Comment by VectorLock
11 hours ago
I just switched to iPhone from a pixel device and I’m shook by all the spam calls. How do iPhone users deal with this?
11 hours ago
I just switched to iPhone from a pixel device and I’m shook by all the spam calls. How do iPhone users deal with this?
Also, on TMobile if you dial #662#, it'll block the Scam Likely calls at the carrier.
Oh man. They start at 7AM and end around 4-5ish PM. I was hoping the war between Pakistan and India would make these stop. Jk obv. Nobody likes wars. But other than Tmobile are there similar methods for different providers? It can get so annoying. I did restrict calls from known numbers only.
I had no idea. Thank you!
It’s my biggest gripe. They can pretty accurately flag a number as Spam or Telemarketing but in the “Silence Unknown Callers” setting I can only silence every single unknown caller. I can’t silence every single number that’s not in my contacts. When the plumber calls to confirm he’s in route, my phone needs to ring. Stuff like that.
I would have assumed an unknown caller was defined as any number not in your contacts. what is it instead?
In the realm of Caller ID, a phone number may be "PRIVATE" (or "WITHHELD") or "UNKNOWN". An "UNKNOWN" Caller ID cannot display any name nor any number, because... they are not known to the switch.
Therefore, an unknown number that can be blocked/ignored by your phone or the app is one that doesn't support Caller ID's name or number functions. It doesn't have anything to do with who's in your Contacts app, because of course those consist of known names and known numbers.
I've failed to semantically parse your statements
it is super fucking easy. it has been a decade since I answered an unknown number. if plumber calls (and I dont have her/his number stored) it goes to voicemail. I then call known company number. The communication is always one-way, I call you. I never answer. You follow this one very simple rule and you good :)
Theres plenty of situations where this doesn't work. If you're called from a business central line and you don't know their extension you just call back and get the normal call tree which can take you forever to get through. Or if you're on the "cancellation list" for an appointment if they can't get through to you, they don't wait for you to call back, they just go on to the next person to schedule in their open slot.
Why would a number in your contacts be considered "unknown"
iphone has been enshittified for several years now, it seems apple engineers are not using their own phones any more. I can understand it - when you're a millionaire just from your corporate job you won't be a stressed power user of your own iphones.
It’s not that it got worse, this feature has just never been great. It just feels half baked , which I agree a lot of Apple software has been trending towards. That said, what has increased is the volume of spam calls. So the importance of this feature has also increased.
It’s sad because this seems like such a low hanging fruit for a big improvement. At some point in the relatively recent past, they added the indicator of the caller being a spammer or telemarketer. Seems like that would have been a good time to also enhance this filter but it seems nobody ever connected the dots on that one. Or if I’m being even more cynical, some engineer actually decided he’d rather everyone see his work on every incoming spam call instead of his work quietly improving everyone’s experience
That seems...overly dramatic. Further, enshittification as a concept generally refers to VC/growth-hacking style situations.
Yeup, I finally broke down went from Android -> IPhone 16 Pro. I like a lot about Apple's personal security policies for their consumers vs Google, but damn, I miss google's automatic call spam detection and management. All day long my Apple phone rings, and I just have to ignore the calls.
Unfortunately blocking all unknown calls is the only way to sanity. Otherwise we're talking 6-9 calls coming in ALL DAY, EVERY DAY.
The calls are coming from new numbers, across multiple area codes. A few months ago I would have advised using Begone (https://apps.apple.com/us/app/begone-spam-call-blocker/id159...) to block but that only worked since these calls were isolated to blocks of area codes that were pretty safe to block like 888-XXX-XXXX, but now ZERO of these calls are using a fixed area code that would be relative safe to block.
I can't block all calls, but the screening feature on my Pixel did an immense job of filtering out the spam.
answer the call and immediately put it on mute. they will hang up and stop calling
I don’t get any calls, seems to be an US problem?
Unfortunately, the US phone network is indeed completely unusable without a good spam call filter.
US and Canada
I have the exact same experience. I felt like I went back to a phone from 2018.
I never answer my phone, also turned off sound except alarms a couple years ago
What about while job hunting?
Email or voice mail
I have my phone set to silence Unknown callers. What did you have setup on the Pixel before to block them?
That’s too heavy handed for me. I get valid calls that I need to answer that aren’t in my contacts.
The calls they flag as potential spam and telemarketers has been 100% accurate in my experience so i wish I could just silence those
Usually you are expecting these calls tho so you can turn off that feature when you do. If said person calls often, add them to your contacts.
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I just see if they leave a message. If they don’t, they’re sorted. If they do I can always call them back.
I need calls from unknown numbers (doctors, vendors, etc.) Pixel would flag spam calls and not ring, all the unknown-but-valid callers got through without issue.
You turn off the notifications from unknown callers? How does Android handle it?
Sometimes you need to answer calls from unknown numbers.
Google's call screening feature picks up the phone before it rings and asks the caller why they're calling. If they actually give a good reason, then it shows you the reason as text and you can decide whether to hang up on them or answer. https://support.google.com/phoneapp/answer/9118387
Yeah you went the wrong way there brother.
If it’s says Rogers you know it’s a scam
iPhone user here. I put on airplane mode unless I'm making or expecting a call. Otherwise, I make it clear that email is my primary form of communication.
Settings -> Phone -> Silence Unknown callers
"Yeah yeah... installing your app now... oh there is an error... will try again..."