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Comment by oswald | Hacker News Reader

That's pretty clever, I didn't even consider this as an option. How do you block landlines?

I currently have 'do not disturb' on and whitelist my contacts but it's not ideal.

In my country, landlines starts with certain code. So I simply ignore and block any number that starts with those code. I hate robocalls. I wish there was a way to reject all calls coming from numbers who aren't on my contact list.

> I wish there was a way to reject all calls coming from numbers who aren't on my contact list.

What kind of phone do you have? There are definitely Android apps that do this. This is the one I happen to use, there are many others: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.grus.callb...

I am using an iPhone. I wouldn't mind switching back to Android just for this feature.

This is already built into iOS, no 3rd-party software required (which would probably just siphon off your contacts).

Just go to: Settings > Phone > Silence Unknown Callers

(Calls from unknown numbers will be silenced, sent to voicemail, and displayed in the Recents list.

Incoming calls will continue to ring from people in your contacts, recent outgoing calls, and Siri Suggestions)

Blocking all unknown numbers is fairly standard.

Defining a silent ringtone by default, and a non-silent one for your contacts, is another.

Better management tools on phones themselves would be a bonus.

My phone is always on silent. Unless I am expecting a very important call. I prefer not to be notified. I am even tempted to invest some time and write an app that does exactly what I want -> Reject all calls from unknown numbers.

I've opted out of PSTN entirely, for the past few years.

That's my goal too.

If you don't mind my asking, why?

I've identified a few possibly concerns:

- Privacy.

- Avoiding distraction.

- Cost.

Others?

To avoid distraction. Majority of calls I received from landline numbers, are from robocalls.

Thanks, interesting, and understandable.

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