How To Get Around Being Blocked On Iphone
How To Call Someone Who Blocked Your Number On iPhone
It’s worryingly easy to call an iPhone that’s blocked your phone number. Here’s how to hide your caller ID and bypass an iPhone call block – in emergencies only, please
It’s possible to call someone even if they’ve blocked your number on their iPhone, because the iOS blocking feature relies on your caller ID being visible… and you can hide that fairly easily. Whether it’s advisable, ethical or even legal to do so is another matter.
In this article we explain how to hide your caller ID and bypass an iPhone call block – but this is for emergencies only. Please don’t get yourself in trouble with the law.
Note: As of iOS 13 a new feature Silence Unknown Callers means that the method discussed here probably won’t work. If the person you are calling has turned on this feature and your number is not in their Contacts then their phone will not ring. Read about how to silence unknown callers here.
What is iOS call blocking?
iOS 7, the 2013 update to Apple’s operating system software for iPhone and iPad, brought in a useful new feature: the ability to easily block phone numbers from nuisance callers. We explain how to do this in our article How to block a number on iPhone. This feature has been retained in every iOS update since, up to and including iOS 13.
But if you’re the one who’s been blocked (to find out, read How to tell if someone has blocked you), is there any way to override the block and push your call through in an emergency? If you fell out badly with a loved one but now need to pass on urgent news about a family illness, for instance. Or if you want to return the engagement ring to your ex-fiancé but he was so upset he blocked your number.
In fact it’s incredibly easy – worryingly so, really – to bypass iOS’s number-blocking feature. But before we explain how it works, a quick final warning.
Is it legal to bypass a call block?
The method we explain involves hiding your caller ID, which is a simple feature available to anyone. This in itself is completely legal. However, it’s entirely possible that use of this method to call someone after they have made it clear they don’t wish to be contacted will get you into legal hot water somewhere down the line; it could be regarded as harassment. That’s before we even get to the ethical side of things.
Simply put, we don’t endorse the use of this method in any but the most extreme of emergencies. Please respect people’s privacy, and realise that if you carry on ringing someone after they have made it clear that they don’t want you to, and have even blocked your number, you’re heading in the direction of a restraining order. Macworld takes no responsibility for the legal consequences of harassing behaviour.
Hide your caller ID
Before we start, be warned that while this method gets you past the block itself, it’s no guarantee that they will actually pick up. Your number won’t appear, but the iPhone will say that the caller ID has been hidden. This looks suspicious to the best of us, but to someone who recently blocked a nuisance caller it’s a huge red flag.
You might be better off borrowing the phone of someone you both trust (explaining the emergency situation we talked about earlier should convince them) and calling from that – then a trusted name will appear on screen, instead of either one they don’t recognise or a blocked ID message. Then again, in that case you could just ask the mutual friend to make the call and pass on the information.
With those caveats out of the way, here’s how to call someone who has blocked you on their iPhone.
You need to disguise your caller ID, which will prevent the receiving iPhone from knowing which number is calling. Open the Settings app, then go to Phone, and select ‘Show My Caller ID’. Slide this to the off position.
Alternatively, you can stop your caller ID being revealed by using the relevant code for your country – 141 from a UK landline, for instance, or *67 in the US.
Now you can call the blocking iPhone, and it will ring normally, since it doesn’t know you’re the person it blocked. Whether the owner will pick up such a suspicious-looking call is debatable.
Is it possible to actually block someone, so they can’t call?
This article is written from the point of view of someone who has been blocked but needs to get in touch in an emergency. But the rest of us are likely to be horrified by how simple it is to bypass a call block. Is it possible to set up a call block that actually works?
Yes it is. For one thing, simply understanding the method outlined in this article gives you a better chance of defeating it: if you’ve blocked someone unpleasant and then start getting calls with the ID hidden, don’t pick up.
But it’s possible to do better than that. We’ve updated our ‘How to block numbers on your iPhone’ article to include a section on dealing specifically with the method outlined in this article: strategies for blocking or ignoring callers who known to hide their caller ID, including third-party apps and subscription services. Read How to block people who hide their Caller ID for more info.
Are they using Do Not Disturb mode?
There’s one more possibility that we haven’t addressed so far in this article: the contact who isn’t picking up your calls or answering your texts may be using Do Not Disturb rather than blocking you individually. Do Not Disturb is a bit like a temporary way of blocking everybody.
The symptoms of Do Not Disturb are similar in many ways to those of being blocked but the workarounds if you need to get in touch in an emergency are slightly different. Calling at different times of day, for instance, and calling twice within a short of space can both get through a DND barrier but would never be helpful in bypassing a call block.
For more information in working out whether your friend is using Do Not Disturb mode, and how to call them anyway, read How to tell if someone is using Do Not Disturb.
Author: David Price, Editor
David has loved the iPhone since covering the original 2007 launch; later his obsession expanded to include iPad and Apple Watch. He offers advice to owners (and prospective owners) of these devices.
How to Call Someone Who has Blocked Your Number – Techbout
Home » How to » How to Call Someone Who Has Blocked Your NumberIn case it becomes necessary, it is possible to Call Someone Who Has Blocked Your Number. You will find below the steps to Call Someone Who has Blocked your Number using the call blocking feature on iPhone or an Android phone.
Call Someone Who Has Blocked Your Number
While the call blocking feature on iPhone and Android Phone is great for blocking spammers and annoying callers, it can also be used for blocking people that we have fallen out with and also used for avoiding or dodging legitimate Callers.
Hence, the purpose of this article is to help those who have been unfairly blocked (like someone who owes you money) and to help those who desperately need to contact a person due to an emergency or compelling personal reasons.
Use Caution and Respect Privacy
Before trying to Call Someone who has blocked your Number, it is really important to understand that Calling someone who does not want to receive your Calls can be interpreted as harassment and could get you in trouble.
Even if the person at the other end is not likely to take any action, it is your social and moral duty to respect privacy and not call anyone who does not want to hear from you.
As mentioned above, this article is only meant to help those who are dealing with an emergency or have compelling personal reasons to Call the person that has blocked their number.
1. Call From Another Number
The easiest way to Call Someone Who Has Blocked Your Number is to borrow a phone from someone else and make a call to the person that has blocked your number.
Since the new number that you are calling from is not blocked, the person at the other end will receive your call and is most likely to answer the call.
This will allow you to convey the important message to the other person or clear the misunderstanding (if any) between you and the other person.
2. Hide Caller ID and Make A Call
If you do not like the idea of calling from another Phone Number, you can hide Caller ID on your smartphone and make a call to the person that has blocked your number.
When you Call using Hidden Caller ID, your Contact’s iPhone or Android Phone won’t be able detect your Phone Number and your Call will go through.
Once you get in touch with the other party, you will be able to convey your message or inform the other person your number being blocked.
The steps to Hide Caller ID depend on the type of smartphone that you are using.
In case of an iPhone, go to Settings > Phone > Show My caller ID > switch OFF Show My Caller ID option.
In case of an Android Phone, open the Phone > tap on More (or 3-dot icon) > Settings in the drop-down menu.
Next, tap on More Settings >Show My caller ID
On the pop-up, tap on Hide Number > Cancel to come out of the Caller ID Menu.
After hiding Caller ID, make a call to the person that has blocked your number and you should be able to reach the person.
Note: Caller ID Blocking will not work on your Phone Android Phone, in case this feature has been disabled by your carrier. In such a case you can try calling from another phone.
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How to find out if someone has blocked you on their iPhone
Do you think someone has blocked you on their iPhone? Here are some of the ways you can check.
Clues that will give you an indication of whether or not you’ve been blocked
By
| 20 May 2021
One great thing about iPhones is that they make it simple to block nuisance callers. If you keep getting those annoying automated calls asking if you’ve been in a recent accident, then you can hang up, go to the call log and block that caller – so long as they’re not withholding their number.
But what if it happens in reverse? If you find that you can’t get through to a particular person after multiple attempts, is there a way to tell if they have blocked you on their iPhone?
Similarly, if they don’t reply to your messages, can you see if it’s because you’re blocked or because they have Do Not Disturb enabled instead.
Before we get to the tips, know this: it is tricky to know for sure if you have been blocked. But hopefully, you’ll be able to find out one way or another.
The most likely scenario is that you’re being paranoid, and the other person just hasn’t got around to replying to your message or calling you back.
But, if it’s not all in your mind, here are some signs that you might’ve been blocked on an iPhone. If you need to be 100 percent sure, you’ll need to ask them in person.
What happens to a blocked phone call?
To test what happens to a blocked call, we blocked a number and monitored the experience on both phones. When calling from the blocked number, the caller hears either one ring, or no rings at all, but the other phone remains silent. The caller is then informed that the recipient isn’t available, and is diverted to voicemail (if that service is set up by the person you’re calling).
There doesn’t seem to be a reason why the number of rings varies, but if you hear two or more, you can be pretty sure you haven’t been blocked.
Note that you can leave a message if someone has blocked you, but the blocker will never be notified of the message. It does appear at the very bottom of their voicemail list in the Blocked Messenger section (if they’re on a carrier that supports visual voicemail such as O2 or EE), but most people probably won’t check there.
What happens to a blocked text message?
Texting someone who’s blocked you works as you would expect. The message sends as normal, and you don’t get an error message. This is no help at all for clues.
If you have an iPhone and try to send an iMessage to someone who has blocked you, it will remain blue (which means it’s still an iMessage). However, the person you’ve been blocked by will never receive that message. Note that you don’t get a ‘Delivered’ notification like you usually would, but this in itself is not proof that you’ve been blocked. They could simply not have any signal, or an active internet connection, at the time you sent the message.
OK, so have I been blocked or not?
The call is the best source of evidence to determine whether or not you’ve been blocked by an iPhone user. The key is that you will always be diverted to voicemail after exactly one ring – if they were declining your call, the number of rings would vary each time, and if the phone was switched off, it wouldn’t ring at all.
Also keep in mind that Do Not Disturb will also cut you off after exactly one ring, so don’t get too worried if your calls aren’t going through at 3am. There is a Do Not Disturb setting that allows the user to specify that repeated calls are allowed through so you could always try again right away – just make sure your call is urgent, or they may block you for real this time!
Finally, we would like to repeat that this isn’t an exact science, so don’t make any angry scenes without knowing for sure. Also: chill out, relax, and try not to worry about it. If they’ve blocked your number, hey, who needs them?
(If your problem is the opposite and you have an iPhone and want to stop an annoying caller ringing or texting you, here’s how to block a number. )
Author: David Price, Macworld Editor
David is a keen advocate for the Apple ecosystem, and enjoys offering advice to owners of the iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch. He occasionally ventures outside the Apple bubble to write about eReaders.
Frequently Asked Questions about how to get around being blocked on iphone
How can I contact someone who has blocked me?
The easiest way to Call Someone Who Has Blocked Your Number is to borrow a phone from someone else and make a call to the person that has blocked your number. Since the new number that you are calling from is not blocked, the person at the other end will receive your call and is most likely to answer the call.
Can I text someone who blocked me on iPhone?
The message sends as normal, and you don’t get an error message. This is no help at all for clues. If you have an iPhone and try to send an iMessage to someone who has blocked you, it will remain blue (which means it’s still an iMessage). However, the person you’ve been blocked by will never receive that message.May 20, 2021
Can you bypass your number being blocked?
For Android, go to Settings > Call Settings > Additional Settings > Caller ID. Then, select Hide Number. Your calls will remain anonymous and you can bypass the blocked list.
