Tuesday Tip: Blocking Robocalls from ringing your iPhone with iOS13

By Richard Stokes

Despite efforts from the FCC it seems to me that the number of RoboCallers getting through to my mobile phone is going up. I’m sure you’ve had a similar experience, your phone rings, it’s a number that you don’t quite recognize yet you choose to answer it and 9 times out of 10 it ends up being utter garbage. The ones I seem to be bombarded with the most these days are:

1. This is your last opportunity to extend the warranty on your vehicle (even though, I don’t own the vehicle anymore)
2. Your social security number has been compromised and you owe money (which, interestingly enough, they are happy to have you pay off by purchasing Google play cards from a local pharmacy chain)

No matter how many times I block the number on my iPhone, within a few weeks, I get the same call from a different number.

Well, Apple has taken the action to help us out with this a little. In the latest iOS software update (version 13), there’s a nice option to ‘Silence Unknown Callers’ and send them straight to voice-mail.

First thing you need to do is check to make sure you are running the latest iOS. Do this by tapping on the settings icon on your screen and tap through the following options: General / About / Software Version.

If you are not on 13, then you need to update your iPhone first.

Once you’re on iOS13, go back to the settings menu and scroll-down a little further until you see the option for Phone and tap through to locate ‘Silence Unknown Callers’. Tap on this selections button until it shows green and this option is now activated.

With this now turned-on, all calls that are either not found in your contacts, were recent outgoing calls or Siri suggestions will be silenced and sent straight to voice-mail. If it’s legit and they want to talk to you, they’ll leave a message and then you can call them back.