iOS 18.2: Blocked Calls Still Appearing as "Unanswered" Instead of "Blocked"

App & System Services Core OS
Papaductions OP
Created 1w
Replies 7
Boosts 0
Views 199
Participants 3

Following up on a previous thread that was marked as resolved, we're observing that the behavior of blocked calls in iOS 18.2 hasn't changed as indicated.

Current behavior in iOS 18.2:

  • Calls blocked by Call Directory extensions still appear as "unanswered" in the Phone app's call history
  • The calls are successfully blocked (don't ring) though
  • There's no indication in the call history that these calls were blocked

Expected behavior (as previously indicated would be fixed in iOS 18.2 beta 3):

  • Blocked calls should be labeled as "Blocked"
  • Should show which app blocked them

This continues to cause confusion among users who expect blocked calls to either be clearly labeled or not appear in their history at all. We're still receiving regular user complaints about this behavior.

Has there been any change in the timeline for addressing this? Any information would be helpful for both developers and users.

Thank you in advance.

Replies  7
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Views  199
Participants  3
DTS Engineer OP
Apple
1w

Please file a bug on this again then post the bug number back here. Changes were made in 18.2 that should have addressed this and it's not clear why this is still happening.

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Kevin Elliott
DTS Engineer, CoreOS/Hardware

1
Papaductions OP
1w

We have filed a bug report with bug number: FB16093992

0
Papaductions OP
4d

@DTS Engineer Following up, have you had a chance to review the feedback report (FB16093992)? The behavior with blocked calls appearing as "unanswered" is still present in iOS 18.2. Any insights would be appreciated.

0
DTS Engineer OP
Apple
2d

@DTS Engineer Following up, have you had a chance to review the feedback report (FB16093992)? The behavior with blocked calls appearing as "unanswered" is still present in iOS 18.2. Any insights would be appreciated.

I'm afraid, there isn't a lot I can say at this point. Changes were made in iOS 18.2 that should have addressed this and I got confirmation from several developers that the issue was resolved (you can see some of them in other forums post). Unfortunately, that fix doesn't appear to be enough and the problem is still happening and we'll need to fix that as well.

In terms of your specific bug, I do have two suggestions:

  1. On a dedicated (ideally) development device, install the "Phone (General)" and "FaceTime" debug profiles, reboot the device, then reproduce the issue. Note that as you go through this process, try to go "slowly", leaving a few minutes before each step (reboot, wait, receive blocked call, wait, receive blocked call, wait, etc..). Adding these delays creates time gaps between each event, which makes it easier to isolate the log messages for each specific event. Once you done testing, collect the sysdiagnose (instructions for that are in the instructions for either profile) and then upload that to the bug.

  2. After you've finished the testing above, take a screenshot of the call log screen and upload that to the bug as well. This provides both quick overview of what the log data should show and shows that the issue is occurring.

__
Kevin Elliott
DTS Engineer, CoreOS/Hardware

0
Papaductions OP
1d

Thank you for your response. However, I have some important points to raise:

  1. Could you please point to the forum posts where developers confirmed this was resolved?

  2. I've tested several other call blocking apps on iOS 18.2, and they all exhibit the same behavior - blocked calls appearing as "unanswered". This suggests the issue is not resolved.

  3. Most critically, this iOS 18 behavior change is having a significant negative impact on our business:

    • We're receiving numerous negative App Store reviews
    • Users are uninstalling our app thinking it's not working
    • Our support team is overwhelmed with complaints about this issue

This system-level change has severely impacted user trust in call blocking apps and is causing real business damage to developers.

0
mungbeans OP
20h

I just tried this myself with a phone that has 18.2 and wasn't able to observe it.

I made an (unblocked call to the handset) in the call history it shows the number and the location of the caller. Then I blocked it (using Call Kit) and made another call, now it shows the number and below it it says "Name of app: blocked"

I tried with another phone with iOS 18.3, this time blocking it before making the call, the result was the same i.e. it shows the call appears in the call log with the name of the app that blocked it.

So therefore, how are you reproducing this?

However one did I did notice was that if the number is blocked by the OS itself i.e. if you make a call then tap the (i) in the call history, and then tap Block Caller and then make a call, then in that case the call doesn't even appear in the call history.

Something has also changed - when iOS 18 first was released, the OS posted a notification when a call was blocked by CallKit, this is no longer happening with iOS 18.2 or 18.3

0
Papaductions OP
19h

Thank you for sharing your test results. However, I'm observing a different behavior on iOS 18.2 (22C152):

  1. When a call is blocked via CallKit, it appears as "unanswered" in the call history
  2. The notification badge appears in the Phone app when testing in iOS 18.2
  3. There's no indication of which app blocked the call in the Recents Tab log

My testing scenario:

  1. Fresh install of a CallKit app with call blocking functionality
  2. Set up app rules to block a specific number
  3. Call from that number (not blocked at OS level or anywhere else) to my iPhone
  4. Call comes through as "unanswered" in history
0
iOS 18.2: Blocked Calls Still Appearing as "Unanswered" Instead of "Blocked"
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