Cold calling, the scourge of modern times, may have met its match. Begone, a free app for iPhone, claims to block millions of unwanted numbers. Too good to be true ? Let’s take a closer look.
Tired of unwanted calls disrupting your days? Already, there is BlocTel. Take the time to register. Orange Telephone no longer works as well as before. The Begone application promises to put an end to this ordeal on iPhone. But be careful, like any miracle solution, it has its strengths and weaknesses.
The Begone principle: simplicity and efficiency
Begone presents itself as a free application capable of mass blocking canvassing numbers on iPhone. Its principle is simple: it uses the prefixes identified by ARCEP (the Electronic Communications Regulatory Authority) to automatically block numbers likely to be used for commercial canvassing.
One of Begone’s strong points is its respect for privacy. According to its developer, all treatments are carried out locally, on your iPhone, without data transmission to external servers. Good news at a time when the protection of personal data is a major issue.
The somewhat technical setup
To take advantage of Begone, you have to go through a few configuration steps:
- Install the app from the App Store.
- Go to Settings > Phone > Call blocking and identification, and check Begone.
- In the app, create a blacklist with the numbers to block.
It’s at this last point that things can get a little tedious. You can manually enter the prefixes to block (for example, 0162###### to block all numbers starting with 0162), but this can take time.
Fortunately, a solution exists for the less patient: a preconfigured XML file is available for download and can be imported directly into the application.
No miracle solution
Despite its promises, Begone is not a perfect solution.
Here are some points to keep in mind:
- The app will not necessarily block all unwanted calls. Clever touts who use unlisted numbers will still slip through the cracks.
- Setting up the list can take time, especially if you opt to import the XML file.
- The effectiveness of Begone depends on regularly updating its database of numbers to block…
In short, Begone is not the only solution on the market. Applications like Orange Telephone previously offered similar features, but have recently been limited to simple detection of suspicious calls in the free version. The advantage of Begone lies in its free nature and its “privacy-first” approach. But it is also its weakness.
In the long term, we can hope that Apple will directly integrate massive blocking features similar to those of Begone into iOS, as is the case on the Google Pixel. In the meantime, third-party applications like this remain the best options to effectively combat the scourge of cold calling.
