With iOS 16, Apple will take more seriously the spam received by SMS

Apple intends to tackle spam even more seriously. The company had already embarked on this crusade with iOS 11 by launching an API that relied on a huge database to better detect unwanted messages sent to iPhone. Since iOS 14, the firm has been able to sort spam received by SMS into two categories: Transactions and Promotions.

The future iOS update, presented during WWDC 2022, should add 12 new subcategories in order to filter them even more precisely. During the conference, the brand did not specify whether all countries will be entitled to it. India, a nation very affected by the phenomenon, was taken here as an example.

More effective reporting

The website MacRumors specifies that the reporting system will now make it possible to send the information directly to the operator. In the past, only Apple received it and the user had to forward the SMS in question to his operator via a four-digit number. However, you will still have to block the number manually. For now, only a few operators in the United States are affected, but not all of them have been disclosed.

Apple does not bring up the subject at random. Engadget points out that spam via SMS is on the rise across the Atlantic. In question, a gigantic data leak coming from a hacking of the operator T-Mobile, but also from the multiplication of tools allowing mass sending of SMS.

In France, numbers like 33700 allow you to proceed in the same way. We can therefore imagine that Apple will apply the same policy with the main French players in the future.

If you’re not comfortable installing iOS 16 beta 2, the first public beta should be available in early July 2022. The final version should be available this fall.