Spam calls are a scourge of our time, and AI is making them even more aggressive and annoying. We’ll show you apps that can help.
What are spam calls? This technical term can refer to a variety of unwanted and sometimes even dangerous calls. Almost everyone is familiar with the phenomenon: your cell phone rings, the number is unknown to you and your contact list. When you answer, an AI voice reads you an advertisement or you are only answered with silence.
No matter what or who: Spam calls are annoying and can even cost you money if you call them back. We’ll introduce you to two apps each and the options that iOS and Android offer to identify and block spam calls.
You can read what the N symbol on your phone means here on MeinMMO or watch the following video:
Stop spam calls, these apps help
How can I enable standard spam call detection on iOS and Android? Both Google and Apple basically offer tools for dealing with spam calls out of the box.
What does “Mute Unknown Callers” do? This feature on Apple devices hides calls from unknown numbers and only saves them in your call log. The phone does not ring – neither with vibration nor with a display, let alone loudly. You only find the entry in the call log and the caller has the chance to leave you a message on your voicemail. (More information: via Apple.com)
What does Filter Spam Calls do? Just like with iOS, the filtered call only appears in the incoming calls and is referred to the voicemail box.
So why should I use third-party apps? With third-party apps, you get a more intuitive interface and control options to set how the app should handle spam calls.
Do the apps cost anything? No, but they contain advertising and/or the option of in-app purchases. But in general, downloading, installing and using them doesn’t cost you anything extra.
Anti-spam call apps for Android
For example, these two apps are very well rated on Google Play: Call Blocker or Truecaller: See who is calling. In general, all apps of this type work in a similar way. Even if you switch to other providers, you always have the option of adding numbers to a blacklist yourself or often specifying entire ranges of numbers that should be blocked.
Truecaller also offers a database on Android and iOS (see below) that contains numbers that other users have already blocked. This means that, at least in theory, you often receive information about a spam call as soon as it arrives.
Anti-spam call apps for iOS
For example, on the iPhone you can find these two well-rated apps in the Apple App Store: Begone: Spam Call Blocker and Truecaller: Caller ID Blocker. The options are identical to those on Android: more information, more control, customizable ways to create blacklists for blocking.
If you are interested in more tips from the world of cell phone and data security, we have even more to offer on MeinMMO. Because apart from the informative articles linked above, we have even more to say about smartphones, regardless of whether you use Android or iOS. Elsewhere, for example, we have listed six myths about cell phone use that you should definitely stop believing.