How to Fake a Dropped Call on iPhone - MacRumors
Skip to Content

How to Fake a Dropped Call on iPhone

by

If you want to end a call on your iPhone without seeming rude, this handy little trick is for you. Keep reading to learn how to fake a dropped call.

iphone 11 pro hands on
Whenever you hang up a call on iPhone, the person on the other end sees a message on their phone saying "Call Ended." This indicates that you ended the call on purpose, because if the call had dropped due to poor cellular coverage, the message that the person would read would have been "Call Failed," which sounds a lot less intentional.

What if you want to end a call without it looking like you abruptly hung up? In fact, you can do this on iPhone using Airplane mode. When Airplane mode is enabled during a call, the call immediately ends and the person on the other end sees "Call Failed," as if the conversation ended through no fault of your own. Granted, it's sneaky, but it works.

The quickest way to turn on Airplane Mode is via Control Center. Swipe down diagonally from the top-right corner of the screen (if your iPhone has a Home button, swipe up from the bottom of the screen). Then, tap the button that looks like an airplane so that it turns orange and the green cellular button next to it grays out. The cellular provider name in the top-left corner will also be replaced by a plane symbol.

control center
This should immediately end the call, and all that the person on the other end will see is that the call "failed." If you still appear to be on the call, chances are you have Wi-Fi calling enabled, in which case simply tap the blue Wi-Fi button in Control Center to end Wi-Fi calling.

Popular Stories

Four iPhone 18 Pro Colors Mock Feature

iPhone 18 Pro: Pre-Orders and Release Date

Thursday August 20, 2026 8:00 am PDT by
Apple has yet to reveal when the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Ultra will be announced and released, but the dates usually follow a familiar pattern. As usual, the iPhone event is expected to take place in the first half of September. Labor Day falls on September 7 this year. The last time the holiday was on that day was in 2020, but the iPhone event that year was delayed until October due to...
Foldable iPhone 2023 Feature 1

Gurman: iPhone Ultra Wows Early Testers, Except for Its Camera

Sunday August 23, 2026 11:19 am PDT by
Apple's upcoming foldable iPhone Ultra is winning over the few people who have had hands-on time with the device, though the camera setup may leave some users wanting, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Writing in his latest Power On newsletter, Gurman says people who have used the device – which is reportedly referred to internally as the iPhone Ultra – like how it fits in your...
macOS 27 next to MacBook Pro Running macOS 27

macOS Golden Gate Marks the End of an Era

Thursday August 20, 2026 2:19 pm PDT by
macOS 27 Golden Gate is not compatible with any Macs with Intel processors, marking the end of an era. The update, which is currently in beta ahead of a release later this year, is limited to Apple silicon Macs with an M1 chip or newer. Last year, Apple said that macOS 26 Tahoe would be the final macOS release compatible with Intel-based Macs, so this was an expected development. Intel...