Rita El Khoury / Android Authority
I don’t change phones very often, but when I do, I dread every part of the process. Although Google tweaked some steps for a stronger Android backup system and the new Quick Pair phone setup, a lot of boring bits and pieces remain. Re-pairing wearables and Bluetooth accessories, adjusting smart home gadgets to automatically follow the new phone for geo-automation, and re-customizing Log In and Apps is a pain. It can take a day and is done all by hand; What I can’t do is transfer or sync my blocked numbers on my Android phone to a new phone.
And this little issue has been bothering me for two years. I’m confused that it hasn’t been fixed yet.
I believe that Google will identify some spam numbers on its own and stop them from bothering me, but I will try to report them as spam and block other scammers and junk numbers. Still, every year or so, when I switch to a new phone I find myself answering calls and seeing messages from these unwanted numbers only because the block list hasn’t been transferred.
My blocked numbers list is not transferred when I switch phones. I end up answering calls and reading messages from the same unwanted numbers.
Spam and phishing are big problems in some countries like the US and India. In my experience, there weren’t many issues in France, but they were a big frustration in Lebanon, where GDPR and privacy laws don’t exist. Because I was a pharmacist, my number was registered by the union and shared with hundreds of pharmaceuticals and pharmaceutical companies without my consent. Two years after I quit my practice, I still get dozens of unwanted messages every week on my Lebanese number.
Spam is such an annoying daily occurrence that you’d think all the tools to combat it would be at your disposal. And yet, Google is fighting it with an assistant call filter and a huge collection of data collected from millions of users to identify spam before it offends, but it is forgetting one very simple method that will save everyone more headaches: sync my list of blocked numbers on Android phones.
Spam, phishing and abuse are big issues. I have to block a number only once, but Google is trying to solve the problem in a different way.
Beyond spam, it gets even worse when you think your ex or abuser is calling or texting you. When they switch to a new phone, they block them only to see their number pop up again and think they’re done with that shit. If we intentionally choose to block or mark a number as spam, we don’t want to find ourselves looking at that same number again.
From simple and manual to complex and automated, here are three ways to fix this problem.
- Add a guide Export and import Button in the list of blocked numbers in the Google Phone and Messages apps.
- Save and check the list of blocked numbers as call history It repeats and renews When users change phones.
- Synchronize the list of blocked numbers With my Google account (maybe as part of Google Contacts?) so that it’s always up to date on all my devices.
Apple does the latter with iCloud. You block a number on your iPhone and it syncs with your iPad, iMac and any other device you use. Google can and should do the same. Of course, this isn’t as fancy as the helpline call filter, but no one wants to keep blocking the same numbers over and over again.
When you switch to a new Android phone, do you find yourself blocking the same numbers again?
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