Despite being on the Do Not Call list, I’ve somehow managed to make it onto some sort of robocall list where a woman named “Ann” is trying to sell me insurance. Ann calls me at least a dozen times a day from numbers around the country (what a traveller!) to let me know about all the deals she has available. Whenever I stick around long enough to talk to a rep so I can ask them to stop calling me again, they immediately hang up on me. It’s great.
At this point, I’ve already blocked a handful of “known Ann” numbers, which means my phone doesn’t ring when she calls from there, but she’s still able to leave a voicemail. If you’re experiencing the same, I highly recommend it.
The process allows me to miss at least four or five calls a day and I can just delete the voicemail the second I hear her distinctive “Hi!” Still, Ann is still able to get through from other numbers.
Google unveiled a new feature for the Phone app back in 2018 that made that a whole lot easier. Now you can set your phone up so that whenever Google detects a call is potentially spam it can automatically kick that call to voicemail so your phone won’t even ring. You’ll need the latest version of the app for it to work.
To set it up open the updated Phone app on your Android phone and then tap the hamburger menu (the three dots on top of each there in the top right corner) and then Settings followed by Caller ID & Spam.
From there, tap to “Turn Caller ID & Spam” on and then “Filter spam calls” to have them sent straight to voicemail.
You can also report a call as spam by going into the phone app and looking at Recent calls. Tap the call you want to report as spam and then select “Block/report spam” from the menu (not everyone has the report as spam option). Otherwise, you can just tap Block here, which is what I’ve been doing to good ol’ Ann when she calls to kick her straight to voicemail.
Yes, you still have to deal with the voicemail your “Ann” leaves and a call or two you want might get kicked there by mistake, but if you’re getting a ton of spam calls it can be worth it just to not have your phone ringing all day with calls you don’t want to answer.
This article has been updated since its original publication.
Comments
4 responses to “How To Make Spam Calls Automatically Go To Voicemail On Android”
You might want to note that what you’re talking about is the new Google Dialler app which is only compatible with Google Devices like the Pixel.. Pretty big piece of information to miss.. People will try download this app on their non Google phones and be vastly disappointed and confused.
Exactly!
Thank god this article finally moved across from Gizmodo, so people like your good self could correct such shoddy journalism!
OK, sounds good but what am I missing? I have a Samsung Galaxy S8 which only has Samsung’s Phone App. I can’t seem to find a Google Phone app either on the phone or in the Play Store. Any suggestions?
Use something like Magisk to install it, as it’s not available on anything other than Pixel, Nexus and Android One handsets.
I installed it along with the Google framework, on my OnePlus 6 – on which it ran flawlessly; however, you will need to unlock your bootloader, etc. So it’s not for the fainthearted.
You can also find a modded version on XDA Developers, but you won’t get the spam features.
Got you.
Thanks.
Thx, works on my Nokia. Now to turn off voicemail.