repoman016
macrumors 6502
They dont do it because then how would they remind you that the polls are open or "so and so needs your help!" every election cycle or mid term
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iOS 26.6 Will Alert You When You've Maxed Out Blocked Contacts
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WilliApple
macrumors 68000
KENESS
macrumors 6502
It did at the beginning. I remember putting my number on that and then, almost suddenly, no spam calls. It was AMAZING. But it didn't last long when places realized they just... didn't have to bother even paying attention to it.
KENESS
macrumors 6502
I have over 5,000 blocked contacts. Back some years ago, spammers would use a phone number that matched the first 6 digits of yours, like 201-555-xxxx. I generated a list of all numbers in that pattern (except for my number), imported them into my Contacts app on my Mac, blocked them, then deleted the contacts. I thought my phone was going to die, it didn’t like processing that massive block list.
I see that there are now only 5000+ blocked, so I’m guessing something failed when blocking that initial 10K, but most of that 5K is for the pattern matching my number.
I see that there are now only 5000+ blocked, so I’m guessing something failed when blocking that initial 10K, but most of that 5K is for the pattern matching my number.
We wouldn't need to block so many numbers if "block unknown callers" didn't actually make the problem worse.
The fact that you have to clear these blocked calls separately, in a separate section of the phone app, is absolutely insane. I don't even want to know that the call happened.
The fact that you have to clear these blocked calls separately, in a separate section of the phone app, is absolutely insane. I don't even want to know that the call happened.
smithrh
macrumors 68030
So the iPhone doesn't like even 5,000 contacts.
Occam's razor says Apple saw the issue in diagnostic logs, and they're moving to limit the issue.
Is there any particular reason why you didn't use silence unknown contacts?
Edited to add: silence unknown is newer, so it could be that it wasn't available at the time.
Who is out there blocking 20,000 people? Schizophrenics?
I'm at 547 blocked contacts, and I get 5-10 spam calls a day, and each unique number gets blocked. I got a second phone line, but all it took was one person selling that data or trading my contact information for mobile game currency to associate that number with me. So changing numbers is not a real option. It's only temporary relief until they find that number.
This is after I've turned on spam filtering at the carrier level and unknown callers on the phone itself. I have the silence option set, and I still get a notification for every single unknown caller and every single message they leave. If there is another silence setting that will get rid of the notification, then I'd love for someone to explain it. The only thing that silence does is just not ring my phone.
What's annoying is that the notification shows up on every single Apple device that I own if I have call forwarding set up. Watching a movie on Vision Pro and visionOS will happily send me notifications for messages that I blocked days ago.
The best part about the carrier blocking is that the only calls it actually blocked were the ones from my family. I had to manually allow their numbers. But the loan and toll companies got right through.
What I want is basically passcodes for phone calls. Basically, if I share my contact with someone, both parties generate a unique passcode, and both parties must use that to establish a phone call. If someone is abusing or lost control of that passcode, then either side can revoke it, and you never hear from them again until you share your contact again. Magically*, no more spam. No message from people you don't want to hear from. I shouldn't have to depend on an algorithm or the benevolence of a business to stop calling me. I should have complete control.
*magically is doing a ton of heavy lifting.
This is after I've turned on spam filtering at the carrier level and unknown callers on the phone itself. I have the silence option set, and I still get a notification for every single unknown caller and every single message they leave. If there is another silence setting that will get rid of the notification, then I'd love for someone to explain it. The only thing that silence does is just not ring my phone.
What's annoying is that the notification shows up on every single Apple device that I own if I have call forwarding set up. Watching a movie on Vision Pro and visionOS will happily send me notifications for messages that I blocked days ago.
The best part about the carrier blocking is that the only calls it actually blocked were the ones from my family. I had to manually allow their numbers. But the loan and toll companies got right through.
What I want is basically passcodes for phone calls. Basically, if I share my contact with someone, both parties generate a unique passcode, and both parties must use that to establish a phone call. If someone is abusing or lost control of that passcode, then either side can revoke it, and you never hear from them again until you share your contact again. Magically*, no more spam. No message from people you don't want to hear from. I shouldn't have to depend on an algorithm or the benevolence of a business to stop calling me. I should have complete control.
*magically is doing a ton of heavy lifting.
Royksöpp
macrumors 68030
Everyone should just register their number with the National Do Not Call Registry.
www.donotcall.gov
National Do Not Call Registry
Register your phone number to report stop or block unwanted, annoying,telemarketing, spam calls, robocalls to the FTC
www.donotcall.gov
This just reinforces my belief that Apple
Software team needs fresh cleaning and wiped, hire new talent. Work for one of the top tech companies in the world and this is the best new feature you can come up with? That’s seriously embarrassing.
Software team needs fresh cleaning and wiped, hire new talent. Work for one of the top tech companies in the world and this is the best new feature you can come up with? That’s seriously embarrassing.
whoknows2597
macrumors 6502
The problem with this, sometimes doctor’s offices call from other numbers not saved in Contacts. For others, it could be job opportunities or a relative calling from a new number etc.
Yes, people can and should use voicemail if it’s important, but half the time, at least for me, the voicemail never goes through until a few days later.
KENESS
macrumors 6502
That only works (sometimes) for LEGITIMATE callers. Most of the junk is from criminal spammers.Everyone should just register their number with the National Do Not Call Registry.
National Do Not Call Registry
Register your phone number to report stop or block unwanted, annoying,telemarketing, spam calls, robocalls to the FTC
They aren't particularly bothered by the fact that you put your number on a do not call list. 🙂
Sanlitun
macrumors 6502a
This is BS i was having a problem blocking numbers since ios 26.5 i have 500 numbers blocked, asked me to unblock a number i did. still cant block the other number saying too many blocked numbers. so the glitch persists. Apple needs to fix this issue
The most infuriating part is that two decades ago a federal law made it a FEDERAL CRIME to call someone on the national do not call list. But unlike the limitless nuisance laws for which entire divisions of heavily armed agents are eager to smash down the wrong door and shoot people the do not call list has NEVER seen any enforcement.
This really shouldn't be Apple's problem to solve. They are ill positioned to handle the task and the block list is clearly more for jilted lovers than Indian scammers.
The Carriers could make some big dents by blocking calls at the switch routing level. Just like spam emails: if your switch sends too many spam calls to our subscribers we simply severe your connection to the telephone network. Let THEIR network provider figure out how to get his legit customers (assuming there are any) reconnected to the US telephone system. THAT would be effective.
But honestly this is a LAW Enforcement problem. Not Apple's hash table problem. Although I do have just enough outrage left to say "WTF?!?! How am I supposed to delete thousands of old numbers one at a time or know how old they are when they appear to be unsorted?" That is just offensive.
PBG4 Dude
macrumors 603
Especially when most of the time the call is coming from a different country.
IJ Reilly
macrumors P6
This quip begs the question of whether you are living on Planet Earth. Once the crooks get hold of your number, the big issue is all about them and not you. They call from many thousands of constantly changing numbers. You simply cannot block them one at a time. It does no good at all. Entire exchanges need to be blocked all at once to get any relief.
For this, I use the Simple Call Blocker app on my phone, which in theory currently blocks 152,000 numbers. Unfortunately most of them still ring through on my Mac.
MacFan782040
macrumors 65816
Silence unknown callers needs to be re-worked.
Before: Phone app icon badge > tap recents > see it's a spam number
Now: Phone app icon badge > tap calls > tap dropdown menu > tap unknown > see it's a spam number > tap back into calls
Before: Phone app icon badge > tap recents > see it's a spam number
Now: Phone app icon badge > tap calls > tap dropdown menu > tap unknown > see it's a spam number > tap back into calls
S.B.G
Moderator emeritus
Geez. If I had that much of a problem (assuming these are spam calls) I'd be getting myself a new phone number.
Maybe there should be a rule that if you get blocked by X number of people, you should loose your phone number.
(In the case of political spam texts especially, X should be a very small number.)
(In the case of political spam texts especially, X should be a very small number.)
Unami
macrumors 68000
They do, just not in the U.S. So, yes, the claim is proven BS. Just make a law and it will stop at least all non-scam callers who identify themselves and care about legalities.
E.g. in the EU, unsolicted calls are not allowed with a fine up to €300k. It's not that they are not happening, but they are few and far between. I usually block them right after I got the call. Not sure if they all got transferred from my backups to newer phones, but since my iPhone 4 I've collected a total of 14 blocked contacts (also not sure if the iPhone 4 was already able do this). Otoh, the U.S. got iphone mirroring.
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Somewhere, there is a server look-up table that has to reference those blocked contacts. And that takes time/processing power. Do you want the number to cross-reference 45,902,345 number variations every time someone calls you? That costs money, and can lead to instability, unless you limit it to a reasonable amount.
Robert.Walter
macrumors 68040
I wish I could have just 10% of that blocked contact limit for creating HME iCloud email addresses.
It tops out at ca 745 today.
If you use these faithfully for personal business related things like all online accounts and backup addresses, etc. it’s REALLY REALLY easy to hit this limit (this is even though for personal contacts I just use my old yahoo acct).
It tops out at ca 745 today.
If you use these faithfully for personal business related things like all online accounts and backup addresses, etc. it’s REALLY REALLY easy to hit this limit (this is even though for personal contacts I just use my old yahoo acct).