How To Silence Unknown Callers In iOS 13

One of the numerous new features coming along iOS 13 allows you to combat spam phone calls. The Silence Unknown Callers option does exactly what the name suggests. It mutes any incoming phone call from a number that isn’t saved as a contact on your iPhone. This way you won’t get distracted by robocalls, but your also risk missing important calls from first time customers that you never interacted with.

Siri intelligence is able to quickly scan the native Mail, Messages and Contacts app to detect if you ever had interaction with that specific number before. If there’s a link the call will go through, else it will be silenced and register on your iPhone as a Missed Call notification. If you have an active Voicemail account the ringer will be redirected to the Voicemail and instructed to record a message.

Silence Unknown Callers options is surly a great feature for those of you that like to keep things simple and engage in call only with familiar numbers. However, if you’re an active individual that uses the phone for both work and leisure you might want to avoid this new feature. Calls from first time customers, and other leads will be easily missed.

3 Steps To Silence Unknown Callers In iOS 13

The Silence Unknown Callers feature isn’t enabled by default. Follow these steps if you want to use it:
1. Open the Settings app.
2. Tap on the Phone label.
3. Scroll for “Silence Unknown Callers” and toggle the switch to the ON (green) position.
Fact: All silenced calls will sill be listed in the Recents list, within the phone app. The call will be registered the same way all calls do if your iPhone is on Silent mode and you get incoming calls while your away.

Tip: If you call a silenced call back, Siri will learn this and the next time the same number will try to reach you, the call won’t be silenced anymore, even if you don’t save the number as a contact.

Repeated Calls Won’t Go Through
If you’re using the Do Not Disturb mode, you know that if there’s an emergency and the same number calls you back-to-back the call will be allowed, because it means that it’s important. The same trick doesn’t apply for the “Silence Unknown Callers” option. So, if you’re expecting an important call, or want to be able to reached by an unknown number in case of an emergency, don’t use this feature!

What do you think about this new iOS 13 feature? Do you plan to use it?

Related: Want to find out more about iOS 13? Tap here!