OS Integrated Call Blocking

[maxman1]

Can anyone explain why all the recent Android versions fail to include a simple & effective call block option ala (Gasp!), the one in Apple's os7? With the ever increasing telemarketing & spamming problems seems a no-brainer and to have to utilize 3rd party apps is ridiculous.

Sent from my Droid RAZR MAXX using Tapatalk2

 

[doogald]

Can anyone explain why all the recent Android versions fail to include a simple & effective call block option ala (Gasp!), the one in Apple's os7? With the ever increasing telemarketing & spamming problems seems a no-brainer and to have to utilize 3rd party apps is ridiculous.

I don't know. I have a contact called "Spammer" that is set not to go straight to voice mail when they call. Any number than calls me that I do not know and doesn't leave a VM has the number added to this contact (which is pretty simple to do from the Call Log screen.) That works for me, and it's not a third party app.

But, yeah, that would be nice. In fact, I'd love for a feature that anybody who blocks caller ID will automatically not ring through the phone.

 

[dtbarabus]

I use the app Mr Number for this and it works great.

Sent from my XT1080 using AC Forums mobile app

 

[jfriend33]

I do the same thing doogald.

I keep getting calls from +501. Some current scam. Anyway I wish our feature phones Could do this.

Sent from my unlocked consumer edition Motorola Droid Maxx xt1080m.

 

[Emperor]

Good question. I use a work around built into my phone. Not sure if its an Android or Motorola feature. I create a dummy entry in my address book and call something like "Zzz" ... There is an option on each address book entry titled "All calls to voicemail". Whenever I receive a call from an undesirable, I simply add that number to contact Zzz and they are automatically dumped into voicemail every time they call.

 

[maxman1]

There are any number of work-arounds & 3rd party apps but AFAIK, none are the real answer. Keep in mind, there are some scurrilous calls that can levy a charge if the call is answered making the voice mail option sort of porous not to mention, having to clear the garbage out.

We need voice our concerns about this and request a real solution. Since using the integral call blocking feature on my wife's iPhone, the problem is 100% fixed - no voice mail, no text & not even a record in her call logs when before it was an outrageous number daily.

Sent from my Droid RAZR MAXX using Tapatalk2

 

[jfriend33]

You could also pay a monthly fee to verizon to get extra options. I believe you can block people calling you from a private number. And also permanently block numbers instead of having to reissue them every 90 days.

Sent from my unlocked consumer edition Motorola Droid Maxx xt1080m.

 

[maxman1]

You could also pay a monthly fee to verizon to get extra options. I believe you can block people calling you from a private number. And also permanently block numbers instead of having to reissue them every 90 days.

Sent from my unlocked consumer edition Motorola Droid Maxx xt1080m.

True, last time I spoke to them they will block 5 numbers @ no charge. Still, it seems an unnecessary inconvenience with a very simple solution.

Sent from my Droid RAZR MAXX using Tapatalk2

 

[doogald]

Keep in mind, there are some scurrilous calls that can levy a charge if the call is answered

I've never heard of that. As far as I know, at least for all US carriers (and the Droid Maxx is a US-only phone), you are never charged for answering (or having voice mail pick up) a call. I have heard of phone scams that will invoke extra charges when THEY answer calls that you place (because you called back a phone number that you missed), but, unless you are talking about airtime, I have never heard of what you are saying. Do you have a link for this?

That said, I still agree that this should be a part of Android.

 

[maxman1]

I've never heard of that. As far as I know, at least for all US carriers (and the Droid Maxx is a US-only phone), you are never charged for answering (or having voice mail pick up) a call. I have heard of phone scams that will invoke extra charges when THEY answer calls that you place (because you called back a phone number that you missed), but, unless you are talking about airtime, I have never heard of what you are saying. Do you have a link for this?

That said, I still agree that this should be a part of Android.

No, I have no such link. As matter of fact, although I have only been "told" that this is possible, I have never experienced nor know anyone who has. You may well be correct that it would require more user interaction than merely answering such as, the "call forwarding scam". Regardless, the list of scams is both long and complex. As people use phones for more & more the schemes keep pace and a simple call rejection feature would be very helpful.

Sent from my Droid RAZR MAXX using Tapatalk2

 

[jfriend33]

No, I have no such link. As matter of fact, although I have only been "told" that this is possible, I have never experienced nor know anyone who has. You may well be correct that it would require more user interaction than merely answering such as, the "call forwarding scam". Regardless, the list of scams is both long and complex. As people use phones for more & more the schemes keep pace and a simple call rejection feature would be very helpful.

Sent from my Droid RAZR MAXX using Tapatalk2

No there is a scam where a number calls playing upbeat music and it takes you to a sex hotline and it does end up costing. My roommates sister had this problem.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

 

[doogald]

No there is a scam where a number calls playing upbeat music and it takes you to a sex hotline and it does end up costing. My roommates sister had this problem.

Even if you don't answer the phone? (i.e., let it go to voicemail)

 

[dwathle]

I am new to the world of mobile phones. Much of my motivation for "trading up" from my landline was the anticipated capability to block unwanted calls (eg. telemarketers). But the basic telephony on my android phone has proven to be completely incompetent. At first, I assumed that I just hadn't "discovered" how to control how my calls are processed. But now I realize that I have paid hundreds of dollars for a highly sophisticated adware-delivery platform. Indeed, we all have. We don't get competent telephony because Google is proactively opposed to our obtaining it. My phone doesn't offer a competent, integrated way for me to block calls from scam artists and telemarketers because Google doesn't want me people to have that kind of control over their lives. And our governments are NOT representing our interests.

 

[Nec3f]

Like someone else said, I just have a contact called "Junk" that goes straight to VM for all calls I feel are junk. They typically don't leave messages so it's not a problem, but once in a while I'll have my VM icon show up without any ringing.
I think either Whitepages or 800notes has an app for identifying junk. If it's 800notes, that would probably be worthwhile since they do a good job of ID'ing junk based on user reports.
I use 800notes to ID calls at work (then block them with my phone zapper software). Presumably, the app would work by automatically blocking all calls after a certain amount of people hit a 'this is spam' button, and maybe the a real person from the app verifies it, since I've seen annoying, but not spam, calls get tagged as spam.