iOS Tip 163 - Block Unwanted Calls

Here’s a clever workaround that effectively prevents all “Unknown” calls and all “No Caller ID” calls and also prevents any other unrecognized number from getting through to you as well.

Do not use this approach to block unknown callers if you regularly get wanted phone calls from numbers or people calling from unrecognized and numbers. This workaround works by using your iPhone Contacts list as the allowed caller list. Anyone not in your Contacts list will not get through to you.

This is not the traditional block call method, it’s a workaround using Do Not Disturb mode and your contacts list to prevent any random unknown callers from reaching the iPhone. There are some caveats, so be sure to read through and understand how this works:

1 Open the Settings app on the iPhone and go to “Do Not Disturb”
2 Flip the switch next to “Manual” to the ON position – this turns on Do Not Disturb mode (as signified by the moon icon) which essentially keeps your phone silent, we’re going to customize this

3 Tap on “Allow Calls From”, from here you have two options for restrictions
•Choose “Favorites” if you only want your ‘Favorite’ contacts to be able to get through to your iPhone, this is an acceptable solution for people who have their family, friends, and other important people on their iPhone Favorites list, but never get calls from anyone else not in ‘Favorites’
•OR: Choose “All Contacts”, which will allow calls to come through from anyone in your Contact list (not just Favorites) but not anyone who isn’t already added to your address book – this is the better solution for many, since obviously an Unknown caller, solicitor, or “No Caller ID” call won’t be in the address book of your iPhone, but if everyone you do communicate with IS in your iPhone contact list, you won’t miss their calls
4 Exit out of Settings and enjoy your new peace and quiet

Remember: choosing ‘All Contacts’ will prevent any phone number or address that is not in your iPhone Contacts list from reaching the iPhone. Do not enable this without thorough comprehension, otherwise you may miss calls you actually want to get.

Remember Do Not Disturb mode silences the iPhone completely, stopping the iPhone from ringing or making any alert sound, and prevents any contact attempt if someone is not on your Favorites list or in the Contacts list, assuming you chose either of those options. Because of how this is designed, Do Not Disturb mode is an excellent feature but it’s generally best used on a schedule so that it kicks in automatically in the evening and turns off automatically in the morning, but some people like to have it on all the time.

It’s highly recommended to enable the “Repeated Calls” option in Do Not Disturb mode, since it is unlikely that anyone outside of an emergency situation would repeatedly call the iPhone.