For as good as the iPhone is, it can also be just as confusing. Sometimes, a feature is enabled that you simply do not understand, either through it being an opt-out system or you accidentally turning on the feature. No matter which of these happens, it can be frustrating to try to figure it out. Today, we are going to look at the message “Message Blocking is Active” that may appear on your iPhone.
Why Does It Say “Message Blocking Is Active” on iPhone?
If you get this message on your iPhone, you have likely just attempted to send a message to someone. The reason why it comes up on your iPhone is because you either have the recipient blocked, or the recipient has you blocked. If you are unsure whether one or both of you should have the other blocked, you can attempt to call them or attempt to contact them through alternative means. Additionally, it is important to check whether you have parental controls enabled, as this can cause you to be unable to send messages to anyone.
But how do you disable parental controls? And what do you do about not being able to contact someone?
How do you unblock another user on an iPhone?
If you have someone blocked, the two reasons you might have done that is because you didn’t want to be contacted by them, or simply because of an accident. Whichever reason it may be, it is thankfully possible to unblock users on your iPhone. Starting from the Home screen, select the Phone app (visualized by a green box with a phone in the middle). If this is not on your Home screen, however, you can also swipe left to access it from the App Library menu. Next, you can navigate to your Recent calls or your Contacts, where you can tap the info icon next to the contact or number. If this number or contact is currently blocked, you can get access to the unblock option by scrolling down on the info page until you find it.
How do you get unblocked by another user on an iPhone?
Figuring out this is less something with a technical solution and more a social situation. If you are blocked by another user, the only way you can reasonably get around the block is if you manage to get in contact with the person through other means. As it is, there is no way to cause another user to unblock you just by your will alone. However, it is highly important that you consider the reasons why you were blocked in the first place.
In most cases, if a person gets blocked, it is because the blocking person does not want to have to see what the blocked person has to say. Only inquire about the block through alternate means if you think it could be a mistake or misunderstanding. However, if they do not answer, or block you through these alternate means, you should likely drop it. Keeping it up won’t do either of you any good.
Does iPhone automatically block certain numbers and contacts?
In this day and age, scam callers have become one of the biggest headaches people have to deal with while using their phones. They can even get particularly tricky with the methods they use to reach you, as well as the methods employed once they have you on the phone. Thankfully, however, modern phones have systems designed to detect potentially malicious calls and messages.
Granted, this sometimes creates false positives, which may have you be inclined to turn it off. This is not a great idea, but if you really want to disable this feature, it is thankfully possible. You can download an app from the App Store to detect and block spam phone calls. To manage which apps can detect and block spammers, go into the Settings section, and then select Call Blocking & Identification. From here, you can select which apps, if any, you allow to automatically block these contacts.
How do you disable parental controls on an iPhone?
Parental controls are an important feature for many people, but for just as many others, it is, at best, a non-factor. At worst, however, it is a potential nuisance, especially if you did not intentionally enable parental controls. Parental controls are capable of limiting a number of different features on iPhone, including, but not limited to:
- Restricting content and privacy
- Block certain age ratings of content
- Prevent purchases on apps like iTunes and App Store
- Prevent Siri web searching
- Change privacy settings
If you want to turn off parental controls on your iPhone, you must go to the Settings app, and then select the ‘Screen Time’ option. From here, select Content & Privacy Restrictions. There will be a slider next to Content & Privacy Restrictions, which you can slide all the way to the ‘Off’ position to disable all parental restrictions on your iPhone. However, if you do want to have some restrictions but not others on your iPhone, you can select certain things to restrict.
Why are scam callers getting worse?
Scam calls have been a problem for many years, but if it seems like they are getting worse than they ever have before, that is because they are. Scammers are not only getting more tenacious, but also better at masking their intentions. A big issue with actually stopping certain scammers and telemarketers, however, is the fact that they use tools to mask their phone number and location. Heck, they can even make it seem like the number they are calling from is a local number, which makes it that much more likely that a person will be willing to answer it.
In general, whether your iPhone is set to automatically block certain calls, be cautious of any messages from people you do not recognize. A good line of thinking here is that, if the person actually needs to get in contact with you, they will call again. If you do answer a spam caller, this tells them that your phone number is active, and they may attempt to contact you again in the future.
What is being done to reduce spam callers?
A common complaint many have with spam callers is that it does not seem like there is anything being done to stop them, and that there may be no way to actually do it. Naturally, this is a discouraging thought, and honestly, you are right to feel discouraged. Rather than take efforts to curb the problem, recent events have actually enabled spammers, like telemarketers, to be even more of a nuisance than they already were. Which, let’s be frank, says a lot.
In 2016, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled 6-2 that merely being annoyed by an illegal telemarketer was not enough to seek damages. Instead, the complainant needed to show that they actually experienced meaningful suffering as a result of being contacted by the telemarketer in question. Thus, this only emboldened bad-faith telemarketers into ramping things up.
Why do scam calls work on some people?
The reason why scam callers are as successful as they are is a pretty depressing reason: they tend to target elderly people. While elderly people have accrued a lot of knowledge and wisdom over the years, they tend to be more likely to trust, and as such are more likely to believe what they are being told. These scammers can take on a variety of different scam scripts: sometimes the scam is simply to extract their money for a fake charitable cause, but often, these scammers use robo callers that claim to be from a major company, like Amazon.com. They may also impersonate the FBI or IRS, with the intent of scaring the person into believing they have fines to deal with, and in turn make them more pliable.
Because a lot of people are not able to watch their elderly loved ones every day of the week, especially if they live apart from them, that means that they are potentially vulnerable to answering a scam call and having hundreds, if not thousands of dollars stolen by them. The way they do this is by attempting to get them to purchase Google Play cards (for instance) and read the number to them on the back of the card, which they then will sell off elsewhere.
One tactic they employ is to be offering a refund as Amazon.com, convincing their target to give them the ability to control their computer, modify their bank page to make it look like they gave them too much money by editing the page’s HTML, and then asking the target to get Google Play cards to cover the difference. This is usually accompanied by a sob story about how they will lose their job if they don’t get this covered, which makes it even more likely that the target will try to help if they were already believing it in the first place.
- How to Pair Meta Quest 3 Controllers with Your Quest 3 Headset: A Quick Guide
- How to Charge Meta Quest 3: A Guide to Powering Up Your VR Experience
- How to Cast Meta Quest 3 to Samsung TV: A Step-by-Step Guide
- How To Factory Reset Your Meta Quest 3: A Step-by-Step Guide
- How to Power On and Off the Meta Quest 3
