Android has a similar feature in its Do Not Disturb mode. If you're not already in my address book, my phone simply does not ring. Everyone I need to hear from on a moment's notice is in there, and everyone else can leave a voicemail. It's maybe a bit sad that it's come to this, but the robocalls are rampant and this is the only solution that even puts a dent in the volume.
I have do not disturb turned on always, but my contacts are exempt, so for people I know it will ring. If I get a call from a non contact they can leave a voicemail. But most of the time it's a robocall. Not having to deal with my phone ringing all the time has been a big improvement.
I set my Android phone to only ring for callers in my contact list. It pisses me off that the robocallers have won but my life is better without unwanted phone interruptions.
An android solution is to only ring/notify the phone for people in your contacts. It's easier than giving individuals a ring tone as unknowns get the silent treatment by default. Basically just whitelist instead of blacklist.
I was in the same boat, so I started just leaving my phone silenced all of the time. I almost never get robocalls anymore. Interestingly, it seems like whenever I turn my ringer on because I'm expecting a call I get a robocall. It's probably just coincidence though.
I think this is fixable with technology. We just need a mode your phone can enter while you're asleep such that calls are gated by a system that allows trusted users to ring the phone after a reminder that this is a bad time, and simply silences all other notifications or rings.
I have important numbers set to come through, everyone else just rings out silently (and I disabled voicemail), either you are a contact and I'll ring back or I just delete the call notification.
I use do not disturb mode between 11pm and 9am. If you're in my contacts list it'll ring (silent), otherwise you're going straight to voicemail. The concept of being woken up by phone a phone call (other than being actively on call for some reason) is crazy.
Even ignoring unknown numbers got too distracting. My phone never comes out of Do not Disturb mode unless I'm expecting an important call.
I don't know why we have such crappy cell phone audio quality and such an outdated convention. Why not have an opt-in protocol similar to a friend request on social networks before you can call someone?
This 100%. iPhones have a feature to do this automatically. It doesn’t even ring, and goes straight to voicemail if they’re not in your contacts. It’s so freeing!
I have "Do Not Disturb" enabled 100% of the time, except when I'm waiting for a delivery. Incoming calls from unknown numbers are also automatically silenced.
In early 2000s this used to be a feature of my phone and I actually liked it. It allowed me to call someone and leave some information quick and easily. Text messages have largely replaced the need for that now. So much so that I've often pondered disabling my voicemail altogether.
On iOS, at least, you can silence a call without sending it to vmail by hitting the power button once. I assume there's something analogous on android.
I'm in the same boat. About 3 robocalls each day. I have resorted to keeping my phone on a custom 'do not disturb' profile so that the phone only vibrates if someone in my contact list calls me.
reply