How do I block SMSs on an iPhone?

Question

A few months ago, I made a deal with the devil the worst and most obnoxious telecommunication company ever to get an iPhone, and I actually would not regret it if they did not bother me sending me spam SMSs when I am at work. This is so annoying and disturbing I would actually leave the phone at home, but I need it so my girlfriend who is pregnant can communicate with me. Here in Peru there is no such thing as regulation in the telecommunications market, so I actually cannot complain about being sent spam.

I am desperately in need of a mechanism (preferably one that does not require me to jailbreak my phone) to block SMSs from unapproved senders (or, at least, blacklisted senders). Unfortunately, the iPhone comes with no such functionality, and I have not found an app that does that (although I must admit I have not searched thoroughly). I would really pay money (up to, say, $5) for such an app. Does anybody know how to block SMSs from certain senders in an iPhone?

Answer 1

You can't do it natively, and you can't do it through an App Store app.

You'll have to jailbreak and search for a blacklist app on Cydia.

Of course you can disable SMS and/or MMS entirely on the device, but the iPhone and iOS is designed to have blocking enforced from the cell carrier and not the device. Until and unless your local carrier offers an iOS app so that you can self-block addresses, you'll need to modify iOS by jailbreaking to have SMS suppressed once they reach the iPhone hardware and software.

Answer 2

You could use Google Voice to do what you're asking, but I guess they won't forward a number to Peru yet. Perhaps some kind of GV hack…

Jailbreaking is safe when you read the directions carefully and don't do anything rash (example: accepting iOS 4.3.1 from iTunes).

Use the iClarified jailbreak / unlock wizard to determine what you need to do for your phone, then follow their tutorials carefully. http://iclarified.com/tutorials/iphone/