Then they add ads to the feature. Then charge more for ad-free.
this post was submitted on 28 Jun 2025
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me_irl
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i already know. they are selling something, or wantnme to do something for free.
I want it to cost $6.99 to even fucking call me. Period.
Ah, blessed silence.
Omg! That's the answer! I need to change to a 1-976-xxx-xxxx number. $1 to call, and an additional $1/min.
phones need to implement personal:
if you are calling to make cancel change appointments press 1
if you are calling to share updates press 2
if you are calling about those 20$ you owe me, press 3 for venmo info
...
i want it
I had a Pixel on Google Fi with this. When I got a call I could tell my Pixel to answer, ask who was calling, and ask the purpose of their call. I could see their responses transcribed and press automated response buttons.
It was amazing. Not sure why other phones don't support it, definitely a feature I miss.
Call screening and yeah, it is one of their better features.
Easily the best feature. I used it on everyone including family, friends, coworkers, robots whatever
If you're in America you can add your name to the National Do Not Call Registry. Telemarketers seem to be ignoring it in recent years, but for many years I received almost zero spam calls. The feds just have to be prodded into enforcing it again. The penalties can be up to $1000 per call for high-volume offenders, like the autodialer services small businesses subscribe to.
Is that even a thing anymore or did that also get demolished by DOGE? It seems like anything that benefits companies but screws consumers and citizens is being dismantled
Pretty sure it's still a thing since the website still works. When DOGE shuts things down they tend to trash or turn off the sites.
sounds like texting but with extra steps
That's what words are for... If you pick up, and say "hello," they will say why they are calling. God damn people will do everything in their power to NOT communicate with eachother these days
I can read why you're calling in 3 seconds and it takes no mental energy if I don't care. If I talk to you I need to use significantly more mental energy and it's more disruptive to anything I was focusing on. The people I least want to talk to are the most likely to call, and are the ones who will be the least direct about why they're calling and waste the most of my time.
Not wanting to talk to you on the phone is not the same as not communicating. The vast majority of phone calls are basically someone saying "stop what you're doing, what I want to talk to you about is more important" and they're wrong.
Good point, but in these scenarios you are free to just hang up. Most people I think are afraid of offending someone but if they are being assholes (salesman/scammers) you have no obligation to be nice or continue the conversation. I find it empowering, even cathartic to say something like, "Oh, you're one of those pieces of shit scammers I've heard about. Good day, piece of shit" or simply, "I don't have time for your bs" and hang up.
Sure, I could, but I don't want to waste my time. I don't get catharsis out of that.
Doesn't mean I don't talk to people, and even if I didn't talk to people on the phone... So what?
This exact argument applies to caller ID too. If you pick up you will hear their voice or they will tell you where they are calling from. Still would rather have caller ID.
You're right that people avoid talking to people nowadays, preferring a text or an email or whatever. But that's not the point here, it's being interrupted from whatever you're doing to answer the phone for no reason. Modern autodialers make calls continuously, and when someone answers they feed the call to whichever telemarketer in the room is open. If they're all occupied the machine just hangs up, but it keeps dialing because they don't want to pay their minimum wage workers to sit idle for precious seconds. So for that reason people out in the world have to stop what they're doing to pick up the phone, say "Hello" and hear nothing but dead air and then a click. It's the tech equivalent of kids ringing people's doorbells and running away, except for profit. Fuck that crap.
I wish they never invented mobile phones, my wage doesn't justify being bothered outside of work.
This is a thing. It's called Call Screening
Ive got a version of that on my phone, but its just me rejecting every call that isn't in my contacts list.
I use it on android and most people just hang up.
But it's nice knowing that companies who call me also have to talk to a robot first before reaching the human, me😊
I refuse to take any calls from robot, i've had Dr offices say "we tried to call you" and I reply "no you didnt you had a robot try to call me and I ain't got time for that shit", of couse "ain't got time" is relative, because I am mostly just digging holes in mine craft.
Nah fuck that. Your time is precious and I'd rather be spending time in minecraft than answering an unexpected phone call. So yeah, "I ain't got time" indeed.
I like it when they actually have to reach me because they start talking to it professionally and when I answer I've had at least two people say something like "I wish I had an assistant like that."
IDK what it sounds like but it always makes me chuckle a little.
I have it too. It's glorious.
9 out of 10, it's bots talking to bots.
But the 1 time, it was my doctor calling about something afterwards. I love it.
Sounds nice, but usually when someone calls me, they need something quickly, and that would be really annoing. At least I'm lucky enough that people don't call me if they can send a text message instead.
Same, my favourite thing recently is when the caller is an AI, I just get a voicemail of the darker AI taking to my pixel's on device AI for 30 seconds
I want it to be more common and standard. Definitely want to turn on this feature but I don’t have it available for me on my phone.
It’s literally built into Android and iOS.
Only in the US
Not only. I have Android in Ireland, and it has call screening.
Not available on my zenphone 9, quick Google says the manufacturer has to add it themselves, apparently only pixel and Samsung phones rn?
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It used to be easier to screen calls when we had answering machines.
"Pick up. Come on pick up! I know you're there. Im stuck at the mall and need a ride. Come on pick up...."
Exactly. If you just never answer your phone, you’ll never have to deal with all the people who either refuse to leave a voicemail or send a text message/email instead. It saves a lot of trouble.
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This is what texting is for.
Unironically.
Text "hey I need to know how to use (xyz), can you walk me through it?"
Response "sure"
(Call)
Unless you're my friends, which is then this.
Them: wyd?
Me: (2 hours later) Hey man. I'm going to wrap up work at 5pm, then I'm going to dinner with my wife. Want to come and bring your new gf? If so, let me know and we'll pick you up.
Them: (immediate response) 🦶🪐📐🪬 haha feel me?
I need an automated system like they do for companies where you have to navigate through an option tree by pressing numbers when prompted. And there is only one very elusive path to let the call through to me, all the other parts end to either endless loops or a dummy voicemail box that doesn't actually record any messages.
Many smartphones today have a call screening option where a voice agent asks the caller why they're calling and messages you the result.
You will be glad to hear that what you describe is also pretty easy to setup.
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I just ignore the call
If it was important, they'll call again
If it was an emergency, they'll call non-stop and text a bunch of times
Otherwise, most times, when it's not important, the person calls once, realizes it wasn't important and doesn't call again
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