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Can we please get phone OEMs to enable a feature to only allow calls from people in our contact list? Baked in. No apps that scrape your phone book to do it. If

Can we please get phone OEMs to enable a feature to only allow calls from people in our contact list? Baked in. No apps that scrape your phone book to do it. If you're not on my contact list, go to voicemail and I'll decide if you're legit. And have an option like DND where if you call in rapid succession then I'll pick up.

jasonkostempski 8y ago
I'd prefer an open source software solution but, either way, they'd start leaving voicemails, which is still annoying to manage. However, a lot of them already leave a 3 second blank voicemail, so that would at least eliminate the ignore/reject call step and the rude interruption.
- murph-almighty 8y ago
  I stopped using voicemail due to the shitty UI back when I had a dumb phone- I didn't want to spend 5-10 minutes waiting to listen to all my voicemails and sit through a robotic dialog. Today, I use an iPhone and now use voicemail as a basic call filter. If I get a call from a number I don't recognize I immediately let it go to voicemail. At my leisure later in the day I can check the transcription service to see if it's spam. I find it bizarre that the feature fell out of use for me, and came back into it because of this recent spate of spam phone calls.
- criddell 8y ago
  Why do voicemail systems even notify me of a 3 second silent message? Just delete them.
  - jasonkostempski 8y ago
    That would be nice too. And locally run software should be able to handle it, so you don't have to hand all your voice mail over to a third party. Even 3 seconds of not silence is probably "It's me. Call me back when you get a sec." which the missed call notice already handles. I don't waste time listening to them any more, but clearing the notice and deleting the message is annoying.
doikor 8y ago
In iPhone enable do not disturb 24/7 and only allow calls from contact list. Only bad/good thing is that all notifications get disabled too.
- hbosch 8y ago
  I use this and consider the lack of notifications a positive.
  - glentaka 8y ago
    I concur. If anything, I have these spammers to thank for making my life so much better. I check my phone at least 75% less now
notyourday 8y ago
Setup default ring tone to silence. Setup a ringtone for your phone book contacts to something else. Done.
- criddell 8y ago
  I want callers that aren't in my contacts list to get a busy signal. I don't want voicemails from them.
stronglikedan 8y ago
Someone already mention iPhone, and there is a similar method for Android [0], baked in, as you say. [0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7MH6hkTieE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7MH6hkTieE
vertexFarm 8y ago
That sounds like a great idea. Right now I'm using an app that just blanket-blocks area codes. I got a number in an area code I never go to or know anybody from. Almost all the spam calls are from around there and I block them all. It's not ideal. I really wish they'd just make some kind of system or authority to keep VOIP from spoofing numbers. It's ridiculous. There's gotta be a way for them to secure that shit. I guess they're just inept.
commoner 8y ago
For Android phones without this feature built in, try the Block Calls app by Jachness. It's not on F-Droid, but the source code is available on GitHub. Play Store listing: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jachness.blockcalls https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jachness.b... GitHub repo: https://github.com/jachness/blockcalls https://github.com/jachness/blockcalls

jasonkostempski 8y ago

I'd prefer an open source software solution but, either way, they'd start leaving voicemails, which is still annoying to manage. However, a lot of them already leave a 3 second blank voicemail, so that would at least eliminate the ignore/reject call step and the rude interruption.

murph-almighty 8y ago
I stopped using voicemail due to the shitty UI back when I had a dumb phone- I didn't want to spend 5-10 minutes waiting to listen to all my voicemails and sit through a robotic dialog. Today, I use an iPhone and now use voicemail as a basic call filter. If I get a call from a number I don't recognize I immediately let it go to voicemail. At my leisure later in the day I can check the transcription service to see if it's spam. I find it bizarre that the feature fell out of use for me, and came back into it because of this recent spate of spam phone calls.
criddell 8y ago
Why do voicemail systems even notify me of a 3 second silent message? Just delete them.
- jasonkostempski 8y ago
  That would be nice too. And locally run software should be able to handle it, so you don't have to hand all your voice mail over to a third party. Even 3 seconds of not silence is probably "It's me. Call me back when you get a sec." which the missed call notice already handles. I don't waste time listening to them any more, but clearing the notice and deleting the message is annoying.

doikor 8y ago

In iPhone enable do not disturb 24/7 and only allow calls from contact list. Only bad/good thing is that all notifications get disabled too.

hbosch 8y ago
I use this and consider the lack of notifications a positive.
- glentaka 8y ago
  I concur. If anything, I have these spammers to thank for making my life so much better. I check my phone at least 75% less now

notyourday 8y ago

Setup default ring tone to silence. Setup a ringtone for your phone book contacts to something else. Done.

criddell 8y ago
I want callers that aren't in my contacts list to get a busy signal. I don't want voicemails from them.

stronglikedan 8y ago

Someone already mention iPhone, and there is a similar method for Android [0], baked in, as you say. [0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7MH6hkTieE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7MH6hkTieE

vertexFarm 8y ago

That sounds like a great idea. Right now I'm using an app that just blanket-blocks area codes. I got a number in an area code I never go to or know anybody from. Almost all the spam calls are from around there and I block them all. It's not ideal. I really wish they'd just make some kind of system or authority to keep VOIP from spoofing numbers. It's ridiculous. There's gotta be a way for them to secure that shit. I guess they're just inept.

commoner 8y ago

For Android phones without this feature built in, try the Block Calls app by Jachness. It's not on F-Droid, but the source code is available on GitHub. Play Store listing: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jachness.blockcalls https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jachness.b... GitHub repo: https://github.com/jachness/blockcalls https://github.com/jachness/blockcalls