How to Block Unwanted Calls and Texts on Android for Free

Of all the tasks we use our smartphones for, one of the most overlooked is calling. You probably go to Facebook or Twitter, check your fitness tracker data. or play games on your phone several times a day without even thinking about calls.

No matter how often you make phone calls, everyone has received an unwanted call at some point. Maybe it’s a political challenge during the election season, a telemarketer who just won’t let go. a phone scammer, or even a former lover you no longer want to talk to. If this has become a problem for you, there are apps you can download to fix the situation; let’s look at some!

Try blocking numbers on your device first

System-level number blocking used to access a rooted phone, but luckily Android allows you to do a lot more without rooting those days. The process depends on who makes your phone, but we’ll try to cover all the basics.

First on Android stock (although it might work for others), try blocking the scam number from your call history list. Open the application » Telephone» and go to the list » Recent calls» (usually indicated by a clock icon). Long press on the number you want to block and select Number block.

When using this method, calls are automatically ignored and all voice messages from the intruder are deleted immediately. Thus, they are out of your sight!

To block a number that isn’t in your recent calls list, open the Phone app and click the three-dot overflow menu in the top right corner (top in the search bar). Select » Settings», and then » Call Blocking » . Here you can add any number or contact to your blacklist, achieving the same effect as above.

If your phone does not have this option due to phone manufacturers settings, try blocking them as a contact. If the person you want to block is not in your contact list (probably for robots), just create a new contact called «Ignore» or «Blocked Callers» and add the number to it. After that, go to the application » Contacts» (sometimes called » People» ) and go to the new contact. Tap the pencil icon at the top right of a contact, then open the three-dot menu.

Now you can check the box All calls to voicemail suppressing all calls from this user. To keep these numbers from cluttering up your contact list, add each number you want to block as an alternate number for the same contact — then they will all be blocked under the same name. Caller rejection of voicemail is annoying and not ideal, but at least you won’t be disturbed by the call.

Can’t get any of these methods to work? If you have a Samsung device, try opening the » Additionally» in the Phone app, and then go to » Settings» > «Call blocking» where you can add numbers to the block list. For LG devices, tap the three-dot overflow menu in the Phone app and go to » Settings»>»Reject call»>»Reject calls from» and add some numbers.

The best lock apps

If the methods above don’t work for you, seem too limited, or you want a more versatile solution, there are plenty of apps out there that block unwanted communication for you. These may not be the kind of apps that everyone should install right away. but if you have a real problem with bad calls, look into them.

Mister number

Mr. Number is a free app to block unwanted calls. free apps for which does not require too much overhead. When you install the app, you can choose from three main categories of calls that you don’t want to receive: scam/dangerous numbers, spam/annoyance numbers, and any numbers listed as Unknown.

In my case, I would not like to block Unknown numbers because I have family members, the number is hidden by default, but if you have a problem with callers or something else, this setting might help you.

Once you’re in the app, there aren’t many settings on your end. On the home screen, you can enable/disable app protection completely, or change your lock settings by clicking the » Lock enabled» .

Here you can change your selection earlier, as well as block international numbers or any numbers that are not in your contacts (probably not a good idea if you get a lot of business calls). To add your numbers manually, just click » Numbers» on my block list and add any number you want.

That’s all the settings that Mr. Number requires! Now just wait for a few calls and you will get information about them when they call — if a dangerous number rings, the app will alert you while your phone is ringing. First make sure it doesn’t accidentally block all the calls you need, then enjoy a peaceful phone life !

Download: Mr. Number (Free) on the Google Play Store

Call blocker free

Call Blocker Free is an app similar to Mr. Number, but gives you a few other controls. The call blocker does not have general categories such as «Mr. number», so it allows you to add numbers to the white list. When you first launch the app, you’ll see places where the app collects blocked calls (and texts if you’re below Android 4.4 KitKat), but it won’t do anything until you set it up. Go to the right tab which looks like a funnel to get started.

You can add numbers to black list (numbers that are not allowed) and white list (numbers that are always allowed) by touching their field and pressing the white plus in the upper right corner of the screen. You can add numbers from your call history, contacts, recent text messages, or just enter them manually. Once you’ve set up these numbers, it’s important to make sure that blocking mode on the funnel page is customized to your liking because that’s how this app stands out.

You can choose from four options:

• accept everything pointless if you want to use a call blocking app!
• Block everything from the blacklist is a good choice if you only need to block certain numbers. This saves you the hassle of whitelisting numbers tediously and is a good default option.
• Accept from whitelist only is a good option, but if you have a real problem with phone harassment, this is a great way to make sure that only people you allow can contact you.
• Accept from whitelist and contacts only allows you to use your contact list as a built-in whitelist and add other numbers in the app as needed, as described above.

The app has a settings menu accessible by tapping the three-way menu in the top right corner, but it’s full of ads for other apps, so keep an eye out for that. Here you can change the way the application blocks calls (possibly fit and finish default call) and if you want to be notified when an app blocks a call. Most people don’t need to worry about this.

What were people doing before «blocking» phone calls?

— The Nicky Team #TNT (@ Nicky560) February 27, 2016

Overall, Call Blocker is a good choice if you need to block calls (and want to block text on Android 4.3 Jellybean or earlier), or if you have serious phone harassment issues and need a strict whitelist. If none of these apply to you, then Mr. Number is the best choice for most people.

Download: Call Blocker (Free) on Google Play Store

true caller

Truecaller has more settings than other apps. You’ll need to verify your phone number and create an account (Google, Facebook, and LinkedIn, and the old fashioned way) before you can access the app. On the main screen, you can search for any phone number you like to get more information about it. This works great for those 1-800 numbers that call without information; Here you can see what they are for at any time.

In addition to search, the application has two other tabs: Discover and Block. Tab « Detection ” told me that “there are no offers at the moment” when testing the application; it may be collecting spam numbers that have called you recently and offering to block them.

Tab « blocking » is similar to the previous two applications. One click allows you to subscribe to block spam from numbers that others have reported as spam. If you find one by mistake, you can always unlock it. You can block all hidden numbers if needed, and the app also lets you choose whether blocking means the call is rejected or it rings silently.

The Plus icon in the lower right corner of this tab allows you to add any number to the block — manual entry, call history and contacts are supported. Truecaller also allows you to block numbers in a specific series; for example, you can block the whole city code of postcodes and codes or all 800 numbers. This may make Truecaller the best app for blocking some people, while others may not like blocking numbers in a certain series.

Of course, Truecaller also gives you information about incoming calls as they happen. The app neatly goes a step further by giving you the ability to identify the phone numbers you copy from anywhere, ensuring you always know what phone numbers you’re working with without even visiting the app.