How to Block a Phone Number From Calling Your Android Phone

Blocking a phone number from calling you should be fairly simple in 2013, but it still isn’t. Android doesn’t have a completely integrated blocking solution, and carriers don’t generally offer this basic service for free.

Luckily, there are a variety of ways to block calls anyway, whether you’re dealing with telemarketers that won’t stop calling or other annoying people that just won’t leave you alone.

Google doesn’t build the capability to block calls into Android. However, some manufacturers add this feature to their custom skins. For example, some Samsung phones include this feature.

To use this feature, open the Phone app on a Samsung phone, tap the Menu button, and navigate to Call settings -> Call rejection -> Auto reject list. You can check the Unknown option to automatically reject all calls from “Unknown” numbers or tap the Create button and add individual phone numbers you want to block to the list.

Android does provide a way to have specific numbers always go to your voicemail or play a silent ringtone that won’t disturb you if your phone is in your pocket.

To use this feature, just add the number you want to block to your contacts. Go through the contact-adding process and name the contact. Once you’re done, go into the People app and tap the contact you added. Tap the menu button and select “All calls to voicemail” to automatically send the number’s calls to voicemail or tap “Set ringtone” and select “None” to associate the caller with a silent ringtone.

If you actually want to block calls and this feature isn’t integrated into your phone, you may want to try using a third-party app like Mr. Number. You can use apps like this one to automatically hang up on calls, effectively blocking them and preventing them from even getting to your voicemail.

Note that third-party call blocking apps always seem to have some mixed reviews. They don’t appear to work well for some people, and this may depend on your specific Android phone. If the above app doesn’t work for you, you may want to try another call-blocking app from Google Play.

via HowToGeek