Urgent Calls Can now Override Do Not Disturb Mode.
Google has begun rolling out its new Expressive Calling feature to users enrolled in the Phone by Google beta programme, introducing a smarter way to flag urgent calls on Android devices. The feature allows callers to mark a call as urgent, triggering visual alerts and haptic feedback that can even override Do Not Disturb (DND) mode, ensuring important calls are not missed.
The update follows Google’s earlier announcement this month and is part of a broader push to enhance communication clarity and AI-powered experiences across its Phone and Gemini apps.
Expressive Calling Begins Rolling Out to Beta Users
According to media reports, Expressive Calling is now appearing for select users running the Phone by Google beta, reportedly version 203. The feature is designed to make incoming calls more noticeable by combining animated visuals, vibrations, and clear urgency indicators.
Users can check whether the feature is available by opening the Phone app, navigating to Settings > General, and scrolling to Expressive Calling. The primary toggle—enabled by default—adds visual and vibration effects to incoming calls. An optional setting allows urgent calls to bypass Do Not Disturb, making it particularly useful for emergencies or time-sensitive communication.
How Urgent Calls Work on Google Phone
At launch, Expressive Calling appears to function only when both the caller and recipient are using the Phone by Google beta app. When placing a call, eligible users are prompted to decide whether they want to mark the call as urgent.
If selected, the recipient sees a prominent “It’s urgent!” message on the incoming call screen, accompanied by an animated siren icon and enhanced vibration alerts. If the call is missed, it is clearly labeled as urgent in the call history, helping users quickly identify and return important calls.
This feature is designed to strike a balance between respecting focus settings and ensuring critical communication is not overlooked.
Google Expands AI Capabilities with Gemini 3 Deep Think
Alongside the Expressive Calling rollout, Google has also officially launched Gemini 3 Deep Think within the Gemini app. Available exclusively to Google AI Ultra subscribers, this new reasoning mode represents Google’s most advanced AI thinking capability to date.
The update targets power users who frequently work with complex tasks in areas such as mathematics, science, coding, and logical reasoning, further positioning Gemini as a high-performance AI assistant.
A Major Leap in AI Reasoning Performance
According to Google, Gemini 3 Deep Think improves problem-solving accuracy by running multiple reasoning paths in parallel, allowing the AI to evaluate solutions more deeply and efficiently than previous models.
Google reports strong benchmark performance, with Deep Think achieving 41.0% on Humanity’s Last Exam without external tools and 45.1% on the ARC-AGI-2 benchmark when code execution is enabled. These results, shared via an official Google blog post, are described as setting a new standard for AI-driven reasoning performance.
With Expressive Calling enhancing real-time communication and Gemini 3 Deep Think pushing the boundaries of artificial intelligence reasoning, Google continues to refine its ecosystem with features designed for urgency, intelligence, and productivity—especially for advanced Android and AI users.
