If you are making unwanted phone calls or messages on an iPhone to someone, it is entirely possible that the recipient of these messages will finally decide to block you. But if you genuinely didn’t mean to harass them, and you’re unsure of your current standing with them, how do you know if your number has been blocked on an iPhone? What are the tell-tale signs?
Read more: How to block a number on the iPhone
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If you have been blocked on an iPhone, there are a few things that can give you some hints. You can send an iMessage or SMS — if they are not delivered, you may be blocked. Or if you phone them and you go straight to voicemail, that is usually a sign of being blocked too.
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First, a caveat
Before we start, it’s worth pointing out that there is no foolproof way to know for sure if you have been blocked on an iPhone. There are things that may give strong hints, but those things can also have other innocent explanations. Undelivered messages could just mean the phone has been switched off, for example. Phone calls going straight to voicemail could mean the person is just in an area with poor mobile phone coverage. Or the person could have their phone in Airplane Mode.
So the takeaway here is that these things can indicate you have been blocked, but don’t assume 100% that is the case. There could just be an innocent explanation. Usually, the best way to know if you have been blocked is simply to ask the person. Also, try the following methods to see if you have been blocked, but only try it once. More than once will potentially bring you into stalker/harassment territory and legal issues — you definitely don’t want that.
Send an iMessage
The first thing you can try is to send the person an iMessage. If you are not blocked, it will show as Delivered. If you are blocked, it will show as Not Delivered.
Send an SMS
If an iMessage didn’t work, the next step is to send a normal SMS message. Again, it will either say Delivered or Not Delivered. The latter can indicate you have been blocked.
To switch off iMessage and send a normal SMS to an iPhone, go to Settings–>Messages and toggle off iMessage.
Phone them
Dhruv Bhutani / Android Authority
If iMessage and SMS have failed, then try phoning them. If you have been blocked, then after one ring or half a ring, you will immediately be taken to voicemail. In that case, there is a strong possibility you have been blocked. If the person does not have voicemail activated, then you will get the standard phone automated message that the caller is unavailable right now.
Mask your number, then phone them
The final thing you can try is to mask your number and then try calling them. However, this is heading a bit into harassment, so you need to be extremely careful here.
By masking your number, it will come up on their phone as No Caller ID or Unknown Number. Therefore, with no number available to block, your call should either be immediately picked up at the other end, or it will ring for more than one ring. If it does, then that means your number has been blocked on an iPhone.
