How to block annoying calls on Android 5 natively
Over the past couple of days I have received numerous phone calls from a number that is used for marketing purposes only.
I have the habit of not answering the phone when I don't recognize a number or caller. Instead, I search for the number on the Internet to find out more about it before I make a decision.
More often than not, it is linked to marketing and the decision to block it is made quickly because of it.
While there are plenty of apps available for Android that promise to block annoying or unsolicited calls from reaching your phone, I have found the native option sufficient in most cases. Most call blacklisting apps require lots of permissions as well which you may not be comfortable giving.
Android 5, stock Android that is as manufacturers may have added custom call blocking functionality to their devices, does not support call blocking.
It does however support sending calls directly to voicemail. That works only however if you have added the phone number as a contact on your device or a contact to the People app.
The process itself is simple and should not take longer than a minute to complete. Please note that it is a tad easier if you have already received a call made from a number but that this is not a requirement as you can add numbers manually to the contacts database.
Step by step instructions to block phone numbers on Android 5
- If you have received a call by a number already, tap on the phone icon on the home screen and switch to the "recent" view when it opens.
- Tap on the icon in front of the number to display details. There you select the "add to contacts" icon near the top of the screen.
- Select create new contact on the "choose a contact" page that opens up, add a name and select "add new contact" afterwards.
- Open the contact afterwards using the contacts app or the phone log (by selecting the edit icon that is displayed now), tap on the menu icon near the top right corner and check the "all calls to voicemail" option there.
Calls made by the number are automatically redirected to voicemail so that you are not bothered by them anymore.
Tip: you can use a single contact for all numbers that you want to block. Simply add each new number to the same contact, e.g. a contact called blocked numbers.
You may still receive notifications about those calls though as they are not blocked entirely but only redirected to voicemail. Third-party applications like Calls Blacklist or Mr. Number offer more options and better controls and may be an option if you find the voicemail option insufficient.
Thanks for the tip Martin.
It is for these kinds of posts that I follow GHacks.
What’s up with the generic comment, are you a bot?
2G?
Where on the planet is that still in use? I was forced to give up using my RAZRV3 years ago because 2G was phased out by AT&T.
Everywhere 3G has been turned off and you don’t have LTE coverage, and believe me there are many developed countries where this is the case and if it weren’t for 2G you wouldn’t even be able to make a phone call.
Maybe I missed it, but I don’t believe tha term “2G” is in the article. Perhaps you are referring to “AGM G2”??
@Martin
Your website has gone insane.
When I the post button I then saw my comment posted on a different article page. When I opened this article again, it is here.
@Tachy @Martin Brinkmann
” Your website has gone insane. ”
Same here. Has happened several times.
@Tachy,
@Martin P.,
For over two weeks now,
I’ve been seeing “Comments” posted by subscribers appearing in different, unrelated articles.
https://www.ghacks.net/windows-11-update-stuck-fixed-for-good/#comment-4572991
https://www.ghacks.net/windows-11-update-stuck-fixed-for-good/#comment-4572951
For the time being,
it would be better to specify the “article name and URL” at the beginning of the post.
@tachy a lot of non-phone devices with a sim in them rely on 2G, at least here in europe.
Usually things reporting usage or errors/alarms on something remote that does not get day to day inspection in person. They are out there in vast numbers doing important work. Reliable, good range. The low datarate is no problem at all in those cases.
3G is gone or on its last legs everywhere, but this stuff still has too much use to cancel.
Anyhow, interesting that they would put that in. I can see the point if you suspect a hostile 2G environment (amateur eavesdroppers with laptop, ranging up to professional grade MITM fake towers while “strangely” not getting the stronger crypto voip 4G because it is being jammed, and back down to something as old ‘stingray’ devices fallen into the wrong hands).
But does this also mean that they have handled and rolled out a fix for that nasty 4G ‘pwn by broadcast’ problem you reported earlier this year? I had 4G disabled due to that, on the off chance that some of the local criminals would buy some cheap chinese gear, download a working exploit and probe every phone in range all over town in the hope of getting into phones of the police.
>”While most may never be attacked in stingrays, it is still recommended to disable 2G cellular connections, especially since it does not have any downsides.”
The downside would be losing connectivity. I spend a lot of time way out in the countryside where there’s often no service or almost none. My network allows 2G, and I need it sometimes. I have an option on the phone to disable 2G, I may do that when I’m in the city and I have good 5G connectivity, but not out in the country.
I would imagine that the stingray exploits, like most of the bad things in this world, are probably things you will run into in the crowded big cities.
I stopped using it in a mobile (Wi-Fi line) environment, so I’m almost ignorant of the actual situation,
But the recent reality in Japan makes me realize that “the infrastructure of the web is nothing more than a papier-mâché fiction”.
https://www.ghacks.net/2023/08/17/google-chrome-to-enable-https-first-by-default-for-all-users/#comment-4572402
It is already beyond the scope of what an individual can do.
What we should be aware of is the reality that “governments and those in power want to control the world through the Web”, and efforts to counter (resist and prevent) such ambitions are necessary.
Why do you want people to disable the privacy features? Hmmmmm?
Now You: do you plan to keep the Ads privacy features enabled?
I’d like to tell you, but apparently if you make a post critical of Google, you get censored. * [Editor: removed, just try to bring your opinion across without attacking anyone]
@Martin
You website is still psychotic. Comments attach to random stories.
@Martin please do fix the comments, it’s completely insane commenting here! :[
@Martin
The comments are seriously messed up on gHacks now. These comments are mixed with the article at the below URL.
https://www.ghacks.net/2023/08/18/android-how-to-disable-2g-cellular-connections-to-improve-security/
And comments on other articles are from as far back as 2010.
What does this article has anything to do with all the comments on this article? LOL I think this Websuite is ran by ChatGPT. every article is messed up. Some older comments from 2015 shown up in recant articles, LOL
The picture captioned “Clearing the Android Auto’s cache might resolve the issue” is from Apple Carplay ;)
How about other things that matter:
Drop survival?
Screen toughness?
Degree of water and dust protection?