How to send unknown callers directly to voicemail on iPhone (while allowing text and know callers through)

I get about 20 robocalls a day, and I'm trying to figure out how to prevent unknown numbers from ringing my phone.

Some ideas:

• Have a silent ring and assign that to all non-contact callers. There is currently no way to mass assign a ring (to my knowledge), so this would be very labor intensive.

• Use a Google voice number and let it do all the redirects.

• Use Do Not Disturb but let text and notifications through from apps I want to use.

Has anyone found a good way to do dodge robocalls?

Solution 1:

Thus far, an app called WideProtect seems to do what I want. It allows you to block numbers per area code while still white-listing numbers in your contacts. It's a bit annoying as

• You can't just block out +1 (xxx)-xxx-xxxx, but most spam calls come from just a few area codes for me

• You have to go into the app and have it re-whitelist every time you add or remove contacts. A bit annoying, but I've received 20 robo-calls in a day, so probably worth the hassle.

Blocking just my area code dropped my daily robo-call count from 20 or more to 2-3. Slowly adding area codes as I get robo-calls from them. Was able to put my ringer back on.

PS: WideProtect can only block 40 million phone numbers. This sounds like a lot, but when I'm trying to block every number except ones in my contact list it runs out of space fast. Still happy with the product, but won't block everything out of the box.

NOTE: Apple has added "Silence Unkown Calls" which makes this moot

Solution 2:

There is now an option to do this. It’s under Settings/Phone. The switch is named “Silence Unknown Callers”. It sends all calls to voicemail unless the caller is in your contacts.