How to Stop Calls on iPhone Without Blocking

How to Stop Calls on iPhone Without Blocking.

Do you want to stop calls on your Apple iPhone without blacklisting contacts? Here are some ways to do it.

iOS makes it easy to prevent people from calling you by providing a handy contact blacklist. But what if you want to temporarily pause incoming calls or prevent unknown numbers from being dialed on your iPhone?

Luckily, instead of blocking numbers on iPhone, you can use several alternative methods to stop unwanted calls. This post will walk you through each of them.

Activate Focus Mode

If your iPhone is running iOS 15 or later, Focus is the best way to stop unwanted phone calls and text message notifications. It incorporates the Do Not Disturb (DND) feature from older versions of iOS and comes with several preset focus profiles – Work, Fitness, Driving, etc. – that you can quickly switch between depending on from activity.

Focus blocks all incoming cellular and FaceTime calls, including those from instant messaging apps like WhatsApp. To activate Focus, open the Control Center (swipe down from the top left corner of the screen).

Then press and hold the focus tile and select the focus you want to activate, such as Do Not Disturb. Tap the “More” icon to specify how long you want it to remain active in advance, such as 1 hour.

With the Focus profile active, your iPhone will mute all incoming calls and the caller will receive a busy signal. The Recent list in the Phone app will show you all the contacts or phone numbers that may have tried to reach you.

Instead of blocking all phone calls, Focus also allows all or certain contacts to contact you. For this:

1. Open the Settings app on your phone, tap Focus and select Do Not Disturb or the Focus profile you want to change, such as Work .

2. Click People under Allowed notifications and add contacts who can call you while the focus is active.

3. Click “Calls from” under “Also allow” to specify whether you want to allow calls from all contacts, favorite contacts, or a specific group of contacts. Also, enable the Allow repeated calls setting to allow repeated calls from the same number.

Optionally, click the Applications tab to define applications that can send you notifications when Focus is active. Back on the main Focus screen, you can also set it to activate on a schedule or through automation. Learn more about using Focus and creating custom profiles on iPhone.

Note. If you’re still on iOS 14 or earlier, Focus is only available in Do Not Disturb mode on your iPhone. To activate it, open the Control Center and tap the Moon icon. Go to Settings > Do Not Disturb to customize how Do Not Disturb works.

Enable Airplane Mode

Activating Airplane Mode on iPhone is another way to block incoming calls and SMS messages without using the iOS blocked contacts list. It works by turning off your iPhone’s cellular capabilities. Anyone who tries to contact you will receive a response that the phone is unavailable.

Airplane mode also disables Bluetooth and Wi-Fi radios, but you can enable them if you want. This is a great option if you want to get rid of distractions. However, you cannot allow certain contacts to contact you, unlike Focus.

To activate Airplane Mode on iPhone, open Control Center and tap the Airplane Mode icon. Then turn on the Bluetooth and Wi-Fi icons if you want your iPhone to keep these features.

To disable Airplane Mode, open Control Center again and tap the Airplane Mode icon. Another way to turn Airplane Mode on or off is to open the Settings app and use the Airplane Mode switch at the top of the screen.

Silence Unknown Callers

Are you bombarded with robot calls on your iPhone? Or do you hate it when people who aren’t on your contact list call you? As long as your iPhone is running iOS 13 or later, you can activate the built-in feature called Unknown Callers Disable to handle this. To activate it:

1. Open the Settings app and tap Phone.

2. Tap the Mute Unknown Calls option. Then turn on the switch next to Disable unknown callers.

Whenever you get a call from a number that isn’t in your phone’s contact list, your iPhone will automatically mute the call and send it to your voicemail. You can receive calls from any numbers in your recent calls list.

If you want to fight spam calls, consider using a caller ID or call blocking app for iOS.

Turn On Silent Mode

Silent mode on your iPhone doesn’t stop phone calls, but it does mute the ringer. Think of it as a more subtle way to avoid answering calls without resorting to the above options. Simply use the Ring/Silent switch on the left side of your iPhone to turn silent mode on and off.

If your iPhone vibrates on silent, you can also stop it. To do this, open the Settings app on your phone and tap Sounds & Haptics. Then turn off the toggle next to Vibrate silent.

Set Up a Silent Ringtone

Whether you want to mute a specific contact or only contacts, you have the option to purchase and use a silent ringtone.

To buy a silent ringtone and set it up for a contact:

1. Open the iTunes Store on your iPhone and search for Quiet Ringtone. Then browse and buy silent ringtone.

2. Open the Contacts application and select a contact. Then tap the Edit option, tap Ringtone and assign the silent ringtone you just bought.

3. Click Done. Then proceed to set up a silent ringtone for any other contacts you want.

Switch On Call Forwarding

If you’re using a different Android or iOS device, you can stop calls on your iPhone and forward them to another phone using a feature called Call Forwarding. If this is what you want to do:

1. Open the Settings app and tap Phone > Call Forward.

2. Activate the switch next to Call Forwarding. Then enter the phone number you want to forward calls to and press Back.

To turn off call forwarding later, return to the screen above and turn off the toggle next to Call forwarding.

Block Calls Without Blocking

Stopping calls on an iPhone without blocking is relatively easy when you have all of the above methods at your disposal.

Focus is perhaps the best of all, but the rest have their uses depending on the situation. Don’t forget to try them.