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Calling is broken. I wished Apple would just add an option "Block all calls unless their number is in contacts". It's ridiculous that this option is only availa

Calling is broken. I wished Apple would just add an option "Block all calls unless their number is in contacts". It's ridiculous that this option is only available in Do Not Disturb. It's like Apple was trying to somehow profit from robo-callers. It's time to put calls into the grave. The next step needs to be something like we have for websites. You need to get a personal SSL certificate to call and it will be bound to your identity. Then whenever you call, a random certificate will be generated to authenticate yourself to the callee. The callee will verify that the anonymous root certificate of the caller wasn't revoked. And then either block the call or let it through. Robocallers would simply get their root certificate revoked and would be unable to carry out ANY other call in the name of that company until they paid the imposed fines and re-imbursed their victims for the lost time and annoyance. People creating these companies would lose the ability to obtain another certificate for another company until the previous charges are resolved. This is just a momentary brain dump, but essentially all problems in our society revolve around a lack of accountability. We have the technology to anonymously impose accountability in everything digital. Let's start using it!

BrentOzar 7y ago
> I wished Apple would just add an option "Block all calls unless their number is in contacts". They added it in iOS 13 under Settings, Phone, Silence Unknown Callers. "Calls from unknown numbers will be silenced, sent to voicemail, and displayed on the Recents list. Incoming calls will continue to ring from people in your contacts, recent outgoing calls, and Siri Suggestions."
- Ntrails 7y ago
  Jfc the last thing i want is a fucking voicemail, to listen to the tortuous preamble of robo voice saying the source phone number before listening to that empty click.
  - artursapek 7y ago
    In my experience they never leave voicemails. The only ones I've gotten were some shit in Chinese that I get once in a while (917 area code)
  - stjohnswarts 7y ago
    It's still better than 1) missing the calls which would happen if you blocked everyone not known to you 2) it's easy to hit 7 and delete almost immediately 3) less disruptive than having a nigerian scammer remind you of how crappy your sex life is and he can help out 4) they don't usually leave a voice mail, they'd rather just move on to the next person on the list.
  - pfranz 7y ago
    For me, skimming the transcription and swiping to delete is quick enough to manage.
manigandham 7y ago
That option is in iOS 13, it's called "Silence Unknown Callers": https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT207099 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT207099
- tempsolution 7y ago
  Hmm cool :). Not the ultimate solution, but this sounds useful! Thanks
smsm42 7y ago
> Block all calls unless their number is in contacts I just implement that option manually - never pick up unless I know the number. Worst case, they'd leave a message. If your business is not worth bothering to leave a message, we probably din't need to talk anyway.

BrentOzar 7y ago

> I wished Apple would just add an option "Block all calls unless their number is in contacts". They added it in iOS 13 under Settings, Phone, Silence Unknown Callers. "Calls from unknown numbers will be silenced, sent to voicemail, and displayed on the Recents list. Incoming calls will continue to ring from people in your contacts, recent outgoing calls, and Siri Suggestions."

Ntrails 7y ago
Jfc the last thing i want is a fucking voicemail, to listen to the tortuous preamble of robo voice saying the source phone number before listening to that empty click.
- artursapek 7y ago
  In my experience they never leave voicemails. The only ones I've gotten were some shit in Chinese that I get once in a while (917 area code)
- stjohnswarts 7y ago
  It's still better than 1) missing the calls which would happen if you blocked everyone not known to you 2) it's easy to hit 7 and delete almost immediately 3) less disruptive than having a nigerian scammer remind you of how crappy your sex life is and he can help out 4) they don't usually leave a voice mail, they'd rather just move on to the next person on the list.
- pfranz 7y ago
  For me, skimming the transcription and swiping to delete is quick enough to manage.

manigandham 7y ago

That option is in iOS 13, it's called "Silence Unknown Callers": https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT207099 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT207099

tempsolution 7y ago
Hmm cool :). Not the ultimate solution, but this sounds useful! Thanks

smsm42 7y ago

> Block all calls unless their number is in contacts I just implement that option manually - never pick up unless I know the number. Worst case, they'd leave a message. If your business is not worth bothering to leave a message, we probably din't need to talk anyway.