How to change default dialer Android: Settings, Apps, Default apps, Phone app

The default dialer on Android is the app that places calls, shows the incoming-call screen and keeps the call history; Android calls it the default phone app. Every phone ships with one, and Android lets the user hand that job to a single other app at a time. Google’s help pages describe the route on recent versions as Settings, then Apps, then Default apps, then Phone app, and note that some steps only work on Android 14 and up. Phones from other makers often use slightly different menu names, so the search box at the top of Settings is the quickest way in: type “default apps”. There is also a shortcut: when a dialer app opens for the first time it can ask for the role, and Android shows a prompt the user must accept. Two facts reassure most people. Contacts are not moved by the change, and Android’s developer documentation states that the phone’s preloaded dialer is always used for emergency calls. Weo Dialer, a calling CRM app, uses exactly this role to put lead details on each call.

Steps to change default dialer on Android

These are the steps Google publishes for its Pixel phones. On other brands the labels can read differently, and the default apps screen may sit under a different heading. If the menu is hard to find, search Settings for “default” and open the phone or dialer entry.

Default dialer change from the app’s own prompt

Most dialer apps do not wait for you to find the menu. Android lets an app ask for the dialer role, available since Android 10, and the system shows a request the user has to approve. Google’s own Phone app, for example, asks you to tap “Set as default” when it is opened. Weo Dialer does the same in its guided setup, followed by requests for notifications and alarms, which it needs for missed-call alerts and follow-up reminders that ring on time. If you dismissed the prompt, the Settings route above does the same job. Turning that role into a working calling session is covered in how to set up auto dialer sessions.

Default dialer change: what stays the same

• Your SIM and number. Calls still go out on the SIM in the phone and are billed under your plan.
• Contacts. They live in the phone’s contacts storage or Google account, not inside the dialer.
• Emergency calls. Android’s documentation says the preloaded dialer is always used for an emergency call, even when another app holds the dialer role.
• The option to switch back. Return to Default apps and pick the original phone app at any time.

Default dialer change: what a business dialer adds

Changing the default only makes sense if the new app does something the old one did not. For a phone used for sales, Weo Dialer keeps calls, contacts and history working as before and adds a full-screen call screen with the caller’s name, lead status and last remark, even over the lock screen; an after-call sheet for status, remark and follow-up in two taps; a choice of SIM per call or a default business SIM; and missed-call alerts with call-back and WhatsApp buttons. A side-by-side of what changes is on the dialer app for business page.

Default dialer change example

An illustration with round numbers, not a customer result.

A pharmaceutical distributor in Agra gives its 6 order-booking staff Android phones from three different brands. The office manager switches all six to Weo Dialer in one afternoon. On four phones, the guided setup’s prompt sets the default in one tap. On the other two, the prompt was dismissed by accident, so she opens Settings, searches “default”, opens the phone app entry and picks Weo Dialer. She then makes one test call from each phone to the office landline, checks that the after-call sheet opens, and confirms the business SIM is selected on the dual-SIM handsets. Personal contacts on each phone are untouched.

Default dialer change: limits and cautions

• Menu names vary. Google’s published steps are for Pixel phones; other makers can label things differently, and older Android versions may not show every option.
• Only full phone apps qualify. An app must provide a dial pad and the incoming and in-call screens to appear in the list.
• Work profiles can behave differently. Google’s help for its Phone app says it can be set as default only in the personal profile, so check managed work phones with your IT admin.
• This guide is Android only. Weo Dialer’s iPhone app has every feature except reading the phone’s call log; ask on WhatsApp how calling works there.

Default dialer on Android FAQ