How To Stop Calls On iPhone Without Blocking‍

How To Stop Calls On iPhone Without Blocking‍

Unless you’re a hermit, you probably get phone calls. Maybe not as much as you used to in the pre-cell phone age, but they come nonetheless. Most of us also get unwanted calls from telemarketers and other annoying people. If you don’t want to keep getting calls from someone, you can block their number so that they are unable to call you again. However, there may be instances where you don’t have time to permanently block a number or someone is calling from an unknown number and it’s making it difficult for you to ignore them. If that sounds like something that would happen to you, read on for some great tips on how to stop getting phone calls on your iPhone without blocking them.

How To Stop Calls On iPhone without Blocking‍?

Change Your Voicemail Message

If you are getting calls from someone you want to speak to but don’t want to take the call right away, consider changing your voicemail message to something like “Thanks for calling, but please leave a message and I’ll call you back as soon as I can.” Then, you can decide whether or not you want to actually call them back and if you want to do it immediately or on your time. If they are someone that you don’t want to speak to, this is a great way to deal with them without having to actually block them.

Turn On Do Not Disturb

Do Not Disturb is a great tool on your iPhone that allows you to silence calls and emails while you’re busy. This is a great way to ignore the call without actually having to put in the extra effort of pressing a button to end the call immediately. This is also a good option if you want to ignore a call that you don’t know. If you change the setting to silence calls and notifications, the person will know that you’re ignoring them, so use this method for people that you want to ignore but don’t want to come off as rude.

Record The Call

If you are getting a call from someone that you don’t want to talk to but don’t want to ignore, you can record the call. This is a great way not only to keep the call short but also to build evidence against the person if they are being rude or threatening you in any way. You can keep the recording for your own records or you can use it as a way to build a case against the person if need be.

Turn Call Waiting On

If you are getting a call from someone while you are on another call, turn on call waiting. This will allow the first call to come through on your phone and you can choose whether or not you want to put the current call on hold or hang up and speak to the other caller. This is a great way to deal with people that you want to talk to but don’t want to interrupt anything important you might be doing.

Block The Number Manually

If you are getting calls from someone and don’t want to record the call or put it on call waiting, you can block the number manually. This will prevent the number from ever being able to call you again, even if they change the number associated with the account. This is a good option if the person is being extremely rude or threatening and you don’t want to record the call or put it on call waiting.

Why Blocking Is Important?

  1. If you block a number they will still be able to call you.
  2. If you block a number from calling again, the person cannot call back from that number either.
  3. You can’t unblock the number or make it ring again without going through the process of getting unblocked in the first place. This can take up to 24 hours after blocking someone before they are unblocked.
  4. You will not be able to get information about why you were blocked or who blocked you in the first place.
  5. It is difficult to get access to your phone records or other information about yourself if you have been blocked by someone else, even if it is an emergency situation like a fire or something similar.
  6. Blocking is permanent, so if someone has blocked you they can’t unblock themselves and vice versa when they are blocked by someone else unless that person also changes their settings to allow them to unblock themselves as well as others being able to unblock them as well (which may not be possible depending on how many people were involved).
  7. Blocking prevents your phone from going off accidentally when making calls using the phone’s speakerphone function (eCall).
  8. Blocking prevents calls from coming through on your landline phone (eCall) when making calls using landline phones with all features enabled (eCall).

How To Block A Number On Your iPhone Or Android Device:

  1. Go to Settings.
  2. Select “Phone”, then “Blocked”.
  3. Tap the plus icon and add the number or email address you want to block (or use the search function).
  4. Tap the “block this Caller” button and confirm. That person will not be able to call you again from that phone number or email address (even if they change their number). You will receive a notification when they try to call you again, so you can unblock them if needed at that time (or do it later via your voicemail).

When You Should Block Someone?

  1. When you have been rude or threatening to someone.
  2. When you are being abused by someone else and don’t want to record the call or put it on a call waiting for service.
  3. When you want to block an email address that is sending you too many unwanted emails (e.g., spamming).
  4. When a caller has called more than once, and you want to stop them from calling again in the future (although there is no way of blocking them from calling all the time, only from your phone).
  5. When you know someone who is a fraudster, and you don’t want them calling you.
  6. When someone is harassing you, and you don’t want them to call.
  7. When a family member or friend is being abusive to you, and you don’t want them to call.
  8. When someone has threatened violence against you and doesn’t want them calling again (even if they change their number).
  9. If your phone number has been used by someone else (e.g., by a hacker or scammer) that they are trying to contact via your phone number, that person can’t call anymore from that number until the problem resolves itself (e.g., when the hacker changes their password).

How To Unblock A Number On Your iPhone Or Android Device:

  1. Go to Settings.
  2. Select “Phone”, then “Blocked”.
  3. Tap the minus icon and remove the number (or use the search function).
  4. Tap the “Unblock this Caller” button and confirm. That person will be able to call you again from that phone number or email address from now on (even if they change their number). You will receive a notification when they try to call you again, so you can unblock them if needed at that time (or do it later via your voicemail).

Conclusion

Getting unwanted phone calls can be a pain, but there are plenty of ways to stop getting them without blocking the number. Even if you do want to block the number, there are ways to avoid blocking someone by accident. You can change your voicemail message, turn on Do Not Disturb, or turn call waiting on to avoid taking the call immediately. You can also record the call to build evidence if necessary. If none of these methods work for you, you can always block the number manually.

FAQs:

What is the difference between a block and a block list?

A block is just a way of temporarily preventing someone from calling you. A block list is a set of phone numbers or email addresses that are blocked from calling your phone, so if you use a block list, you will only get calls from blocked numbers.

How do I find out what number I am on the block list for?

You can check on your iPhone by going to Settings > Phone > Blocked > Show Blocked Numbers (on Android devices, go to Settings > Call Blocking and choose “Show Blocked”).

Can anyone actually unblock my number?

No, only the person who originally put it on your number can unblock it for you (or someone with access to their account). You cannot do this yourself or ask someone else to do it for you unless they have access to your account and have the correct password (unless they are an authorized administrator, which can sometimes be found by searching online).

Can I use Siri to unblock my number?

No, Siri will only let you know if someone has called your phone in the past, but she cannot unblock calls for you or add numbers to your blocked list.

Erik McKenzie
Erik is an expert in technology trends and writes tech tips on blogs. He has a passion for helping people understand new technologies and how they can be used to improve their lives.