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Q. I read your recent article about annoying tech and was discussing it with a friend of mine when we were talking about spam callers. She said there was a way to make it so your iPhone doesn’t ring when someone calls who isn’t in your contacts. That sounds like a great way to deal with spammers.
She also said that when I get a text from an unknown sender that I shouldn’t reply with “stop” or click on a link to unsubscribe.
Can you do an article on these topics so my iPhone can be less annoying to me? Thanks so much for The Wonder of Tech and congratulations on your recent anniversary!
A. Spam callers are getting more annoying and more sophisticated. They may look as if they’re calling from a local number or call repeatedly to try to get you to answer the phone. They may send you text messages pretending to need information for a delivery or a gift card and include a link or ask you to reply with STOP to unsubscribe.
If it seems as if your best friend is Unknown Caller, Spam Risk, or Telemarketer Risk, you may want to take a few minutes to adjust your settings to take better control of your iPhone. You can use tools to silence spam callers and block unwanted text messages.
Don’t miss => 10 Easy Ways to Make Tech Less Annoying
Beginning with iOS 13, you can now silence unknown callers. By turning on this setting you can silence unknown callers so your iPhone doesn’t ring when someone calls from a number that is not in your contacts. Calls from those unknown numbers will go straight to voice mail without your phone ever ringing.
You can also block callers from reaching you so they can’t even leave a voice mail or send you a text message.
Now you have even more options to keep spammers away and bring more peace into your life.
Silence Unknown Callers
iOS 13, released in the fall of 2019, brought a new feature to iPhones: Silence Unknown Callers. This setting sends calls from unknown callers directly to voice mail, without your iPhone ringing.
Learn more at => Apps to Block Annoying Robocalls
With this setting turned on, the only calls that ring on your iPhone will be from numbers in your contacts, mail, messages, or calendar. The setting is off by default but you can easily turn on Silence Unknown Callers in Settings.
To use this feature, you must first make sure you have updated your iPhone to iOS 13. If you’re not sure what version of iOS your iPhone is using, go to:
Settings => General => About => Software Version to make sure you have iOS 13.
To turn on Silence Unknown Callers, go to:
Settings => Phone and scroll down to Silence Unknown Callers.
Slide the switch On to active Silence Unknown Callers.
This video from Apple Support shows how to turn on Silence Unknown Callers:
What Else You Should Know About Silence Unknown Callers
Silence Unknown Callers should be used with caution. If you turn on this feature, you may miss calls from important people who don’t appear in your contacts, mail, messages or calendar.
For example, with Silence Unknown Callers turned on you may not be able to receive calls from a pizza delivery person who’s having problems finding your house, the plumber who’s running late, a teacher from your child’s school, a medical practice calling with test results, or other important callers.
If you’re expecting a delivery, repair person, test results, or calls from a school, you can turn off Silence Unknown callers temporarily and turn it back on again later.
But if you find you’re missing important calls, then Silence Unknown Callers probably isn’t the best setting for you to turn on.
Don’t miss => Why Your iPhone Doesn’t Ring (Sometimes) and How to Fix It
Blocking Spam Text Messages on Your iPhone
Spam text messages can be as annoying as spam callers and may even trick you to click on malware links. Never click on a link in a text message unless you know the sender. Even then, don’t click on a link you think may be suspicious.
You can block these spam messages, but only if you know the number they are using. Unlike Silence Unknown Callers, iPhone settings don’t (yet) have a setting for filtering spam text messages.
If you’re prompted by a spam text message to reply with STOP to unsubscribe, don’t. That just confirms to the spam texter that your number is a real one.
To block a spammer who’s sending you text messages, open the text message and tap on the number. Under the number, you’ll see icons for:
- audio
- FaceTime
- info
Tap info. On the next screen, tap the arrow to the right of the number.
On the next screen, tap Block this Caller.
After the number has been blocked, phone calls and text messages from that number will be blocked on your iPhone.
How to See the Numbers You’ve Blocked on Your iPhone
If you accidentally blocked a number, or want to check on the numbers you’ve blocked you can do that easily on your iPhone.
Go to Settings => Phone and scroll down to Blocked Contacts (below Silence Unknown Callers).
Tap Blocked Contacts to see a list of phone numbers you’ve blocked.
Tap Edit in the upper right corner of the screen to unblock numbers. Or tap on any number to unblock it and add it to your contact list.
Your Thoughts
Are spam phone calls and text messages a problem for you? Have you turned on Silence Unknown Callers? Have you blocked numbers from sending you text messages and phone calls?
Share your thoughts in the Comments section below!
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*Spam image (edited) courtesy of Stefano Brivio via Flickr and Creative Commons
**iPhone image (edited) courtesy of dhe haivan on Unsplash
“Silence Unknown Callers should be used with caution. If you turn on this feature, you may miss calls from important people who don’t appear in your contacts, mail, messages or calendar”
Unfortunately, this happened to me. I was waiting for a telephone call from my doctor, and because the number he called from wasn’t in my contacts, my phone didn’t ring. I had several other instances of my phone not ringing, despite my watch telling me there was a call, before I realized that it must be a setting I forgot I had turned on.
Hi Ann, Thank you for sharing your example of why Silence Unknown Callers should be used with caution. It’s difficult to know when you might be missing an important call when you turn on this setting. I hope that you were able to get everything sorted with your doctor’s office without too much trouble.
Very helpful! Spam calls and texts are a kind of tech clutter that can lead to more stress. The more we can minimize tech clutter, the better!
Hi Suchot, So very true. When we want to bring peace into our lives, removing spam callers is an effective step to take!
Wonderful post. I really didn’t know about the Silence Unknown Callers feature. Will give it a try. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Sunny, Yes, give this setting a try to see if it works well for you. Be sure to check your voice mail to see whether you are missing important phone calls from people not in your contacts, messages or calendar.
This article is exactly what I have been looking for!
I seem to get so many spam texts and calls it is ridiculous.
Thank you so much for all the great tips!
Hi Gale, I’m so glad this article was helpful to you. Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts with us.
Finally a solution that will help me out, I’m so tired of these calls. Thanks
Hi Chuti, I’m glad you are able to use this new feature for your iPhone. I hope that you are no longer pestered by spam callers and that you can have a more peaceful existence with your phone.
Your article was really helpful, I had no idea I could do that with my iPhone but thanks to your article here. I love it!
Hi Brawn, Yes, this is a new feature for iPhones that be very helpful. Be sure that you aren’t missing any important phone calls when you block unknown callers though. The better we can battle spam callers, the happier we can be!
Great post!
I received quite a number of strange incoming call from unknown number on my other phone which im not sure why… Thanks for the tips anyway
Hi Steph, Yes, spam callers are getting sneakier, using more sophisticated tools to try to get you to answer the phone and engage with them. Using this tool on your iPhone may be helpful in silencing unknown callers.
Being a company owner extremely irritated by these unwanted calls, Thank you for the help.
Hi Umar, Great point. In addition to being annoying, spam calls waste our time. The more we can ignore them, the more time we will have for fun and/or important matters.
Thanks for the information, Carolyn. I recently got a number of text messages from what appeared to be a cell phone number. They all prompted me to click a shortened link supposed to take me to the crypto exchange site I am registered with to verify this or that.
I did not like the fact that the sms came from a cell number, kind of suspicious. I typed the link on my desktop Chrome browser and clicked. Good old Chrome immediately warned me of a dangerous site ahead, confirming my suspicions.
Please keep giving us helpful info like this.
Hi Kobodi, Yes, tapping on a link in a text message from an unknown number can be as dangerous as doing it in an email message from a spammer. Best to delete the message and block the number to avoid opening a malicious website.