Blocking "unknown & Harassing Callers" There Oughta Be A Way!

[JD914]

Originally Posted by markyr17

Don't be a girly... Jailbreak and use iblacklist

Apple/AT&T won't add this

/discussion

+1 for iBlacklist

The bottom line is if you don't want to jailbreak then don't ask for something that you will never get.

Originally Posted by Mliii

Yes, except the OP was talking about a non JB phone.

The OP better reconsider his options.

[siufai]

Look up YouMail in the App Store. Also, more information here:

http://www.youmail.com/home/index.do

They will allow you to create custom messages for Blocked/Unknown numbers and give you the option to allow them to go to voicemail or hang up after the voicemail.

[8CoreWhore]

http://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs2a-cellcalls.htm

[pdqgp]

Originally Posted by frunkis54

Yes but your limited on how many numbers you can block last i checked it was 10.

if you need to block more than 10 numbers then the problem is with you not the service. pay your bills or treat the girls you date better

Actually it's 15 though "Blocked Numbers feature allows you to specify up to 15 specific numbers that you can block for incoming and outgoing calls."

[wattsja]

Originally Posted by kas23

The funny part is, putting in 3rd pary RAM into your Mac also supposedly voids your warranty. Does this stop anyone from actually doing this? I brought my Mac to the Genius Bar one time with 3rd party RAM in it. He told me that under normal circumstance, this would void my warranty, but allowed the repair anyways. He just told me to remove the RAM before coming in next time.

Wrong.

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=13946

[cocky jeremy]

Originally Posted by PNutts

1. Not everyone wants to jailbreak their phone and you should make it clear you are recommending they do so.

2. "/thread" is as useful as "cool story, bro". If believe the thread should be locked or moved to the wasteland, you may make a request to the mods. I understand that you believe your one word response answers the OP question and no further discussion is necessary, but that's not how it works.

It is telling that there is enough of a demand to produce a third party app.

I'm sure a quick search would let anyone know they had to jailbreak for iBlacklist.

/thread is quite useful, and in this case, very true. Nothing more needs to be said. iBlacklist is what he needs. Therefore, the thread is finished. There's ZERO reason to NOT jailbreak. If anything goes wrong, restore. No big deal. AT&T doesn't care if you're jailbroken. Apple might, depending on who you see, but like i said, restore.

[Brother Esau]

Originally Posted by markyr17

Don't be a girly... Jailbreak and use iblacklist

Apple/AT&T won't add this

/discussion

iBlacklist is the main reason I jailbroke my phone~!

[abercrombie]

As mentioned, I use Google Voice. It'll screen your calls, and those that are unwanted.

I NEVER give out my real AT&T number, even to close friends.

[Doctor Q]

A reminder to posters in this thread:

Under forum rules you should not make multiple posts in rapid succession. If you want to reply to more than one post, use the forum's Multi-Quote feature.

If you make a post, then think of something else to add immediately afterwards, edit your previous post.

Thank you.

[Applephile]

Originally Posted by cocky jeremy

I'm sure a quick search would let anyone know they had to jailbreak for iBlacklist.

/thread is quite useful, and in this case, very true. Nothing more needs to be said. iBlacklist is what he needs. Therefore, the thread is finished. There's ZERO reason to NOT jailbreak. If anything goes wrong, restore. No big deal. AT&T doesn't care if you're jailbroken. Apple might, depending on who you see, but like i said, restore.

The simple fact that you must hold out the "restore" option as a fallback position when advising me to jailbreak reveals your consciousness that its wrong and goes against Apples terms of use. And how lame is it to state the obvious by saying that AT&T doesn't care if we jailbreak when the hardware being tampered with belongs solely to Apple?

The fact is that since the technology exists to fix this problem with a simple update on Apples part, I see no reason to rely on some third party fix which requires me to go through the restore process the next time Apple releases a required update I need. Especially since this issue of allowing us to block unknown or harassing calls is so simple for them to fix from the handheld with an update if they will only be motivated to do it.

So, your repeated insistence that jailbreaking is the easy answer is nothing more than a temporary fix at best and a wasted effort in the long run.

[DroidRules]

Originally Posted by TurdFerguson

Do not give iBlacklist your money! They wont transfer your purchase to another phone, that means if you swap your phone at a genius bar or if you upgrade to a newer iPhone you have to re-buy the app! They pulled this on me and I stopped using it rather then pay another $12 just to get it onto my new iPhone.

That is a total fabrication. iBlacklist WILL transfer your service because I have done it with 2 different phones 2 different times.
Simple solution to your problem would be to download it from Rock, they will transfer your license when you upgrade your phone.

Originally Posted by Applephile

.....So, your repeated insistence that jailbreaking is the easy answer is nothing more than a temporary fix at best and a wasted effort in the long run.

Of course all the prompting in the world won't convince you to grow a pair and jailbreak your iPhone so you can get the service you are asking for. Your arguments against it are lame and your ignorance on the issue is tremendous. You have been given the answer yet choose not to accept it.... Sad for you. If you don't like the answer given write your own code and solve your own problem.

[james92se]

Originally Posted by Brother Esau

iBlacklist is the main reason I jailbroke my phone~!

Same here. A year or two back, I was looking high and low for a way to block calls and text messages from a certain person and all I could find was mentions of iBlacklist.

So, iBlacklist became THE reason I initially jailbroke and I've been using it ever since.

[asr10 user]

Get Google Voice and give that number out to people you are weary of. Or switch your main number to Google Voice.

Does everything you want done, and free, no jailbreak.

[cocky jeremy]

Originally Posted by Applephile

The simple fact that you must hold out the "restore" option as a fallback position when advising me to jailbreak reveals your consciousness that its wrong and goes against Apples terms of use. And how lame is it to state the obvious by saying that AT&T doesn't care if we jailbreak when the hardware being tampered with belongs solely to Apple?

The fact is that since the technology exists to fix this problem with a simple update on Apples part, I see no reason to rely on some third party fix which requires me to go through the restore process the next time Apple releases a required update I need. Especially since this issue of allowing us to block unknown or harassing calls is so simple for them to fix from the handheld with an update if they will only be motivated to do it.

So, your repeated insistence that jailbreaking is the easy answer is nothing more than a temporary fix at best and a wasted effort in the long run.

Uh.. it has nothing to do with your conscious. There's nothing wrong with jailbreaking your phone.. it's yours. You people act like it's first degree murder. If you want something that requires jailbreaking.. jailbreak or quit whining about not having it. Oh no, a jailbroken phone.. it's the end of the worlddddddd.

[bobr1952]

Originally Posted by ideal.dreams

It's probably not your best bet, as with Google Voice, you get a whole new free phone number. When people call that number, you can block them from calling it, but if they know your real one, they can still get through

iBlacklist is probably your best bet. There really aren't any risks of jailbreaking - jailbreakme.com does everything for you!

Very true--but for some of us that just don't want to jailbreak, this discussion is certainly valid as there should be something that would provide this service without jailbreaking.

[bunnicula]

I actually agree with the OP, to an extent.

The iPhone SHOULD have a setting that allows you to block "Unknown" numbers.

By that, I mean numbers that don't display on your caller id.

I had Sony Ericsson phones for years before I got my iPhone, and they all had a setting for "block unknown."

Seriously. It is that simple.

As for nuisance callers, though... well, you would have to subscribe to a service (like the one AT&T has), or JB to deal with those, I suppose.

I mean, it could be done on your handset, but with AT&T (and other cell companies) offering pay services to do this, there's a conflict of interest there.

[jacollins]

A possible gap this thread has brought to mind. In this situation, how would you block Facetimes (assuming they both have i4's and are both on WiFi)? I know you can ignore it (since it will be saying who it is coming from, it's not "unknown") but what if you don't even want to see the requests, and want to block it. ie. "Sorry, this user is not online". It's not going through the phone system, so phone company options won't work.

[Mliii]

Originally Posted by bunnicula

The iPhone SHOULD have a setting that allows you to block "Unknown" numbers.

By that, I mean numbers that don't display on your caller id.

I had Sony Ericsson phones for years before I got my iPhone, and they all had a setting for "block unknown."

Seriously. It is that simple.

I think that's exactly the point here- for UNKNOWN callers, or BLOCKED calls that don't display the number and for which there is no other mechanism to stop the calls, a built in setting is all that is required. And it IS something that's been available on dumb phones for a long time.

[SAD*FACED*CLOWN]

if someone is harrasing you from a blocked number, AT&T can tell you what number that is and they can block it, but depending on your state's laws you may need a police report first

[pdqgp]

Originally Posted by Mliii

I think that's exactly the point here- for UNKNOWN callers, or BLOCKED calls that don't display the number and for which there is no other mechanism to stop the calls, a built in setting is all that is required. And it IS something that's been available on dumb phones for a long time.

My iPH3Gs is Jailbroken and I love it. However, my wife wants hers standard, so I signed her up for CallTrap for $5mo. Works great. She really likes that it displays blocked numbers.

The call will still ring, but now she can see the number as does the service, even if they try and block it. If she has them blacklisted, she just hits the power button once which instead of dropping them into voice mail it gives them AT&T's greeting that says the number has been disconnected. If she doesn't hit the button, they still get the greeting, the only difference is she will hear the call ringing in.

It's a great service and you can cancel it once the irritating callers get the point.

[Interstella5555]

Originally Posted by Applephile

Hi all, For my first post in my first thread I wanted to take an opinion poll of sorts. I'm hoping that if enough of us speak up we can influence the powers that be at Apple to either fix the problem themselves or motivate AT&T to do it on their end. Here's my story and argument:

For more than a decade now, hard line phones have been able to key in a code on their phone such as for my service, Comcast, the code on my phone is *77 to activate it, and from that point on any unknown caller who attempts to reach us is immediately linked to a verbal message that says something like "Sorry, this caller doesn't accept blocked calls, please unblock your number and try again." This service costs nothing extra at all, simply dial in the code for your particular carrier and the service is activated.

Also, as a Father of 2 daughters and a friend to many parents of children with cell phones, the number of stories I have heard regarding ex boyfriends, girlfriends and wannabe's who have refused to take no for an answer are too voluminous to count. Unwanted "unknown callers" is also an issue with me. Even if we ignore the call, that doesn't stop them from using up our minutes by leaving an unwanted message.

The fact is I ported my phone number from T-Mobile when I came to AT&T to own an iPhone and I was with T-Mobile since they were VoiceStream so I have had this phone number going back 13 or 14 years now. People all across America have my number and it would be impossible to contact them all to a number change, nor would I want to change my number because of one jerk who can't take no for an answer.

My reason for raising this issue here and now was caused by asking a group of 25 young people (my daughters friends at a social gathering) who were discussing their phone services; I kind of broke in and asked first, how many of them have received unwanted, unknown and harassing phone calls from people they didn't want to hear from, and secondly, how many changed their phone numbers because of these issues?

Guys and girls alike raised their hands and proceeded to tell horror stories of every conceivable type of harassment, many saying they have changed their phone numbers more than once in order to evade harassment from broken relationships and friendships as well as from unknown and blocked callers. In speaking to AT&T about this issue, even though they admitted no fix exists, they graciously (NOT) said that they will allow ONE number change at no expense to the customer. How generous as they make millions per year from the unwanted minutes burned up because we suffer through calls and messages we don't want to receive in the first place.

As to why I'm here on an Apple forum rather than an AT&T forum? Because I have shown that carriers have a financial incentive to ignore this national problem which is epidemic because the minutes wasted by these unwanted calls line their coffers to the tune of millions of dollars per year. But Apple has no such financial incentive to ignore this universal problem. Their priority is to serve our needs and deal with making our phone experience as pleasant and SAFE as possible so they will care if enough of us speak out and agree with the spirit of this message.

IN CLOSING, MY HOPE IS THAT THOUSANDS OF YOU WILL SIMPLY WRITE AT LEAST A ONE WORD POST "AGREEING" WITH THE SPIRIT OF THIS POST SO THAT THE POWERS THAT BE FROM APPLE WILL EITHER CREATE A CODE VIA AN UPDATE OR FORCE AT&T TO OFFER A FREE FIX FOR US. JUST THINK, THEY WOULD BE THE ONLY COMPANIES IN THIS INDUSTRY WHO HAVE FIXED THIS VERY REAL ISSUE. BUT FEEL FREE TO SHARE PERSONAL STORIES IF YOU HAVE THEM. TALK ABOUT BEING INDUSTRY LEADERS, ISSUES LIKE THIS DEFINE THE TERM FOR THE COMPANIES THAT LEAD THE WAY. SO PLEASE, IF YOU AGREE WITH THE SPIRIT OF THIS COMPLAINT, SAY SO HERE AND LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD.

Thank you for reading my first post/Thread here, Let's rally the troops and together send a loud and clear message that the powers that be at APPLE and AT&T can't ignore. 10 years into the 21st century it's an abomination that this problem still exists.

You realize that submitting feedback to Apple will be a lot more effective than a post here, right?

[Interstella5555]

Originally Posted by kas23

Then they should quit their whinning. There's no such app outside of jailbreaking. Period.

The only other option is to use Google Voice, but this would provide the OP with an entirely new phone number and would not really fix his problem.



JBing does not void your warranty. Walking into the Genius Bar with a JB phone that is broken will void your warranty.

The funny part is, putting in 3rd pary RAM into your Mac also supposedly voids your warranty. Does this stop anyone from actually doing this? I brought my Mac to the Genius Bar one time with 3rd party RAM in it. He told me that under normal circumstance, this would void my warranty, but allowed the repair anyways. He just told me to remove the RAM before coming in next time.

You're wrong, JBing does void your warrenty, regardless of whether you restore before you being it in. That's like saying that modding your XBOX doesn't void your warranty; only sending a modded one to MS voids your warranty. Doing or not doing it is the users choice, just like the RAM. I installed 3rd party RAM on my MBP, but some people feel more comfortable using 1st party upgrades. As other users have said, you can purchase the service from AT&T, JBing isn't "the only way" to do it. I'm sure you don't like people telling you you're an idiot for JBing, don't do it to users who choose not to.

[auser1]

Switch to verizon they allow you to block up to five numbers who wont be able to text or call you. You can also change and add numbers as many times as you like. issue resolved. next

[pdqgp]

Originally Posted by Interstella5555

You're wrong, JBing does void your warrenty, regardless of whether you restore before you being it in. That's like saying that modding your XBOX doesn't void your warranty; only sending a modded one to MS voids your warranty. .

I think his point is pretty clear...jail breaking is absolutely zero risk in terms of issues with Apple warranty unless the person owning the phone is an idiot and walks in with a JB phone asking for warranty help. Just restore it go in and viola, zero issues. I call any JB warranty issues, user errors.

[csnull]

Originally Posted by Applephile

Hi all, For my first post in my first thread I wanted to take an opinion poll of sorts. I'm hoping that if enough of us speak up we can influence the powers that be at Apple to either fix the problem themselves or motivate AT&T to do it on their end. Here's my story and argument:

For more than a decade now, hard line phones have been able to key in a code on their phone such as for my service, Comcast, the code on my phone is *77 to activate it, and from that point on any unknown caller who attempts to reach us is immediately linked to a verbal message that says something like "Sorry, this caller doesn't accept blocked calls, please unblock your number and try again." This service costs nothing extra at all, simply dial in the code for your particular carrier and the service is activated.

Also, as a Father of 2 daughters and a friend to many parents of children with cell phones, the number of stories I have heard regarding ex boyfriends, girlfriends and wannabe's who have refused to take no for an answer are too voluminous to count. Unwanted "unknown callers" is also an issue with me. Even if we ignore the call, that doesn't stop them from using up our minutes by leaving an unwanted message.

The fact is I ported my phone number from T-Mobile when I came to AT&T to own an iPhone and I was with T-Mobile since they were VoiceStream so I have had this phone number going back 13 or 14 years now. People all across America have my number and it would be impossible to contact them all to a number change, nor would I want to change my number because of one jerk who can't take no for an answer.

My reason for raising this issue here and now was caused by asking a group of 25 young people (my daughters friends at a social gathering) who were discussing their phone services; I kind of broke in and asked first, how many of them have received unwanted, unknown and harassing phone calls from people they didn't want to hear from, and secondly, how many changed their phone numbers because of these issues?

Guys and girls alike raised their hands and proceeded to tell horror stories of every conceivable type of harassment, many saying they have changed their phone numbers more than once in order to evade harassment from broken relationships and friendships as well as from unknown and blocked callers. In speaking to AT&T about this issue, even though they admitted no fix exists, they graciously (NOT) said that they will allow ONE number change at no expense to the customer. How generous as they make millions per year from the unwanted minutes burned up because we suffer through calls and messages we don't want to receive in the first place.

As to why I'm here on an Apple forum rather than an AT&T forum? Because I have shown that carriers have a financial incentive to ignore this national problem which is epidemic because the minutes wasted by these unwanted calls line their coffers to the tune of millions of dollars per year. But Apple has no such financial incentive to ignore this universal problem. Their priority is to serve our needs and deal with making our phone experience as pleasant and SAFE as possible so they will care if enough of us speak out and agree with the spirit of this message.

IN CLOSING, MY HOPE IS THAT THOUSANDS OF YOU WILL SIMPLY WRITE AT LEAST A ONE WORD POST "AGREEING" WITH THE SPIRIT OF THIS POST SO THAT THE POWERS THAT BE FROM APPLE WILL EITHER CREATE A CODE VIA AN UPDATE OR FORCE AT&T TO OFFER A FREE FIX FOR US. JUST THINK, THEY WOULD BE THE ONLY COMPANIES IN THIS INDUSTRY WHO HAVE FIXED THIS VERY REAL ISSUE. BUT FEEL FREE TO SHARE PERSONAL STORIES IF YOU HAVE THEM. TALK ABOUT BEING INDUSTRY LEADERS, ISSUES LIKE THIS DEFINE THE TERM FOR THE COMPANIES THAT LEAD THE WAY. SO PLEASE, IF YOU AGREE WITH THE SPIRIT OF THIS COMPLAINT, SAY SO HERE AND LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD.

Thank you for reading my first post/Thread here, Let's rally the troops and together send a loud and clear message that the powers that be at APPLE and AT&T can't ignore. 10 years into the 21st century it's an abomination that this problem still exists.

100% AGREED. There is no reason this cannot be fixed, immediately.