Blocking Mode found on the Verizon Note 2. Not fully functional.

bsweetness · Dec 2, 2012

Well, bad news folks. It seems that while we can indeed get to Blocking Mode, it doesn't appear to be fully functional. When I first found it and tested it out, it successfully blocked the calls I made from my computer via Gmail and Skype. But after some further tests this afternoon, it didn't actually block any calls made by some friends via their cell phones. So, while it's there, it doesn't seem like it's fully functional. At the very least, maybe this gives us some hope for someone out there to find a way to get it working consistently or that Verizon will enable it in a future update.

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I was playing around with one of my favorite apps Any Cut. Regrettably, Any Cut (which isn't available in the Play Store any more) doesn't work correctly on Jelly Bean, but it works enough to be able to take a look at many of the shortcuts it's able to find. And low and behold, Blocking Mode was in the list. Since Any Cut is problematic on Jelly Bean (it kind of works, but not completely), I found another app on the Play Store that operates in much the same way that Any Cut does - QuickShortcutMaker.

No root required!

Here's how to get to it:

1) Download QuickShortcutMaker from the Play Store. (Note: the app closed on me a few times while trying to use it, but it eventually worked)

2) After QuickShortcutMaker installs, open it up.

3) Type "blocking mode" in the text field. The app is pretty slow when it comes to populating the available shortcuts, so it might take a little bit. Once it finishes, tap on the first result at the top (It will say "Settings" with Blocking mode underneath it.

4) Rename the shortcut to whatever you want. It's named "Settings" by default, and I changed mine to "Blocking Mode."

5) Tap "OK."

6) You'll now have a shortcut on your homescreen that will take you right into Blocking Mode (the icon will be a cog just like the Settings icon). Open it up and and block away! (Note: the shortcut on your homescreen will be the only way to access Blocking Mode, so if you delete it, you'll have to create a new one in order to get back into the settings for it)

Known issues:

The app will force close when trying to add contacts to the custom allowed contact list. But it seems to work fine when selecting "Favorites" as opposed to creating a new custom list. So if adding contacts to a custom list is force closing for you, add the contacts that you want to come through to your general favorites list when Blocking Mode is enabled, and then use the Favorites option in the Blocking Mode settings.

Bonez · Dec 2, 2012

Very cool that you found that, but I'm not seeing a reason to use it. When I go to bed I:

- Put the phone in silent mode so that no alerts or calls can wake me.

- Turn data off so as not to be bombarded with constant radiation all night next to my bed. (This is thought to cause sleeping problems with some people.)

The only reason I could see using the Blocking feature is maybe to do the above at set times, but I don't go to bed at exactly the same time every night, so it's easier to just tap a couple toggles.

dwagner88 · Dec 2, 2012

Works like a charm! Thank you for finding this. Verizon disabled it, but only deleted the shortcut, not the functionality.

bsweetness · Dec 2, 2012

Bonez said:
Very cool that you found that, but I'm not seeing a reason to use it. When I go to bed I:

- Put the phone in silent mode so that no alerts or calls can wake me.

- Turn data off so as not to be bombarded with constant radiation all night next to my bed. (This is thought to cause sleeping problems with some people.)

The only reason I could see using the Blocking feature is maybe to do the above at set times, but I don't go to bed at exactly the same time every night, so it's easier to just tap a couple toggles.

Blocking Mode not only allows you to do the above at set times, but it you can create an allowed list of contacts that it will let come through during those times. That's the major part of it.

For instance, I don't put my phone into silent mode at night because I'm worried that I'll miss an emergency call from family. With Blocking Mode, I can block all calls/notifications from coming through except calls/notifications from certain people. So calls/notifications that I feel might be important, like from family or certain friends, will come through, but all others won't. That way I'm only woken up by people who I feel are important enough to wake up for. To me, that's much better than just using silent mode.

Alice Kaye · Dec 2, 2012

Bonez said:
- Turn data off so as not to be bombarded with constant radiation all night next to my bed. (This is thought to cause sleeping problems with some people.)

I don't know if this is true or not, but I'm going to try that tonight because I've been having insomnia problems for months and always sleep with my phone fairly close to my head. Hm...

Though my doctor says its because my dumbass can't remove myself from the computer/tv long enough before bed. WHO knows.

dwagner88 · Dec 2, 2012

I didn't realize it puts a notification up top that can't be cleared. That's actually kind of annoying. I wonder if a dev can remove that.

MiXoLoGiSt · Dec 2, 2012

I did this and it kept force closing when I tried to add contacts that it would allow calls and such from.

pool_shark · Dec 2, 2012

Bonez said:
Very cool that you found that, but I'm not seeing a reason to use it. When I go to bed I:

- Put the phone in silent mode so that no alerts or calls can wake me.

- Turn data off so as not to be bombarded with constant radiation all night next to my bed. (This is thought to cause sleeping problems with some people.)

The only reason I could see using the Blocking feature is maybe to do the above at set times, but I don't go to bed at exactly the same time every night, so it's easier to just tap a couple toggles.

Agreed.
It seems that it's a nice feature for someone who sleeps during the hours when most people are awake.

For me, my family and friends are not inconsiderate people. They don't call me in the middle of the night unless something is wrong.

I use tasker to turn off notifications at bedtime so I don't get awakened by new emails or spam text.

bsweetness · Dec 2, 2012

pool_shark said:
Agreed.
It seems that it's a nice feature for someone who sleeps during the hours when most people are awake.

For me, my family and friends are not inconsiderate people. They don't call me in the middle of the night unless something is wrong.

I use tasker to turn off notifications at bedtime so I don't get awakened by new emails or spam text.

Mine don't either, but occasional wrong numbers during the middle of the night, or calls when I might be sleeping in a bit, aren't so discerning.

I also do a lot of work from home during the day, so something like this will be nice for weeding out calls when I don't particularly want to be disturbed.

bsweetness · Dec 2, 2012

MiXoLoGiSt said:
I did this and it kept force closing when I tried to add contacts that it would allow calls and such from.

I'm getting the same thing when I try to add custom contacts. It works fine with using favorites though (and my custom contacts will generally be the same as my favorites). I'll update the original post to reflect this though.

pool_shark · Dec 2, 2012

bsweetness said:
Mine don't either, but occasional wrong numbers during the middle of the night, or calls when I might be sleeping in a bit, aren't so discerning.

I also do a lot of work from home during the day, so something like this will be nice for weeding out calls when I don't particularly want to be disturbed.

Wrong number calls are too infrequent for me to care enough to stop it.
I work from home 3 days per week, if I get a call and I don't want to be disturbed, I just don't answer.

Obviously this feature is important to some, I'm just saying for me, it isn't needed.

bsweetness · Dec 2, 2012

pool_shark said:
Wrong number calls are too infrequent for me to care enough to stop it.
I work from home 3 days per week, if I get a call and I don't want to be disturbed, I just don't answer.

Obviously this feature is important to some, I'm just saying for me, it isn't needed.

Like any feature, it's something that some people will use and others won't.

I think more than anything, people are upset about it missing from the stock settings because it's a Touch Whiz feature that every other Galaxy Note 2 on other carriers has. Verizon removed access to it for some odd reason. A lot of folks just don't like the fact that Verizon will often remove stock features like this.

pool_shark · Dec 2, 2012

bsweetness said:
Like any feature, it's something that some people will use and others won't.

I think more than anything, people are upset about it missing from the stock settings because it's a Touch Whiz feature that every other Galaxy Note 2 on other carriers has. Verizon removed access to it for some odd reason. A lot of folks just don't like the fact that Verizon will often remove stock features like this.

I understand. I didn't even know what it was, so I definitely didn't know it was missing. Not until I read about it on Friday.

Pioneer74 · Dec 2, 2012

I wonder why Verizon removed it. It's one of my favorite features on my AT&T Note 2.

MiXoLoGiSt · Dec 2, 2012

I don't think I would use blocking mode very often, I just don't like the fact that they allowed verizon to block the feature.

Mix this with the photo editor app they left out, the missing apps in multiview, the missing clock widget, missing full screen calendar widget and missing email widget. I am getting really fed up with Verizon. This is exactly why I have owned iPhones, Verizon can't touch iPhones. All iphones on all carriers have the same features (with the exception of talk and surf). I'm seriously thinking of just going back to my iPhone 5 and getting my $380 back.

Don't get me wrong here, I love the note 2 and if Verizon didn't butcher the crap out of it I wouldn't even be thinking of returning it. The big problem for me at this point is some of these features Verizon aren't going to allow, and the ones they are will come in an update (maybe) and we all know how timely Verizon gets updates out.

Arkraider · Dec 15, 2012

FYI: contrary to popular belief, the Verizon version of GN2 has NOT had Blocking Mode removed from the phone. They did a great job of hiding it from the settings and I couldnt find it myself but it can be found if you download Gesture Search from the Play Store, and use it to search the phone. Once found and set, it stays in your drop down notification. Figured I'd post since many who are convinced it didnt come with Verizon's version are missing out.

ScandaLeX · Dec 15, 2012

Thanks for that Arkraider. Moved your post to the existing block mode thread.

Carry on.....

bsweetness · Dec 15, 2012

Arkraider said:
FYI: contrary to popular belief, the Verizon version of GN2 has NOT had Blocking Mode removed from the phone. They did a great job of hiding it from the settings and I couldnt find it myself but it can be found if you download Gesture Search from the Play Store, and use it to search the phone. Once found and set, it stays in your drop down notification. Figured I'd post since many who are convinced it didnt come with Verizon's version are missing out.

But the problem is, as has been mentioned in this thread, that even though it says it's running, it doesn't actually block everything you have it set to block.

So it's there, and it can be turned on, but it doesn't completely work.

cammykool · Dec 15, 2012

Thanks for pointing me to the app. I don't have a gnote but it was a cool app on my one v

Arkraider · Dec 16, 2012

bsweetness said:
But the problem is, as has been mentioned in this thread, that even though it says it's running, it doesn't actually block everything you have it set to block.

So it's there, and it can be turned on, but it doesn't completely work.

I havent used it to block calls but all my notifications/blinking LED lights do stay off for me between the hours I set it to. Sure you can use toggles to do all that but I like that its automatic off/on and that even though they set not to chime/blink all my notifications are quietly waiting to be seen in my drop down in the morning.

JBH · Dec 16, 2012

Just picked up the Note 2 from V a few days ago. I actually forgot that this feature was crippled/removed on V or I would have picked it up from A (yes, really).

I use this feature on my iPhone 5 ("Do not disturb", setup with a schedule from 11p to 6a, while allowing all "Contacts" through).

I will decide today if I return my Note 2 to V and go get one from A that is less molested. Since the Note is not my primary line, I don't miss the feature at all as I can just silence notifications. So it's not automatic that I return it to V. Just bugs the crap out of me and the only recourse I have is with my wallet.

bsweetness said:
Like any feature, it's something that some people will use and others won't.

I think more than anything, people are upset about it missing from the stock settings because it's a Touch Whiz feature that every other Galaxy Note 2 on other carriers has. Verizon removed access to it for some odd reason. A lot of folks just don't like the fact that Verizon will often remove stock features like this.

Blocking Mode found on the Verizon Note 2. Not fully functional.

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