Block spam and manage notifications on your iPhone

The modern iPhone has long become the center of our digital lives. We communicate, work, pay for purchases, and relax—and along with this, we face a flood of notifications. Spam is no longer limited to occasional calls and emails: apps actively send push notifications, promotional offers, and so-called "important" reminders. Fortunately, iOS offers a powerful set of built-in tools to help bring order and restore quiet.

Blocking—a simple and effective solution

If the same number regularly calls or texts, the easiest solution is to block it. This can be done directly in the Phone or Messages apps by opening the contact card and selecting the block option. A similar feature is available in most third-party messengers.

The situation with app notifications is similar. In the Settings—Notifications section, you can completely disable access to alerts or, for example, remove sound and banners from the lock screen. Many apps also have their own notification category settings, where you can keep only truly important events.

Controlling notification mirroring

Apple's ecosystem allows calls and notifications to be duplicated on Mac, iPad, Apple Watch, and even read aloud through AirPods. This is convenient but can sometimes turn into chaos. In notification settings, you can disable the "Announce Notifications" feature for headphones, prevent showing them on Mac, or configure which notifications are sent to the watch.

If you don't want all devices to ring simultaneously, you can disable calls on other devices in the Phone app settings.

Artificial intelligence guarding order

On newer iPhone models, the Apple Intelligence feature is available. It analyzes incoming notifications and highlights priority ones, and can briefly summarize long messages. These settings are found in the Notifications—Priority and Summary sections.

Scheduled summaries

The "Scheduled Summary" function collects non-urgent notifications and delivers them in a single batch at a chosen time. Urgent calls and important messages still arrive immediately. This helps reduce distractions throughout the day.

Focus modes

Focus is an advanced attention management tool. You can create separate modes for work, rest, or sleep and choose which apps and contacts can disturb you during that period. Additionally, you can set up filters within apps, such as hiding personal email during work hours.

Message filtering

In the Messages settings, sender filtering functions are available. You can separate unknown numbers into a separate list or completely mute their notifications. This is especially useful for mass mailings and SMS spam.

Managing incoming calls

In the Phone section, you can enable the "Silence Unknown Callers" function or activate intelligent filtering, where the system automatically clarifies the call's purpose and shows a real-time transcription. This helps decide whether to answer.

Third-party apps

Although iOS's built-in tools have become quite effective, if needed, you can connect third-party services. They warn about suspicious numbers and help recognize spam calls.

Mail filters

The Mail app can automatically sort emails into categories: Primary, Transactions, Updates, and Promotions. This simplifies navigation and helps find important correspondence faster.

Calendar spam

Sometimes spam infiltrates through subscriptions to malicious calendars. In the Calendar app, you can open the list of calendars and remove a suspicious subscription via the information panel.

Spam is an inevitable part of the digital era, but iOS provides powerful tools for control. A few minutes in the settings can significantly reduce the number of distracting signals and restore a sense of order.