start hands-free calls when we are in the car or we want a way to automatically answer calls without having to press anything on the screen .
If we still want to try one of the alternative apps available for Android (maybe because yours doesn't work the one reviewed in this guide) below we have collected all those with similar functionality:
- Auto-Hands-Free
- Auto speaker
Automatically initiate hands-free calls on iOS
On iPhones, it is much easier to start the speakerphone automatically when we receive calls, since the functionality is integrated into the operating system and we will not have to download any additional apps.
To automatically start hands-free calls on iOS let's go to the path Settings -> General -> Accessibility -> Call routing and select the Loudspeaker item.
From now on, when we receive calls we will answer completely automatically and immediately the speakerphone will be active, so that we can immediately hear the interlocutor on the other side of the phone without the need to touch the screen. In this mode the speakerphone is always active, we will have to touch the speakerphone icon on the screen to deactivate it. We will not have all the variety of options as on the Android app, but being integrated into the system we can take advantage of it immediately without fear of anything (the Android app may not work on some devices).
Use voice commands to automatically initiate hands-free calls
Another way we can follow to automatically start hands-free calls on both Android and iOS is to rely on the respective voice assistants, namely Google Assistant and Siri . If we have activated the voice commands, all we have to do is say "OK, Google" on Android or "Hey Siri" on the iPhone and, as soon as the assistant is ready to record, say the following voice command:
Call handsfree
Where instead of the name we will have to use the name with which our contact is saved in the phone book. Immediately the voice assistant will start the call with the speakerphone active, without ever having to tap on the screen.
