Show HN: CallStop – Superhuman for your phone number • Hacker News Board

Show HN: CallStop – Superhuman for your phone number

#1

Post by davidajackson » Sat, Feb 01, 2020, 5:39 PM UTC

Robocalls and unwanted calls are one of the biggest hassles these days. Over 50% of phone traffic is spam.

I'm the founder of CallStop: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/callstop/id1455892856

CallStop allows you to:

- Block 100% of robocalls on your current number, using your contacts as a whitelist

- Effortlessly email call invites to an any email (that can be joined in one tap, the PIN is embedded), where the recipient can only call you starting 5 minutes before the meeting start and up until 5 minutes after the meeting end

- Pause call filtering and have it automatically resume after a certain time

- Accept whitelist requests to join your whitelist, and receive notes from the callers prior to accepting

- Specify PINs you can give to loved ones or groups to reach you from unknown numbers.

- Get a second phone number with which you can give out in lieu of your primary.

CallStop is a productivity tool that lets you better manage your time and who can reach you.

If you're expecting a call from a business from an unknown number, or want to limit a salesperson from calling you more than once, CallStop is perfect for managing these interactions.

Re: Show HN: CallStop – Superhuman for your phone number

#2

Post by chadwittman » Sat, Feb 01, 2020, 8:03 PM UTC

I really wish this would have come out like 4 years ago. I love the idea, but Apple's newest iOS helped significantly cut down on the robocall annoyance. I'm cheering for you!

Re: Show HN: CallStop – Superhuman for your phone number

#3

Post by AgentK20 » Sat, Feb 01, 2020, 8:05 PM UTC

Any plans for Android? Would happily pay for a service like this.

Re: Show HN: CallStop – Superhuman for your phone number

#4

Post by sm4rk0 » Sat, Feb 01, 2020, 8:17 PM UTC

Over 50% of phone traffic is spam.

Please, don't generalize. That statistic is maybe valid in the USA. In my case (Serbia) spam is practically 0%. There's an occasional landline call or two per month but that's enough for making fun by letting our kids answer the phone and troll the spammers. Third world "problems" (:

Anyway, I support your fight against spammers.

Re: Show HN: CallStop – Superhuman for your phone number

#5

Post by bestouff » Sat, Feb 01, 2020, 8:33 PM UTC

sm4rk0 wrote: post #4

Over 50% of phone traffic is spam. Please, don't generalize. That statistic is maybe valid in the USA. In my case (Serbia) spam is practically 0%. There's an occasional landline call or two per month but that's enough for making fun by letting our kids answer the phone and troll the spammers. Third world "problems" (: Anyway, I support your fight against spammers.

Same thing in France. I wonder if phone spam exists elsewhere than in USA (in UK perhaps) ?

Re: Show HN: CallStop – Superhuman for your phone number

#6

Post by mceachen » Sat, Feb 01, 2020, 8:36 PM UTC

AgentK20 wrote: post #3

Any plans for Android? Would happily pay for a service like this.

Android's built-in "do not disturb" setting supports silencing all phone calls from numbers not in your address book.

Re: Show HN: CallStop – Superhuman for your phone number

#7

Post by nlh » Sat, Feb 01, 2020, 8:40 PM UTC

Congrats on launching!

One security-related question: I had looked into this area previously as a user and a security-conscious friend pointed out that systems that use call forwarding to stop the spam problem are a HUGE security risk.

You’re effectively man-in-the-middling all mobile calls, SMS, etc, and if there’s some sort of compromise (or, much less likely, malicious act) on your end, all of us users will be in a tough spot.

Is this accurate? Can you share some thoughts?

(Not trying to knock your business or approach, btw - just want to know if the fears are founded or not.)

Re: Show HN: CallStop – Superhuman for your phone number

#8

Post by ssss11 » Sat, Feb 01, 2020, 8:49 PM UTC

bestouff wrote: post #5

sm4rk0 wrote: post #4

Over 50% of phone traffic is spam. Please, don't generalize. That statistic is maybe valid in the USA. In my case (Serbia) spam is practically 0%. There's an occasional landline call or two per month but that's enough for making fun by letting our kids answer the phone and troll the spammers. Third world "problems" (: Anyway, I support your fight against spammers.

Same thing in France. I wonder if phone spam exists elsewhere than in USA (in UK perhaps) ?

There’s a lot in Australia

Re: Show HN: CallStop – Superhuman for your phone number

#9

Post by Khamsin » Sat, Feb 01, 2020, 8:56 PM UTC

bestouff wrote: post #5

sm4rk0 wrote: post #4

Over 50% of phone traffic is spam. Please, don't generalize. That statistic is maybe valid in the USA. In my case (Serbia) spam is practically 0%. There's an occasional landline call or two per month but that's enough for making fun by letting our kids answer the phone and troll the spammers. Third world "problems" (: Anyway, I support your fight against spammers.

Same thing in France. I wonder if phone spam exists elsewhere than in USA (in UK perhaps) ?

My parents in France get spam calls on their land-line phone almost everyday. It almost never occurs with mobile phones though.

Re: Show HN: CallStop – Superhuman for your phone number

#10

Post by dangoor » Sat, Feb 01, 2020, 8:57 PM UTC

mceachen wrote: post #6

AgentK20 wrote: post #3

Any plans for Android? Would happily pay for a service like this.

Android's built-in "do not disturb" setting supports silencing all phone calls from numbers not in your address book.

iOS supports this too: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT207099