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iPhone XS – How to Block and Filter Incoming Phone Calls

The iPhone XS offers several ways to block and filter incoming calls so you don’t get disturbed by unwanted callers. Here are the main methods:

Use Do Not Disturb

The Do Not Disturb feature allows you to silence calls, alerts, and notifications for a set period of time. To enable it:

  1. Open Settings
  2. Tap “Do Not Disturb”
  3. Toggle “Do Not Disturb” on
  4. Choose scheduling and allowance options:
    • Set when Do Not Disturb turns on and off automatically
    • Allow calls from certain contacts
    • Allow repeated calls to ring through

While enabled, Do Not Disturb shows a crescent moon icon in your status bar. Exceptions you define like favorite contacts or second calls will still go through.

Block Specific Numbers

To block calls and texts from a specific number:

  1. Open Phone app
  2. Tap “Recents”
  3. Tap the “i” icon next to a number
  4. Scroll down and tap “Block this Caller”
  5. Confirm by tapping “Block Contact”

Blocked contacts then appear in Settings > Phone > Blocked Contacts. You can unblock contacts here too.

Silence Unknown Callers

The “Silence Unknown Callers” feature automatically blocks phone numbers not in your contacts, recent calls, or Siri suggestions. Enable it by:

  1. Going to Settings > Phone
  2. Toggling on “Silence Unknown Callers”

This is an easy way to filter out unrecognized phone numbers automatically. Note that important numbers like doctors or deliveries may get blocked, so you can check recent calls and unblock numbers if needed.

Use Third-Party Call Blocking Apps

Apps like Truecaller, RoboKiller, and Hiya can identify spam callers and block robocalls for you automatically. These pull from community databases of known spam numbers.

Key features of call blocking apps:

  • Automatically block identified spam numbers
  • Show labels for suspected spam calls
  • Block callers by category like telemarketers
  • Create custom block lists
  • Reverse lookup unknown callers

Top call blocking apps have free and paid tiers depending on desired features.

Set Up Focus Modes

Focus modes allow you to filter notifications and calls based on what you’re currently doing. For example, you can set up a Work Focus that only allows notifications from coworkers.

To start:

  1. Go to Settings > Focus
  2. Tap the “+” icon to make a new Focus mode
  3. Choose allowed contacts, apps, and calls
  4. Enable on demand or schedule when it turns on

The selected Focus shows on your lock screen indicating which notifications can go through. Great for blocking unwanted disruptions.

Conclusion

With built-in settings like Do Not Disturb and Silence Unknown Callers, plus third party apps, you have many options to block and filter calls on an iPhone XS. Using a combination of manual blocking, automatic filtering, and timed Focus modes gives you complete control. Refer to this guide anytime unwanted calls are bugging you!

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