Android FAQs

Why isn’t Caller ID working?

Check that all permissions are activated and that your phone is not in power saving mode. Some devices like Huawei or Xiaomi automatically shut down apps that are running in the background to optimize phone performance. Please make sure that the tellows app is an exception, otherwise it cannot check incoming calls in real time. Therefore, check the app permissions in your device settings to ensure that the app can also be activated during lock screen, otherwise calls are only displayed when the screen is active, but not in inactive mode. Make sure that you have a good internet connection during incoming calls, otherwise the caller ID cannot take place or it will only be activated after a few seconds.

How do I get numbers blocked automatically?

This feature requires premium. On the settings page, use the section: “Block incoming calls by local scorelist” to select which calls you would like to block. If you have premium, all calls from numbers with scores above the one selected will be blocked (e.g. score 8 and above).

Why didn’t the app block a number automatically?

A number must have at least 3 recent ratings and multiple search enquiries before it can be categorised as spam for all users. You should also check that the app is set to the correct country and check your settings to make sure calls with this score should be blocked.

How do I get premium for Android?

In the menu click 'Upgrade to Premium', then 'Buy Premium'. Your app then automatically upgrades to the premium version.

What permissions are required?

The app requires Media, Phone, Caller information, Contacts, Identity and Storage permissions. We don’t use or share your personal data. You can decide which permissions you want to give, but the app's main functionality will be affected if permissions are missing. You can see the full details about our required permissions in the Play Store.

How do I manually block a number? (free)

When you rate a number negatively it will be blocked on your device. Make sure, you activated the block feature in the app settings. You can find your local scorelist in settings.

How can I use a Coupon code?

Click on “Premium” in the menu and insert the code at the bottom of the page. Afterwards confirm the free period on top of the page via the Play Store. The free period is connected to the subscription. The activation only takes place after the completion of the free subscription via the Play Store.

Can I transfer my premium account to my new phone?

Your subscription is transferred automatically as it is attached to your Google Play account.

Why do I still see ads after purchasing premium?

If you used a coupon code in order to purchase premium, make sure that you applied it correctly (take a look at question number 6: "How can I use a Coupon code". Otherwise fore-close the app and open the app again.

How can I unblock a number?

Go to your “Local Scorelist”. You find all the numbers there, that you have blocked in the past. If you want to unblock a number just click on it and delete the entry from the list. If you want to whitelist a number that is blocked by the community blacklist, just leave a positive rating and it will not be blocked for you in the future.

Which Android software systems is tellows compatible with?

It is compatible with Android 4.0.3 and up – check out the Play Store for further information.

Do I need an internet connection to use tellows?

If you use the free version, you need an internet connection to identify incoming calls. If you use premium, identification and blocking of numbers from the community blacklist doesn’t require an internet connection. If you want to search for numbers or add new numbers to your list, you need an internet connection to access our full phone number database.

Android Video Series

Why are some comments different colours?
How do I rate a number?
What can I change in the settings page?
How can I get a free trial of the premium version?
What is the difference between tellows and its competitors?

iOS FAQs

How do I activate the app?

In the ‘phone’ category of your iPhone settings, select ‘Call Blocking and Identification’ and activate tellows.

Why isn't the tellows app listed under ‘Call Blocking and Identification’?

Unfortunately, this is a bug from Apple for all Caller ID apps. Here are some workarounds that you should try:
- If the app won’t activate in your iPhone, restart the phone and try activating the app again. It may take a few hours after the app has been installed for the first time until it is visible in the menu. We therefore recommend repeating these steps after a few hours
- If restarting does not help, please reinstall the app
- If you’re using other caller ID or blocking apps that also access the ‚Call blocking & identification‘ menu, make sure these apps are up to date or uninstall them. If one of these apps is stored in the cloud and is no longer installed, there may be problems with the ‚Call blocking & identification‘ menu for all other apps
- Make sure that no special mode is activated in the screen time settings, as this can block the list of apps displayed. Try reinstalling the app and restarting the phone if you have changed screen time settings
- Activate „Allow apps to request tracking“ in the iPhone settings under „Privacy“ → „Tracking“. The app should appear in the menu after restarting the iPhone Open the contacts in your caller app from your iPhone and refresh the list by dragging from top to the bottom of the page

Why isn’t my blacklist updating?

Open the app and click ‘update now’. You must keep the app running in the background for the blacklist to update itself automatically. After restarting the iPhone, the app must first be opened again manually so that the database can be automatically updated again from then on. Make sure, you allowed the update of the app database in the background by enabling it in the iPhone settings under "General" → "Background App Refresh".

Why didn’t the app identify this number automatically?

A number must have at least 3 ratings and multiple search requests before it is categorised as spam for all users. Therefore, it can happen that some numbers are not yet in the blacklist, but are already showing ratings on tellows. You should also check that the correct country has been set within the app. If the comments of a phone number are highlighted in blue, this indicates that the wrong country is set. To adjust this, select Settings > Country.

Why didn’t the app block this number automatically?

It is important that call blocking is activated in the settings. You can set the score for blocking yourself.

Is there a way to see calls that have been blocked?

Unfortunately, there is no way (until now) to see calls that have been blocked because it is not permitted by Apple to access this data and display it in the app.

Why do spam calls end up in my voicemail?

In case you activated your mailbox, blocked phone numbers are directly redirected to voicemail. We cannot change this, because (as of now) Apple prevents Caller ID and Block apps to handle blocked calls differently.

How do I restore my existing subscription?

Use the restore button on the protection page of the app (click on "Pro"). If it doesn't work, make sure you're using the correct Apple ID. Reinstall the app and restart the iPhone. You can find more information here.

Is Family Sharing supported for the subscriptions?

Yes. You can benefit from family sharing by following this guide to activate the subscription within your family: https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT201085.

How do I use the iPhone app?

tellows iPhone App Features

Which iPhone software systems is tellows compatible with?

It is compatible with devices with iOS 10.0 or later – check out the App Store for further information.

How do I activate my pro subscription on my iPhone?

Buy it through the app, nothing else is required! Your app status updates automatically from lite to pro.

How do I log in or register for the first time?

You can find a tutorial for this within the app. Click the padlock symbol in the top right-hand corner of the screen. The redirects you to Open ID login, where you can either register or log into your account.

What information do I get from the incoming Caller ID?

With the lite version, you see the tellows score only. With the pro version, you see the tellows score, caller type and caller name if available.

How do I block numbers? (Pro only)

When you purchase Pro, you have the option of blocking calls from numbers on the community blacklist. In the settings page, you can decide whether you wish to block all negatively rated numbers or only those with the worst tellows score.

Can I transfer my premium account to my new phone?

You certainly can! Click ‘restore’ within the app on your new phone to connect with your Apple ID and sync your subscription.

How do I request a refund?

You can request a refund within your iTunes account. A detailed manual can be found here.

Why does an inbound call not get blocked, even if it is marked as a spam in the tellows community?

Even though our database is giant, there is a limited memory space on phones. Therefore, we choose the spam numbers that are the most relevant ones. That means that in rare cases it can happen that a spam call with only a one or two comments and few searches does not get blocked yet. However, if many users rate a number, it will be included in the blacklist very fast.

How can I use a Coupon code?

You have to click on the “Protection” menu first. After that go to “Pro” and scroll to the bottom. There is a button that says “Enter coupon code”. After you typed the code in, you have to confirm the premium subscription. The activation only takes place after the completion of the free subscription via the App Store.

Do I need an internet connection to use tellows?

If you use pro, identification and blocking of numbers from the community blacklist doesn’t require an internet connection. If you want to search for numbers or add new numbers to your blacklist, you need an internet connection to access our full phone number database.

How can I update my business entry?

You can make changes to a company entry on our website independently at any time by directly navigating to the tellows website with your phone number and clicking the pen symbol at the "Details about this number" box. Company entries can only be added to numbers that have no rating above 7.

How can I remove my business entry?

You can remove your company entry on our website at any time by directly navigating to the tellows website with your phone number and clicking the pen symbol at the "Details about this number" box. At the bottom of the page you can check the box for the entry removal and enter the captcha. After clicking Save the entry is removed.

Even though it will be removed on tellows immediately, please be aware that it can take some weeks until the cached information is not visible in search engines anymore.

My entry is locked - what can I do?

On our site, your company entry is blocked for editing because it is either a premium entry or it was added by one of our data partners that manages entries for you. When you click the edit button on the entry, you can see on top of the page a message that explains whether it was a partner entry or a premium entry.

Premium entries can only be edited by tellows, so please get in touch with us via the contact form below. Partner entries have to be updated or removed by our partner otherwise the entry might get uploaded again. Please contact the partner company for adjustments on this entry.

Problem solved?

Please SelectYesNo

Why is my number rated?

tellows does not automatically collect data and names from your phone number. The database initially includes every possible telephone number. As soon as someone enters a number combination on tellows, it is recognized as a potential telephone number and exists with a unique URL.

Since your telephone number was entered there, it is available as a random combination of numbers in our database and will be used when you search again. Your number can therefore only be found if you have explicitly searched for it. It won't be displayed in search engines unless it has a certain amount of search requests or ratings. In addition, no data is stored for this number.

Is it legal?

On the tellows, we offer people a forum to find and exchange telephone numbers. We have no information about which person is behind a phone number. The goal of our project is to protect people from unwanted calls. With the help of our tellows score, users can rate numbers and also have the option to leave a comment.

The phone number is assigned to a company at the earliest with a comment or a business entry. Company-related data - i.e. data of a legal person - are not protected by law insofar as they are publicly accessible. However, the comments can be deleted and checked if we receive a reason for deleting the respective comments. An examination is then carried out immediately.

Since over 1000 new comments are posted on tellows every day, we are grateful if we are informed of a possible breach of law in the comments so that we can investigate them. In consideration of the BGH judgment of August 17, 2011 (pen perfume), however, we ask for a reason to remove this comment.

You also have the opportunity to comment on the negative comments on tellows. This is placed on top of the others so that tellows users can be informed proactively.

What can I do?

If you feel that ratings or comments about your number is wrong or defamator and shall be removed, please get in touch with us and provide the following details in the contact form. Please be aware that we don't remove content without a reasonable explanation.

Problem solved?

Please SelectYesNo

tellows you can see if other people have shared their experiences with the number that called you. Simply visit tellows and search for the number (if possible with international prefix). You will see all available information shared by the community such as the caller name, rating, caller type and comments. If no information is available it seems like the number has not called many people yet. You can add further information to help and warn others.

tellows is a platform to share information about phone numbers of public interest. If you have been called by a company or call center, it is more likely that reliable details about the caller exist on tellows. For private phone numbers there is only a small chance that information is available. Please be aware that tellows cannot provide a report on people or companies. All data on tellows is collected by the community and cannot be verified by tellows.

In addition to reading the information posted by other users at tellows, we recommend trying telephone directories as some companies or people may have provided their information to public listing. Since the information provided on telephone directories can vary, it is always advised to use multiple resources to gain accurate results.

Do you already have information about the number? On tellows you can see if other people have shared their experiences with the number by searching for it. You can add further information to help and warn others.

Have you provided personal information or have you signed contracts? You should try to cancel your contract as soon as possible. If you receive a mail from the company that called you with invoice or contract info, you should cancel the contract immediately. If you have provided bank account details, you may need to contact your bank and keep an eye on the transactions on the account. If you have passed on personal data to e.g. Sweepstakes operators, you should be careful when you get more calls soon. These operators are often only address dealers and sell the data on to give other fraudsters the opportunity to contact you.

In many countries the government offers possibilities to report phone spam and fraud (e.g. Ofcom or FCC). You should report the number to your federal network agency.

Additional help and tipps in the fight against phone scam can also be found in the tellows magazine. For mobile protection we suggest the tellows apps for Android and iOS.

Please be aware that tellows cannot provide a report on people or companies. All data on tellows is collected by the community and cannot be verified by tellows.

It is possible that your number was automatically dialed by computers using dialers and by accepting the call, the number was registered in the system as assigned. As a result, the number is called again and often passed on via address dealers. The number also may have been used for online forms or sweepstakes and therefore other companies got access to it.

Once the number is known, it is very likely that it will be resold and that further calls from different companies will follow.

You should report the number to the Federal Network Agency so that it will hopefully be switched off in the foreseeable future. Blocking the number is also possible in most telephone systems. For mobile protection we suggest the tellows apps for Android and iOS. For the fixed network, we also offer solutions against unknown calls in our shop.

We are happy if you inform us about any misbehaviour or problems with the website. In order to fix problems fast, please be specific about your problem. It is always helpful if you can tell us which device, browser, URL you vistied and if the problem occur over several pages and how many times you tried to perfrom a certain action. Thank you.

If you want us to remove your tellows community account, please tell us your email address that you used for registering and on which platforms you registered e.g. website or shop.

tellows-Shop customers find the API-Key and download links for all download products directly after purchase in your shop account. Please log in and check your products in "My Downloadable Products". You will find a PDF with the access data and manuals for integration.

Answers to frequently asked questions, problems with the setup and instructions of the call protection for the FRITZ!Box can be found here.

If you still have problems with the call protection for the FritzBox, please tell us your Fritz!Box model, FRITZ!OS version, your licence key (10-digit) and your FritzFon model (if available) in your request, so that we can analyse the problems in the best possible way. Thank you very much.

We are very sorry that the delivery does not correspond with your desired expectations. Please fill the contact form with the information about the withdrawel. You can find further information on the revokation here:
Right of withdrawal for consumers
Cancellation policy digital goods

We will refund you the money after we received the delivery.

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We can only delete comments with a removal request for every single comment separately. We need to know exactly why each comment violates your rights since we do not know which allegations are right or wrong.

Please list us all comments you want us to remove and explain the reason of removal for each comment. We will get back to you shortly.

If you want us to post a statement for future visitors above all comments, please send us the your text and we will publish it.

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