You may have missed a fact: You cannot block an unknown caller, nor can you force people to reveal their number on wireless networks like you can with landlines. This is intentional by AT&T and needs to be changed.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Blocking "unknown & Harassing Callers" There Oughta Be A Way!
- Thread starter Applephile
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
You may have missed a fact: You cannot block an unknown caller, nor can you force people to reveal their number on wireless networks like you can with landlines. This is intentional by AT&T and needs to be changed.
Just today, I received yet another automated solicitation from ADT and voiced my displeasure once again. I have simply added the unsolicited to my contacts under "Satan" and will not pick the call up after that point. The question should be, "how did they get my number or who sold them my number".
Add the offending numbers to your daughter's contact lists, and give each one a "silent" ringtone with a DO NOT ANSWER name. The calls will still go through, but the phone won't ring and after enough times they might get the point.
I would calll up AT&T and try to get the Call manager feature for free. I switched numbers when I moved (to a get a local area code), and the previous owner of the number had a hard time paying his bills. I was getting calls day and night. I called AT&T to complain and they gave me the call blocking feature free for two months. I do still get the occasional call for him, but it's been cut down significantly.
Another option is to keep the same number, but use Google Voice just for voicemail. Once the call gets transferred from the AT&T number to GV, you can block it.
So...someone calls your AT&T number. It rings 3 or 4 times..then it gets forwarded to Google Voice, which picks up after a few rings. Once the call gets into Google Voice, you can block it. So what the caller will here is three rings, followed by the "this number has been disconnected" message. It's not a TRUE blocking, as the phone will still ring, but after a couple of times they should learn their lesson.
I would calll up AT&T and try to get the Call manager feature for free. I switched numbers when I moved (to a get a local area code), and the previous owner of the number had a hard time paying his bills. I was getting calls day and night. I called AT&T to complain and they gave me the call blocking feature free for two months. I do still get the occasional call for him, but it's been cut down significantly.
Another option is to keep the same number, but use Google Voice just for voicemail. Once the call gets transferred from the AT&T number to GV, you can block it.
So...someone calls your AT&T number. It rings 3 or 4 times..then it gets forwarded to Google Voice, which picks up after a few rings. Once the call gets into Google Voice, you can block it. So what the caller will here is three rings, followed by the "this number has been disconnected" message. It's not a TRUE blocking, as the phone will still ring, but after a couple of times they should learn their lesson.
iBlacklist damn it!!!
Other than jailbreaking, I doubt AT&T will do so unless other providers do so first. And even then they will most likely charge you some kind of blocking fee.
So your best bet is jailbreaking VS crying a river.
Other than jailbreaking, I doubt AT&T will do so unless other providers do so first. And even then they will most likely charge you some kind of blocking fee.
So your best bet is jailbreaking VS crying a river.
Blocking is very easy on a land line because you can bild or buy a device to plug in between your phone and the line. But a cell phone needs to have the feature built into the software. It would be triveal to add the feature
I bet AT&T is paying Apple NOT to add the feature. That is the only reason I can figure that Apple has not added a "blacklist" feature.
Look up the "Asterix" PBX. It is kind of fun to have on on you r home line. I set up a menu system that said "if you can hear this, please press ay key" and the PBX waits for a key press before ringing the phone. No more robot calls. If you have access to the phone you can do anything
I bet AT&T is paying Apple NOT to add the feature. That is the only reason I can figure that Apple has not added a "blacklist" feature.
Look up the "Asterix" PBX. It is kind of fun to have on on you r home line. I set up a menu system that said "if you can hear this, please press ay key" and the PBX waits for a key press before ringing the phone. No more robot calls. If you have access to the phone you can do anything
All of that could be enforced by the phone's firmware. The phone itself could store the blacklist and could simply refuse to ring if the caller blocked his ID.
Anyone who has access to the phone's firmware could implement this
Wow, someone finally came up with a good answer.
If your phone doesn't make a sound and it says "Do not answer" then I'd consider that a 'blocked number.' I like this.
I've been doing this for months now. I have a contact called "Do Not Answer" and a ringtone of silent. While the phone doesn't ring, it does vibrate as I have that setting enabled. Other than that, I rarely hear or see them call. And if a new number calls in, I merely add it to the same contact by clicking on "Add to existing contact". Then done. After you don't pick up after some time, they do eventually stop. No jailbreak either.
Also, AT&T does have this feature but they will charge you a monthly charge. Like $5 per month, so I'm sure they've asked Apple to not approve anything that will freely give away what they are charging for.
I have also given it a contact picture seen here:
Do Not Answer
Here is the Silent Ringtone.
I recently had a spat of calls from a company trying to get me to refinance because the government was lowering the rate and blah blah blah. I pushed the corresponding number to be removed. However, it kept happening. I called ATT and they set me up with the feature that allows me to block up to 15 numbers for $5 a month. They waived the first month's fee.
It fixed the issue. Glad I have it because the same company called again using another number. I blocked it immediately. So far, I have had no further issues. This feature should be FREE for any customer that pays over a certain amount each month.
It fixed the issue. Glad I have it because the same company called again using another number. I blocked it immediately. So far, I have had no further issues. This feature should be FREE for any customer that pays over a certain amount each month.
I completely agree with this thread, just something simple that you can add numbers you dont want to answer had when you get a call from that number it just instantly picks up and instanty hangs up, you can also set it to do it for all withheld numbers.
doing this on phone just makes it so much easier than doing it at network end, and it is way way better than actually adding these spam calls to your address book!!
doing this on phone just makes it so much easier than doing it at network end, and it is way way better than actually adding these spam calls to your address book!!
True. But the fact that AT&T sells this feature, I can see why Apple included this feature onto its smartphone. The almighty $$.
But with the inevitable exclusivity coming to an end soon, hopefully, this might soon be a fulfilled request.
Uh yeah. Great writeup, but take the 5 minutes to jailbreak your phone and install a blacklister. In the time it took you to type all that up, you could have something like this up and running.
Jailbreak concepts have always been a step or two ahead of Apple.
And for those of you talking about "above board", or whatever - installing a spoiler on my car isn't anything but above board. Stop buying the anti-jailbreak propaganda and expand the functionality of your device by being able to run applications that enhance the system's functionality vs. being another app. It's simple and there is a whole community who can help you through it. At the very worst you can restore your phone, restore from backup, and go on your way (we can show you how to do that too).
Jailbreak concepts have always been a step or two ahead of Apple.
And for those of you talking about "above board", or whatever - installing a spoiler on my car isn't anything but above board. Stop buying the anti-jailbreak propaganda and expand the functionality of your device by being able to run applications that enhance the system's functionality vs. being another app. It's simple and there is a whole community who can help you through it. At the very worst you can restore your phone, restore from backup, and go on your way (we can show you how to do that too).
Get a new number and be careful who gets the new number.
There's no app to block calls.
There's a jailbreak app called iblacklist that dies this. You need to be jailbroken tho.
Contact your carrier and have them blocked. I've done this in several different countries. Most offer this service.
AT&T would not do this when I called. I ended up subscribing to Trap Call for $5 US / month until the problem calls stopped (when the kids called and I got their number and called back and got their dad).
Who's your carrier? Verizon allows you to block numbers through their My Verizon site. Most carriers do.
Since there aren't any apps to block "unknown" and "unwanted" calls, perhaps TrapCall may give some relief. You do have an opportunity to hit the power button during the call to possibly unmask the number and then block that number.
It's not as effective as iBlacklist but since jailbreaking isn't an option, maybe that may give some relief. There is, however, a fee for the service.
It's not as effective as iBlacklist but since jailbreaking isn't an option, maybe that may give some relief. There is, however, a fee for the service.
I used to use the Kaspersky app on my GS3, there was a setting in the app that would block numbers you add from calling you or texting you, iOS doesn't have the same app so you could just change your number even though that's incredibly inconvenient.