Your urgent calls can now bypass DND on Android
What's the story
Google is testing a new feature for its Phone app, called "Expressive Calling." The innovative capability allows users to mark certain calls as urgent, even overriding Do Not Disturb (DND) settings. When an urgent call is made, the recipient gets an "It's urgent!" notification along with a flashing siren emoji. However, both the caller and receiver need to have the beta version of Phone by Google (version 203) for this feature to work.
User guide
How to access the new feature
To check if they have the new feature, beta users can go to Phone Settings > General > Expressive Calling (at the bottom). The main toggle for "Enhance calling with visual and haptic feedback" is enabled by default. Users also have the choice to enable or disable "Urgent call can interrupt Do Not Disturb." This gives them control over whether urgent calls should bypass DND settings.
Feature functionality
How Expressive Calling works
Once the feature is enabled, a "Mark call as urgent?" card appears above the usual controls on the calling screen. Users can tap on "Notify" to mark a call as urgent. The recipient then sees an "It's urgent!" alert and flashing siren emoji on their screen. If they miss the call, it gets marked as urgent in their call history for easy identification later.