From reading this thread (and from my own experience) it seems the best way to mitigate spam calls is to buy your phone in an area code away from your home! Spam always finds a way...
Ask HN: Why can’t I block all incoming calls that aren’t in my contact list?
301–310 of 332 posts
Re: Ask HN: Why can’t I block all incoming calls that aren’t in my contact list?
#302What if it was a legitimate emergency? Like if someone used your number as an emergency contact. Or some hospital in the world trying to contact you because someone you know got hospitalized (touch wood).
What happened 40 years ago when home phones were the only way to contact somebody? I'm not trying to say it's not an issue, but the mentality that you need to be connected and accessible at all times is a relatively new phenomenon. If you are in a caretaker role than sure, but if my best friend is sick in hospital and I miss it because I'm out hiking or have turned my phone off, that's just life. People are not suppo…
The BBC used to have a service that would send those messages over the radio. E.g "to the Travis family traveling in a blue sedan, number so and so on vacation in Northern Wales, please immediately contact Bristol General Hospital, your daughter is in critical condition"; the idea was that even if you didn't hear the broadcast, somebody near your would and would bring on the message.
Re: Ask HN: Why can’t I block all incoming calls that aren’t in my contact list?
#303From reading this thread (and from my own experience) it seems the best way to mitigate spam calls is to buy your phone in an area code away from your home! Spam always finds a way...
This mostly works. After military service, I never changed back my cell number and I never answer if it is from the old area code. Though, I did once and it was a volunteer fire station asking for donations.
Re: Ask HN: Why can’t I block all incoming calls that aren’t in my contact list?
#304My name is James, I work for Community Phone, a nationwide cell phone company. Show of hands: if we opened up this feature for you to control this filter for yourself or your loved ones, holding all else constant (price and coverage), would that be sufficient to cause a switch to try out an alternate provider?
Honestly, I would pay for a feature where: - People in my contact list (or whitelist) automatically get through - Everyone else is forwarded to a real live human who screens my calls (The reason why I would pay is I'd rather just have a well-paid human handle this instead of some kind of AI or heuristic.) The human could be paired with some data, like what phone network the call came from, and additional data about h…
Ask Lenny to help:
https://blog.acolyer.org/2017/08/28/using-chatbots-against-v...
Re: Ask HN: Why can’t I block all incoming calls that aren’t in my contact list?
#305You can? I thought that was pretty standard on Android phones? On my phone, at least, there are do-not-disturb options for "priority only" (which can be set to either specific contacts or the whole contact list), "alarms only", and "total silence" (careful with that one).
My challenge on Android is that Hangouts calls have zero ability to filter.
Re: Ask HN: Why can’t I block all incoming calls that aren’t in my contact list?
#306On Android, you can do exactly this with an app called "Should I Answer?" That app has a lot more features too, like blocking calls which are rated negatively in the community-curated database. Of course, you can rate numbers yourself as well, and block/whitelist those. It can also block hidden numbers or foreign numbers, and a whole bunch of other stuff as well. It's a pretty cool app. Check it out.
It's mostly built in for Pixel: it warns about spam calls under the caller ID and allows you to report spam. In addition, there's the new call screening functionality [1] (which also now works on the Pixel 2). [1]: https://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/google-call-screening-h...
> It's mostly built in for Pixel
I this this "Pixel" reply is misplaced. I've been using "Should I Answer" for about a year on my Galaxy S6, and it does everything the OP was requesting and then some. I just donated to them yesterday for the first time in fact.
Even if you don't choose to use your contacts as a white list (which I don't because I often have client/prospect calls coming in that aren't in my contacts yet), it still catches about 95% of calls thanks to thepower of the masses fighting back.
If you don't have it, definitely worth a download
Re: Ask HN: Why can’t I block all incoming calls that aren’t in my contact list?
#307A few years ago my parents were getting a lot of spam calls on their landline. Basically all of them were automated calls, either a recorded message or you were connected to a person shortly after the call was connected. I bought an OBi100 [0], which is a small device designed to be a VOIP adapter, but you can setup rules on how calls (incoming or outgoing) are handled. I setup a rule that if the call was from a with…
This is the kind of solution that only works because basically nobody is doing it. If a big provider deployed it, it would take five seconds for it to be defeated.
I like the idea of using a 'enter code' (where code is pseudo randomly generated) to request your number be added to the white list. This could be done for all users not in your contacts. Then, the user could leave, say a voicemail, which is converted to text that goes into a list that you could later scan for valid requests.
I currently use the "Should I Answer" app, mentioned below, which is about as good as it gets in terms of pissed off people working together to fight the good fight I think.
However, all of this crap is still jist a bandaid for a lack of our governmental ability (at least in the U.S.) to hold phone utilities accountable for the illegal use of phone numbers.(1) Fine the phone companies hard and the problem goes away.
1. https://www.consumerreports.org/consumerist/phone-companies-...
Re: Ask HN: Why can’t I block all incoming calls that aren’t in my contact list?
#308I have been using shouldianswer which has this feature. https://www.shouldianswer.com/
I was getting constant spam phone calls before I started using this app. The app was also clear about why it needed certain permissions.
Re: Ask HN: Why can’t I block all incoming calls that aren’t in my contact list?
#309Earlier quoted context omitted.
The carriers should pick up the ball a little bit and deal with the spam call problem at the network level, rather than leaving it to apps. How can the tech be broken that call display can be spoofed; like someone obviously from outside of your area spoofs a number in your area. I can't believe that can't be intercepted. They just don't care beyond collecting a monthly bill from you.
T-Mobile is the front runner carrier for dealing with spam and fraud phone calls in the US. I'll link some official marketing about one of their features, but they are doing a lot in this space. I suspect they find that these features increase brand loyalty per dollar more than the coverage arms race, which they can never win against their deep pocketed opponents. https://www.t-mobile.com/resources/call-protection
I shudder to think what the others are like, because I use TM and get a ton of spam calls despite a fairly lowonline profile.
Re: Ask HN: Why can’t I block all incoming calls that aren’t in my contact list?
#310Earlier quoted context omitted.
That seems really obnoxious for anyone that has your number. Do you just not give your number out?
Because spam calls don't occur because you gave your number out, but because the spammers either farm your number from a "partner" or iterate through numbers.
That’s one class. Another class is if the number was in a credit application or marketing form, then got resold or data-breached.
I only put burner numbers on forms. They start to get called about 90 - 180 days later. Not all, but enough you don’t want to give your cell out.