Ask HN: Stopping spam calls to my cell?

[mholubowski]

Hey,

What’s the state of the art, best possible way to stop spam calls to my cell phone?

It’s getting unbelievable. On certain days I’m forced to pick up calls from random numbers - say when my brother might be calling me (he has health issues etc), and they’re almost always spam calls.

My iPhone often says “spam caller” or “potential spam” but it still lets it ring through.

Plz help fam, I’m losing it a bit.

[solardev]

RoboKiller works OK... better than nothing: https://www.robokiller.com/

Pixel phones come with Google's own spam blocker, which seems to work much better. It both has a blocklist and uses a virtual assistant to answer unknown calls and screens them.

I switched to iPhone for a while but ended up switching back because the spam problem there was so bad. Surprised Apple doesn't have a first-party solution to it yet. In the meantime Robokiller is better than nothing.

[pavel_lishin]

Does your brother call from random, unexpected numbers?

This doesn't help much, but I live in a place with a different area code from my number - thus, I can reliably estimate that 99.999% of all calls from "my" area code are spam.

I also no longer pick up numbers in general. I have a young child, so emergencies may come up, but I trust them to leave voicemails - whereas spammers always live a voicemail of either 5 seconds, or 52 seconds.

[allears]

https://privacysavvy.com/security/mobile/best-spam-call-bloc...

https://www.whistleout.com/CellPhones/Guides/best-spam-block...

[jqpabc123]

This obviously won't apply to your iPhone but Android users might find the following helpful.

Android has a simple call blocker built-in called "Do Not Disturb" mode.

A lot of people are unaware that it can easily be configured to only ring for numbers in your contact list. No ring for unknowns but you'll still receive a call notification so you can call back if you choose.