Organizations evaluating whether texting is right for them will encounter data security, legal, and compliance concerns as chief obstacles to overcome in conversations with team members. 

At Hustle, we’ve helped thousands of organizations of all sizes overcome these hurdles with product leadership, subject-matter expertise, a robust security program, and contractual agreements that can give your team the confidence they need to get texting.  

Note: the articles in this series are for general informational purposes only and do not constitute legal advice. Hustle is not a law firm, and reading this article does not create an attorney-client relationship. Laws and carrier policies change and can vary by jurisdiction and use case. You should consult qualified counsel about your specific situation.

In this article, we’ll walk through the new iOS26 updates, what they mean for your organization, and how Hustle can help.

At Hustle, we’ve historically recommended that brands send texts which encourage conversations through text with your audience members. Conversations are memorable. They build trust and affinity with audiences. They drive participation. And with this new update, conversations can now help ensure your messages are read at all.

What is iOS26 message screening?

With the recent iOS26 update, folks with iPhones will have new inbox management filters available to them in the native messaging app to distinguish messages from “known” contacts and messages from “unknown senders”. Messages from “unknown senders” will remain in a separate, dedicated folder until the iPhone owner adds them as contacts or replies to a message sent by the number.

Here are some recommendations for brands to avoid being an unknown sender:

First, use fewer (and consistent) phone numbers to contact audience members.

We’ve always advocated that brands use Hustle to build and strengthen relationships with your audiences. One bridge in that relationship is the phone number that your audience comes to associate with your brand – and the rich history of conversation that takes place over that number when it’s used consistently. That’s why Hustle developed thread consistency into the heart of the product. We get why brands may not always take advantage of these opportunities to use a consistent phone number. Old habits die hard. Training folks is time-consuming and overseeing them is even harder. Recently, we even learned that some brands are still stuck using service providers where every message has to be sent from a new number. Bonkers! Well, with some of these iOS26 changes, the need to continue the conversation over a consistent phone number to build trust and brand recognition is now greater.

Next, since messages sent from iPhone owners (to your brand) keep you out of their “unknown sender” folder, proactively encourage audience members to send a text to your organization’s phone numbers you use to text.

Ok, sure, but how?

• Include the phone number on printed materials
• Share the number (or a QR code) at events
• Run promotions on digital/social, or as part of an upcoming email campaign, for new subscribers

Each of these suggestions are also, conincidentally, great ways to grow your mobile subscriber list! Now they also have an added benefit of helping your brand stay out of the “unknown sender” folder.

At Hustle, we have a lot of tools to help you grow your audience in a compliant manner. We definitely recommend you check out our keywords and automations features, which allow you to set up a welcome series for new subscribers, automate follow-ups, and free up your staff’s time with automated keyword responses to FAQs.

Lastly, send your audience a contact card.

Including contact cards in your messages makes it easy for audience members to save your number in their phone – regardless of whether they’re an iPhone or Android user. If you’re saved as a contact in their phone, then you’ll stay out of the unknown sender folder. As you may have guessed, Hustle has you covered here, too.

Customers can create contact cards for their organizations and include them in messages as they see fit. Generally, we recommend including contact cards in any new subscriber automations and welcome series. It might seem obvious, but if someone saves your organization’s phone number as a contact, the brand recognition is instant every time you send them a text from that same number. Brand recognition helps build trust with your audience, which can in turn help to boost engagement.

At Hustle, we were founded on the core values of encouraging authentic communication and respecting audiences. These values are embedded in our product. It’s no surprise, then, that brands that value a lasting, deep connection with audience members have long found a welcome home here at Hustle. So while other service providers are now being forced (with some kicking and screaming) to adopt these values to accommodate changes introduced by the broader messaging ecosystem, customers at Hustle can keep on keeping on.

As always, let us know how we can help, and drop us a line at [email protected] if you have any questions, or want to learn more about Hustle.

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