Eliminating robocalls is about to get a whole lot easier with the release of Apple’s iOS 13.
The best thing so far about iOS 13 is that since I’ve installed the beta, I haven’t had to deal with [spoofed robocalls]. Not even once.
So how did I do it? In the Settings app, select Phone and then toggle Silence Unknown Callers. Now, when you get a call from a number that isn’t in your contacts list, your recent calls, or your Messages, it will ring silently, then go to voicemail. In the month I’ve been using it, spam calls are down by about 99%.
MacDailyNews Take: This is a much better solution that currently exists in iOS, where you can block contacts and phone numbers on your device.
When you block a phone number or contact, they can still leave a voicemail, but you won’t get a notification. Messages that are sent or received won’t be delivered. Also, the contact won’t get a notification that the call or message was blocked.
To see the phone numbers and contacts that you’ve blocked from Phone, FaceTime, or Messages:
• Phone: Go to Settings > Phone > Call Blocking & Identification.
• FaceTime: Go to Settings > FaceTime > Blocked.
• Messages: Go to Settings > Messages > Blocked.
From these screens, you can add or unblock contacts or unblock phone numbers.
To add a contact from Phone, go to Settings > Phone > Call Blocking & Identification > Block Contact. Then tap the contact that you want to block. To add a contact from Messages or FaceTime, go to Settings > Messages or Settings > FaceTime, scroll down and tap Blocked, tap Add New, then select the contact that you want to block. To unblock a contact or phone number, swipe left over the number, then tap Unblock.
Neither of that work if you use your iPhone for business as there are lots of unknown callers who are legit,
It works, just goes to voicemail where you can deal with it later. You don’t have to use it.
Just provider a filter that the users can define, like Mr Number for example.
It allows for wildcard blocking, but there are some limits on the number of wildcards you can define and also you cannot specify something like 800-XXX-XXXX, only patterns like 800-123-XXXX etc. can be specified.
I don’t think blocking all callers that are not in your contacts should be the only blocking option provided.
Has stopped my car warranty service spam calls! Was getting 3 a day!
Something else has happened out there…apparently. I haven’t changed anything and am not running the beta. However, my 2-4 daily spoofed number and/or robocalls have nearly stopped over about the past month. Anybody else had them slow down without doing anything? Not that I’m complaining!!!
I’ve been using Firewall for over three weeks. The good: stopped about 90% of the robocalls. The bad: there’s no way for me to block calls deemed by Firewall as “low risk.” For instance, it says the call is coming from Sprint (former Sprint customer). That’s what I got for checking “More Call Details.” But that’s all it tells you. It does not allow you to block it.
I’ve been using AT&T’s Call Protect app. Not 100% but it’s made the last month much more bearable. Plus it gives me CallerID names.
Of course, if your clients include government departments, their lan-line calls often show up as “unknown.” This would make it impossible for me to take advantage of this feature as currently described.
This doesn’t sound like a good business phone solution. Business calls need to be answered immediately.