Before iOS 7 it was rather inconvenient to block a phone number, and there was nothing built into iOS that would allow you do so. If you got phone calls from Telemarketers you can always register your number for free on the National Do Not Call Registry. If you wanted to block specific people, you had to contact your carrier to do so. For example, with AT&T, you can pay $4.99 per month per line to block up to 30 numbers with their Smart Limits. With Verizon Wireless, you are able to block up to five phone numbers per line with no charge. With Sprint you fill out a form on their website and it appears there is no additional fee.
Dealing with your carrier can be a rather tedious, and with the new iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch operating system, you no longer have to…
Now with iOS 7, Apple has finally came up with a blocking feature, that will allow you to block certain phone numbers from texting you and calling you.
To get started, go into the settings app and scroll down until you see Phone, Messages and FaceTime.
Then tap on either Phone, Messages or FaceTime. The instructions are the same no matter which button you first press.
Then press the Blocked button. Apple easily tells you:
You will not receive phone calls, messages, or FaceTime from people on the block list.
To continue with blocking someone, you would press the “Add New” button. It instantly brings you to your list of contacts and you can select someone from your list of contacts you want to block.
If you want to block someone that is not in your contact book, go to your recent call log and you would be able to see the phone calls you received and the phone calls you missed.
I have no idea who those first two phone calls are from, and they are spammers. To block it, press the “i” button in blue at the end of the number you want to block. “i” stands for information, and it will show you more information. Information displayed includes: when the phone call was placed, how long the call was for, allows you to call them back, allows you to FaceTime them, allows you to FaceTime Audio them, Send Message, Create New Contact, Add to Existing Contact and finally Block this Caller. The Block this Caller button is located all the way down towards the bottom of the info page.
To block that unknown number, press the Block this Caller button. When do you so, you get a pop-up message asking you to confirm that you do indeed want to block that number.
After blocking that number, the Block this Caller button changes to an Unblock this Caller button.
The other option to unblock someone is to go back into your settings app. Again tap on either Phone, Messages or FaceTime. Again, the instructions will be the the same no matter which button you first press. Now you see the list of people I am blocking. I do not want to block Michael Steeber, so I’m going to unblock him.
Then press the Edit button in the upper right hand corner.
You will see red circles with a white minus sign inside of it, next to the people listed in your Blocked list. Tap the minus button next to the person’s name you want to unblock.
Finally tap on unblock to confirm that you do want to unblock that person.
Now what if someone blocks you with iOS 7, how will you know? What will you see or hear? When it comes to iMessage, on the blocked person end, they will see that their messages has been delivered. When it comes to calling, on the blocked person end, their phone call will go straight to voice mail. This is different compared to the carriers, because when the carriers block someone for you, that person is not able to leave voice mail because when they call they hear an automated message politely telling them, that the number isn’t receiving calls with some error code.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Although ‘blocking calls’ prevents the phone from ringing and appearing in your missed call log, the person who is blocked is simply forwarded to your voice mail. This is the same experience that occurs if your phone is off or if you have “Do Not Disturb” enabled on your iPhone. So, in my opinion you’re not really blocking the call, because that person can still solicit or harass you by leaving your voice mail. Is this the result you would expecting from this feature? I was expecting the call just to end or go to a busy signal. I’m sure Apple could block the user from leaving a voice mail if they’re able to block the phone from ringing.
Now if someone tries to send you a text message and they are blocked, then yes, you will not get the text message.
When I tested this and called my iphone from the “Blocked” number the call did go to voicemail and I left one, but the vm never actually appeared on my iphone voicemail screen, however when I called my vm directly and entered the password the message was there, so since I normally always use the the visual vm and never call directly into vm that sounds like a reasonable solution, however I am concerned about what happens if the blocked number leave voice mails that end up filling my vm box and I would not be even aware of that?
Can I block just texts and not calls from someone?
Is there a way I can block calls from callers who don’t send call display info? Some spammers show up as “unknown ID” or “Blocked” when they call.
Call your service provider directly and have them enable the feature that prevent unknowns or blocked calls
Try adding *67 to your contact list, then block that contact (*67)…and it should keep the unknown or private calls from coming in.
Create a contact named “Unknown ID” and one named “Blocked” or “Restricted”. You can put in 000-000-0000 for the number or any other 10 digit number for that matter. Save the contact and then block it.
I’ve previously added all spam callers to the same contact named “Parasitic S**tworm” so I can see it when they call and not bother to answer.
The redirection to voicemail doesn’t bother me since I’ve never known any telemarketers to leave messages, since it’s a waste of their time, and they know it. Works for me.
Although I’d rather the phone “answered” on my behalf in the background and told them to f off.
When someone is on the block list & they text you of course you won’t receive it. But when you un-block them, does the text messages that they sent you while blocked come in after you unblock them?
Tiffany, that is a great question! At first I didn’t know the answer, but I did test it. When a sender is blocked, they get a delivered indicator for each message they send. When the person who blocks them unblocks them, they do not receive those messages that were sent during that blocked time period.
So where do the messages go? In the Galaxy s3 you can add the person as a spam and you can see the messages that were sent to you in the spam messages. But where do the messages sent to an iphone go?
I wonder what’s the limitation as I have a list of spammers with hundreds of number, probably not just hundreds… the iphone just freeze when I add to the list… i have to wait for like a minute until it response again… removing the numbers is more painful… and the battery is draining like 1% per minutes while I add or delete entry
If i block some one then unblock them can i see the messages they have sent in the past?
For whatever reason, this feature is not 100% reliable. I am getting some calls that are certainly blocked. I have already found out you can not block your carrier either. Verizon is able to get through without any issues. But, I still have about 4 companies that are able to get through and the worse part is, they are calling for someone else.
even though they are blocked on your phone they can still block their number and get through to you. it’ll just show up blocked. I’ve tested it before. so in away its pointless.
I’m curious if someone has you blocked could it very well ring instead of going straight to vm, both my phone and the other persons phones are the iPhone 5… But I blocked my moms number just to check (she doesn’t have a smart phone) but each time I called myself it rang from her end one or twice then it would go to vm… But when I call the other person it rings a different amount of times each time idk this person may just be ignoring me because I get no response to my text either, but I’m just wondering if iPhone to iPhone is different in how many times it will ring even if you are blocked??? I see most people say it goes straight to vm but like I said when I blocked my mom it did ring once or twice then vm… Thanks
How I can I tell if a blocked number has tried to call me? (Text messages are not an issue, only phone calls.)