How To Block Phone Calls and Text Messages On Your Android Phone
If you have an ex you never want to hear from again or telemarketers are spamming you day and night with annoying phone calls, fear not, blocking phone calls and text messages on Android Phones is fairly easy and doesn’t necessarily require any extra apps to install. We’ll take a look at how to do it without apps and we’ll recommend you some call blocking apps for android that are worth considering.
Blocking Text messages On Your Android Phone
When receiving an unwanted text message on your Android phone, just click on the particular message for 3 seconds and a menu will pop up, giving you the option to Register as Spam number. After doing this, messages from that number will land in your Spam folder and you won’t receive notifications anymore when receiving a spam text. To access your spam inbox, hit the menu button and click Spam Messages.
Blocking Calls On Your Android Phone
According to which android phone and Android version you are using, the process might differ a bit. We’ll first have a look on how to do it on a Samsung Galaxy S3 and we’ll then look at a workaround method for other Android Phones.
Start by navigating to
Phone > Menu > Call settings > Call rejection > Auto reject list. You’ll have the choice of selecting auto reject for all unknown numbers by simply ticking the “Unknown” box or you can tap
Create to enter specific number you wish to have blocked. You can also add contacts to the reject list by navigating through your contacts, hitting the menu button and selecting
Add to reject list.
Rejecting a call with a text message is also possible by dragging Reject call with message up when a call comes is. If you want to add a customized text message to the reject list, go to
Phone > Menu > Call settings > Set reject messages and add a custom text there.
Sending callers straight to voicemail is also a handy option featured in most stock versions of Android. Go to the contact in question, hit
Menu, select
Options and then check incoming calls. This will send calls from that particular contact directly to voicemail.
All Android smartphones should have the option to auto reject calls from specific contacts but unfortunately some carriers block this feature to offer services of their own. Generally, their features can be found in the Parental Controls Option but they might charge you for the service.
Using Google Voice To Block Calls
Google Voice users will be glad to hear that it supports spam filters and includes a database of known spam numbers which are blocked automatically. Another option is blocking a caller completely instead of sending them to voicemail.
To configure call rejects and more, navigate to Contacts, tick the box next to the contact you wish to block and choose
Edit Google Voice Settings > When this contact calls you and choose between
Sent to voicemail, Treat as spam or
Block caller.
Turning on automatic spam filtering in Google Voice is done by navigating to
Voice Settings > Call and tick
Global Spam Filtering.
Android Apps To Block Phone Calls and Text Messages
If you are looking for a more user friendly option to filter your phone calls then one of the next three Android Apps might suite you.
Presenting itself as a Free Alternative to calling and texting, Mr. Number offers free messaging between members and real-time updates on when your messages have been read. Also featuring a powerful call and text blocking tool, the app allows you to block specific numbers or area codes. User submitted info keeps Mr. Number up to date about telemarketers and other spam.
Call Control (Free)
Another Android App using user submitted numbers is Call Control, which you can then select to automatically block those incoming calls. Letting you decide which calls get blocked and which once don’t and how those calls get handled, Call Control is a versatile app. The first 14-days, the full app is available as trial version, after that, the app reverts to a limited “Lite” version. If you wish to purchase the full app, you’ll have to cough up $8.
For a onetime $6 fee, Extreme Call Blocker offers a comprehensive call and text message blocking app which is password protected and can run in stealth mode on an Android Phone. Send calls directly to voice mail, pick up and hang up automatically, or just mute the ringer. Also blocking outgoing calls, this app offers solid options with extended blocking features and the ability to set up profiles with various parameters.
Enjoy a Spam Free Life
Many other Android call blocking apps are available out there so do your homework carefully before installing. Most of these apps don’t play nicely together, so try to only use one. Also, your Mobile Anti Virus might conflict with call blocking apps.
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