Android Apps to Block Unwanted Spam Calls & Messages

Mobile phones are a blessing to keep in touch with friends and family, but some calls and text messages are not welcomed and even annoying. For example, those from telemarketers, phone scammers, unknown numbers or text-sending machines invade privacy and may notify at wrong times or places, like during meetings or your favorite sports match.

Android app ecosystem, fortunately, provides numerous apps to block unwanted calls and messages, and rescue you in such situations. In this article, we’re going to discuss the best of such apps that help you block annoying and unwanted calls and messages and enjoy a peaceful time with your work or family.

Calls Blacklist – Call Blocker

A lightweight app in itself, Calls Blacklist allows to quickly block calls and filter SMS messages from unwanted and unknown numbers. This app is a robust solution with numerous features to block telemarketing, spam, and robocalls on your Android devices.

Calls Blacklist features

Some of the best features of Calls Blacklist are:

• Enable and disable blocking with one click.
• Block numbers manually or from the contacts list, call log and message log.
• Block a number range using the “begins with” option, like block all calls starting with "9909" or block all messages starting with "AD-".
• Set a specific schedule to block calls or messages, for example during your work (daytime) or your sleeping hours (nighttime).
• Create a whitelist, so the numbers or messages from this list are never blocked.
• Get notifications about call or text blocks to know instantly about a block.
• Check a log of all blocked calls and messages in case you want to trace a number.

Call Blocker Free – Blacklist

A basic blacklist app by NQ Mobile Security, Call Blocker Free prevents unwanted calls and text messages from disturbing you. The app consumes little resources (especially battery juices) and also avails a paid version with better, premium features.

Call Blocker Free features

Below are the various features of the Call Blocker Free:

• Allows creating a blacklist of unwanted numbers manually or by adding them directly from phone’s contacts, call history or recent text messages.
• Allows creating a whitelist of phone numbers that can reach you.
• Offers multiple blocking modes to control its features as per your needs.
• Sends a notification to update you after blocking a call or message.
• Prevents possible phone scams by detecting ‘one ring’ phone calls that are often associated with phone scams and telemarketers.

Truecaller

A dialer app with the ability to identify unknown callers and block them, Truecaller makes your mobile experience smart and delightful with features like caller ID and spam block. Do note that its caller ID feature, if enabled, requires a working Internet connection.

Truecaller features

A few interesting features of Truecaller are:

• Blocks texts and spam calls that are reported as spam by others or entered manually or discovered from the contacts list or call history.
• Auto-searches for unknown numbers within its global network and shows them with names and photos thus helps in identifying them.
• Allows making calls from the app using name search within its database, even if the numbers are not present in your phone’s contact list.
• Shows an ‘Availability’ indicator to tell if person you’re about to call is free to talk or not (requires other person to have Truecaller as well, and this feature activated for both persons).

Phone (by Google)

Phone by Google is an upgraded version of Android’s native dialer with a clean and straightforward interface. The app offers features like spam protection, caller ID and call blocking to provide you a superb experience while making and receiving calls.

Phone app features

Some of the amazing features of the Phone app are:

• Blocks and reports spam calls from fraudsters and telemarketers and also blocks the ones you don’t want to attend.
• Shows business names and their locations for incoming calls on the screen.
• Offers to view, playback and delete voice mail directly from the app (works only for Project Fi, T-Mobile USA, and Orange France customers).
• Displays nearby places if you search from the app’s search bar, making it easy to find nearby restaurants, food joints, hotels and more.

Mr. Number – Block Calls & Spam

Mr. Number is a powerful app with the ability to identify and block numbers giving you spam, scam or fraud calls, and text messages. This is freely accessible and easy to set up; however, some feedbacks suggest some of its features doesn’t work on Android 5+.

Mr. Number features

Below is the array of the unusual features of Mr. Number:

• Blocks unwanted calls and SMS messages from private numbers and area codes, and also blocks suspected spammers (unfortunately, text blocks don’t work on Android 4.4+).
• Enables you to add and block the calls from ‘suspected spam’ list.
• Automatically performs a remote ‘reverse lookup’ to get information about incoming calls, numbers in the call log and text message log.
• Its caller ID feature provides info about business callers with name and location.

Call Blocker

A handy app to avoid all the undesirable calls, Call Blocker offers reliable protection against spam or unwanted calls. The app lets you import and export blacklist numbers from/to a file, proving useful at times when you factory reset or you root your phone.

Call Blocker features

Some of the many cool features of Call Blocker are:

• Enables or disables blocking with just a single click.
• Allows you to create a blacklist from phone contacts, through call log or just manually.
• Blocks calls using initial digits including country or area code.
• Helps create a whitelist manually or from the phone’s contact list or call log, so as to avoid blocking all numbers in that list.
• Enables or disables block notifications to view or hide info about the latest blocks.

Whoscall – Caller ID & Block

Whoscall is an another feature-filled app to identify and block spam calls with precise controls. The app has a clean design and shows a contact information card on the call screen (just like Truecaller) to give info about the incoming calls.

Whoscall features

Whoscall is freely available with the following features:

• Shows real-time caller ID to help identify unknown calls and text messages.
• Blocks calls and SMS messages from unwanted, spam, scam or robo numbers.
• Number and keyword block to block numbers with distinct digits or words.
• ShowCard lets you create your personalized business-like card.
• A database to search for numbers online and offline (in limited countries only).

Blacklistcall – Block numbers

Blacklistcall is a lightweight, easy-to-use telephone firewall-like app that offers protection against unwanted and spam calls and messages. It is a simple application that provides all the blocking features in a centralized location.

Blacklistcall features

Some amazing features that come with Blacklistcall are:

• Filters and blocks spam numbers as identified by you or its users.
• Blocks text messages and calls from restricted numbers (doesn’t work for Android version 4.4 Kitkat and above).
• Can be scheduled to silence or block calls and SMS messages during specific times, for example, during meetings or work, while watching movies or sleeping.
• Allows creating a whitelist of numbers that shouldn’t get blocked at any time.
• Sends an automated reply message after rejecting a call (as per configuration).

Kaspersky Antivirus & Security

A mobile security app, Kaspersky Antivirus & Security does a lot more than just blocking calls and messages for you. It offers protection against viruses, spyware, trojans and other threats, and provides many features for an all-around security of your phone.

Kaspersky features

Kaspersky Antivirus & Security app is a must have app that:

• Blocks calls and messages and protects privacy of your contacts.
• Detects non-numeric number spams, and filters them as configured.
• Scans, detects and quarantines digital threats in real-time.
• Protects personal and financial data while surfing or shopping online.
• Helps in finding your lost Android phone or tablet remotely.
• Consumes battery economically while providing high-end protection.

Among the above apps, Truecaller rocks the popularity scores and comes with numerous features, but Calls Blacklist is your best choice if you’re interested in gaining full control over incoming calls and text messages.