With the arrival of the new General Telecommunications Law, we hoped that annoying commercial calls, commonly known as spam calls, would end. There are reasons why they continue to reach us on our smartphone, although luckily, Android has an important tool to combat them.
We are referring to Google’s call filter, a function built into the “Phone” app that allows you to act accordingly. Are you looking for a way to avoid calls from teleoperators? Keep reading, we will tell you the possibilities of this function: it is completely free.
One of the reasons I can’t stand the iPhone for long
Given the nature of my work, I usually carry both an Android phone and an iPhone in my pants pockets (or in my backpack when I go out, of course), and although both operating systems are more similar than we might think at first, Google’s tool for Android seems basic to me, especially now that Spam calls seem to have proliferated.
Everything resides in the Google “Phone” app, which is pre-installed on the Google Pixel and which you can also use. download to your mobile regardless of the manufacturer. It is free, lightweight and includes call filters, which is an important barrier to prevent us from being disturbed by commercial communications.
First of all, it will be necessary, of course, to have it installed in the internal memory of our Android smartphone. Then, from its settings, it is easy to take advantage of the aforementioned functions. I will tell you Which ones do I use to keep phone spam at bay?:
- Caller ID: This switch causes the phone app to inform us (when available) of who is making the call.
- Filter spam calls: Enabling this option causes calls from numbers that Google recognizes as spam to be automatically blocked. This means that they never ring on my Android: I don’t even notice that they’re coming in.
- Block calls from unknown people: It is not very common, but sometimes commercial calls can come from private numbers. With this setting, they will be blocked, including SMS from unknown numbers. Additionally, you can manually add the ones you want to the list so that the same conditions apply.
In addition to these settings in the Google Phone app, my Google Pixel has one more weapon to combat spam calls: the call filter itselfa blue button that appears on the incoming call notification. When tapped, the Google Assistant will get on the phone to notify the caller that the call is being screened, and to tell them their name and the reason for the call.
It is not infallible, in fact, most teleoperators dismiss the call when they hear this message. However, They will think twice if they hit the filter every time they try to sell us the umpteenth offer. That’s why I tend to keep my Pixel on whenever I can: I forget to pick up those annoying calls.
Alternatively, I recommend putting as many impediments to spam as possible: the Robinson List can be useful, monitoring prior consent is essential, and there are also applications to block spam, similar to Google’s. In this regard, Android has no rival.