It's funny how 30 years ago, probably 90% of my actual phone calls were with numbers that matched the first six digits of my own.

Now that number is 0%.

I wish I could block all calls from UK. Since brexit all spam calls that comes through are from there sadly

So true! Area codes (and first three digits) used to indicate where you were. Now, more often than not, they indicate where you bought your first cell phone, i.e. where you lived around the year 2000 for us oldsters.

It was closer to 50% for me since there were two (overlaid) exchanges in my neighborhood. I still remember about a dozen phone numbers of friends from when I was growing up.

Begone is better than Number Shield plus its free.

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/begone-call-blocker/id15968181...

I've been using Number Shield since long before Begone existed, so I can't really comment on their comparison.

...though the creator of Begone will hopefully realize that every entry in its version-history starting with that same rant about fake ad campaigns is making it look more sketchy than ignoring the issue would.

This is a great idea; unfortunately now I have dozens of voicemails a week from these numbers instead of just calls. Any option to prevent them leaving voicemail?

Can confirm, bought it years ago, the only app that allows me to easily block full range of numbers. I'm in France and work just fine.

I didn't want to over-promise, having only used it inside the USA's phone system. :D

Interesting. Anyone knows what API they are using or how they are achieving this? It’d have thought that this would not be possible.

From a user perspective it’s similar to content blockers for Safari.

Settings > Phone > Call Blocking & Identification

Just be warned this will also block legitimate numbers.

You can give it access to your contacts so it'll exclude them, or whitelist specific patterns if you want.

Does that app transmit data anywhere?

Not that I know of? The privacy statement on that App Store page says it collects usage data and diagnostics, and that neither are linked to you personally.

its kinda sad that we need an app for that ngl