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iPhone Is iBlacklist Worth It?

wrkactjob

wrkactjob

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Feb 29, 2008
1,357
0
London
I like that it can apparently prevent a text message getting to your phone but does it offer any advantage over DNS?

Some users have said that even if you set it up to reject/block the caller still hears your phone ring once (as per DNS) before cut off, which may give the caller the impression you have chosen to reject the call.

I want the caller to simply fail to connect altogether and not hear any ring tone.

So is it worth the $12 and does it really work?...still reading reports its rubbish?
 
You can set it to ring a busy signal. Your phone doesn't actually ring, they may get one ring but then a busy signal. That may have them think it's a carrier issue. Every time I get a telemarketing call, I google the number then slap em on iBlacklist never to be heard from again. Great software.
 
The official paid version works, no ring either.

Only draw back that if you get a new device you have to re-purchase for 50% of the price, which is an utter ripoff, otherwise is ok.
 
tehreflex said:
You can set it to ring a busy signal. Your phone doesn't actually ring, they may get one ring but then a busy signal. That may have them think it's a carrier issue. Every time I get a telemarketing call, I google the number then slap em on iBlacklist never to be heard from again. Great software.
Click to expand...

Hmmm ideally I wanted the caller to think the number was no longer in use, though obviously if they hear a ring they will think otherwise.

TriJetHero said:
The official paid version works, no ring either.

Only draw back that if you get a new device you have to re-purchase for 50% of the price, which is an utter ripoff, otherwise is ok.
Click to expand...

Oh OK thanks.....well heck for $12 I should at least give it a try!....just wait for a JB now then! lol!...
 
Mine was always buggy and their customer service sucked, even worse its expensive and every time you change devices (even warranty swaps) you have to pay another $5
 
Whether or not your caller hears a ring is in many cases going to be an issue outside of your phone and internal to the carriers switches.

Your caller can hear ringing as the towers try contacting your phone. A program on your phone can do nothing to stop this.
 
Partridge said:
Whether or not your caller hears a ring is in many cases going to be an issue outside of your phone and internal to the carriers switches.

Your caller can hear ringing as the towers try contacting your phone. A program on your phone can do nothing to stop this.
Click to expand...

What the program does is intercept the call, thereafter you can specify what behavior; let them hear it ringing (no sound on your phone) , pickup-hangup, direct to voicemail...so yes you can do something about it.

----------
guitarmandp said:
If you have Google Voice you can pretty much do the exact same things
Click to expand...

Is USA only
 
TriJetHero said:
What the program does is intercept the call, thereafter you can specify what behavior; let them hear it ringing (no sound on your phone) , pickup-hangup, direct to voicemail...so yes you can do something about it.

----------
Click to expand...

I understand perfectly what iBlacklist does. I've used it. What I am saying is iBlacklist only controls what happens AFTER the call has come to your phone. What happens with the call PRIOR to the call being registered at your phone is out of your control.

There have been many instances where I have called a friend, heard the phone ringing on my end, then either had the call switch to call failure or get dropped to voicemail and the call has not even so much as registered on that person's phone as having been made. If you are in a poor coverage area, this is more common.

All iBlacklist does is intercept the call on your phone before it physically rings by answering it immediately, and then performing the actions you request. If it takes longer for the network to connect the call, the caller may hear a ring prior to iBlacklist picking up and playing them the busy signal.

iBlacklist is great and all, but it isn't doing anything at the network level, that part is totally out of your control.
 
So what is your point? It works, it rings but you don't hear a thing and it doesn't show in the calls list. It does not connect so no trace can be found
 
As an AT&T customer, it's worth it to me. I'll pay the one time fee over $5/Mo through AT&T. Yes, the downside is having to pay again when upgrade your phone, but that isn't ver often for me.
 
erayser said:
As an AT&T customer, it's worth it to me. I'll pay the one time fee over $5/Mo through AT&T. Yes, the downside is having to pay again when upgrade your phone, but that isn't ver often for me.
Click to expand...

You'd rather pay $5 a month then $5 every 24 months?
 
TriJetHero said:
So what is your point? It works, it rings but you don't hear a thing and it doesn't show in the calls list. It does not connect so no trace can be found
Click to expand...

Actually I believe it does show up in the missed calls, you just don't hear it ring and it doesn't interrupt you.

I actually wish that iblacklist had a "Do Not Disturb" option where I could block everybody if I wanted to and an SBSettings toggle to control it.
 
TriJetHero said:
So what is your point? It works, it rings but you don't hear a thing and it doesn't show in the calls list. It does not connect so no trace can be found
Click to expand...

The point?

You don't understand how iBlacklist works.

It works on your phone, not on the network. The phone call DOES connect, but iBlacklist handles the call by intercepting it on your phone before your phone rings and by disconnecting it, playing the ringing sound, the busy signal sound, etc. It also alters your local call record so the call doesn't show up in your recent call lists.

I find it great for annoyance call management. It might fool a snooping spouse.

It is NOT, however, a foolproof tool for privacy or for fooling the calling party.

All your calls and texts regardless or whether iBlacklist handles them will be logged in your carrier's billing records. There is always a trace somewhere.

Also, the Original Poster's concern was specifically about whether the CALLING PARTY would be able to hear a ring prior to iBlacklist taking the call and providing the busy signal, specifically because he wanted that party to believe that the number was not working.

iBlacklist may or may not do this, DEPENDING on the state of the network, precisely because it resides SOLEY on your phone.

If you go out of coverage, or your phone turns off, or the network has trouble reaching you, the caller may hear rings, or get sent to your voicemail by the cellular network. Once again, this is completely out of your hands.
 
Partridge said:
The point?

You don't understand how iBlacklist works.

It works on your phone, not on the network. The phone call DOES connect, but iBlacklist handles the call by intercepting it on your phone before your phone rings and by disconnecting it, playing the ringing sound, the busy signal sound, etc. It also alters your local call record so the call doesn't show up in your recent call lists.

I find it great for annoyance call management. It might fool a snooping spouse.

It is NOT, however, a foolproof tool for privacy or for fooling the calling party.

All your calls and texts regardless or whether iBlacklist handles them will be logged in your carrier's billing records. There is always a trace somewhere.

Also, the Original Poster's concern was specifically about whether the CALLING PARTY would be able to hear a ring prior to iBlacklist taking the call and providing the busy signal, specifically because he wanted that party to believe that the number was not working.

iBlacklist may or may not do this, DEPENDING on the state of the network, precisely because it resides SOLEY on your phone.

If you go out of coverage, or your phone turns off, or the network has trouble reaching you, the caller may hear rings, or get sent to your voicemail by the cellular network. Once again, this is completely out of your hands.
Click to expand...


That is absolute false informaton!

One of the option is: do nothing, it just lets it ring, no sound from the phone
Other option is busy, it immediately give a busy signal, the caller does only gets that.

I use iblacklist extensively also abroad, eg roaming so if it connects it would show up my bill, however IT DOES NOT SHOW UP on the bill.

It never does and never has….
 
Last edited:
TriJetHero said:
That is absolute false informaton!

One of the option is: do nothing, it just lets it ring.

I use iblacklist extensively also abroad, eg roaming so if it connects it would show up my your bill, however IT DOES NOT SHOW UP on the bill.

It never does and never has….
Click to expand...

I stand corrected on the ring through. It will not show as connected if you let it ring through, but in the cases where you want to have it play an alternate sound, like a busy signal, it is going to have to connect the call to play it.

The answer to the original poster's question of whether the calling party could hear a ring prior to having iBlacklist handle the call is still a yes. Even you just tell it to automatically reject the call.
 
from the iBlacklist manual:

You also can see wich disconnection type is applied to
each contact., by another label, above the AutoReply label,
with 4 options:
• Voicemail
• Busy (Busy Signal)
• Hangup (Accept and Hangup)
• No Action

As you can see only in 1 option the call is accepted in all others it is redirected to voicemail or busy signal or nothing is done.
 
TriJetHero said:
from the iBlacklist manual:

You also can see wich disconnection type is applied to
each contact., by another label, above the AutoReply label,
with 4 options:
• Voicemail
• Busy (Busy Signal)
• Hangup (Accept and Hangup)
• No Action

As you can see only in 1 option the call is accepted in all others it is redirected to voicemail or busy signal or nothing is done.
Click to expand...

In both Hangup, and Busy, the call will be accepted. There is no way to cause the network to generate a busy signal for an incoming call at your discretion.

Listen to the what it sounds like on the caller's end http://oumazik.com/video_7O5VYU01Lyo_iBlacklist---Busy-Signal-on-ATT.html

There is a short ring, iBlacklist picks up, and then plays the sound.
 
Thanks for all those that contributed to this thread, its clear this app will not help me. Its a good app just obviously now not for me.

A good thread though and I hope the useful contributions will help other people.
 
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