I have an iPhone 13 Mini (iOS 18) with a new phone line. My last phone line was increasingly spammed with both voice and text. I'd like to avoid that with my new line. So, for $5/month (US Mobile), I got a 2nd text-only line that I will give to online businesses, as needed, while my main number will be given to relatives/friends/colleagues only.
I can turn that 2nd line on when I need to interact with a company (e.g., register for a discount), and then off when I'm done, to avoid being bothered by spam. Since I'll be putting the 2nd line on a physical SIM card, I can do this do this while leaving my main line on all the time (I was told if both were on the eSIM, I'd need to turn my main line off to use my 2nd line).
My concern is text messages that come in on my 2nd line when it's off. I turned my main line off, sent a text message, and then turned it back on. The text was delivered as soon as the line was turned back on, indicating that when I turn my 2nd line on, all those spam messages it received while off will be dumped into iMessages. [Unless this behavior is, for some reason, different when the line is on a physical SIM.]
If so, I'd like some way to dump those texts into a separate iMessages account, so they don't pollute my main account. Is that possible? I read it wasn't with iOS 15, but maybe iOS 18 is different.
If none of this works, I can always buy a $29 flip phone on eBay (e.g., ORBIC Journey V RC2200L Postpaid 4G LTE Unlocked ), and use that for my 2nd line. That would keep the junk line completely isolated.
I know this isn't foolproof—there are autodialers that call every possible combination of numbers. But it should at least significantly reduce the spam. There could also be spam from the previous owner. But it's a good sign that, at least for the 1 week I've had the number, there have been no spam calls or texts.
I can turn that 2nd line on when I need to interact with a company (e.g., register for a discount), and then off when I'm done, to avoid being bothered by spam. Since I'll be putting the 2nd line on a physical SIM card, I can do this do this while leaving my main line on all the time (I was told if both were on the eSIM, I'd need to turn my main line off to use my 2nd line).
My concern is text messages that come in on my 2nd line when it's off. I turned my main line off, sent a text message, and then turned it back on. The text was delivered as soon as the line was turned back on, indicating that when I turn my 2nd line on, all those spam messages it received while off will be dumped into iMessages. [Unless this behavior is, for some reason, different when the line is on a physical SIM.]
If so, I'd like some way to dump those texts into a separate iMessages account, so they don't pollute my main account. Is that possible? I read it wasn't with iOS 15, but maybe iOS 18 is different.
If none of this works, I can always buy a $29 flip phone on eBay (e.g., ORBIC Journey V RC2200L Postpaid 4G LTE Unlocked ), and use that for my 2nd line. That would keep the junk line completely isolated.
I know this isn't foolproof—there are autodialers that call every possible combination of numbers. But it should at least significantly reduce the spam. There could also be spam from the previous owner. But it's a good sign that, at least for the 1 week I've had the number, there have been no spam calls or texts.
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