FAQ

HonuFon is a whitelist-first call screening app for Android. Instead of trying to identify bad callers from a list of known spam numbers, HonuFon starts from zero trust — nobody gets through unless they're already in your contacts or you've approved them. Unknown callers are screened before your phone ever rings.

Most spam blockers use blacklists — databases of known spam numbers. Spammers rotate numbers constantly, so blacklists are always playing catch-up. HonuFon uses a whitelist instead: only numbers you recognize get through. Everyone else has to prove they're human first.

HonuFon is currently Android-only. iOS restricts the level of call screening access required for HonuFon to work. We're monitoring what Apple makes available so we can develop an iOS version in the future.

Yes, always. HonuFon automatically syncs with your Android contacts. Anyone in your address book bypasses screening completely and rings through instantly — no interruption, no IVR, no friction.

The call is intercepted before your phone rings. The caller hears a brief message telling them they've reached a screened number and asking them to press 1 to leave a voicemail. If they press 1, they can leave a message and you'll be notified. If they don't press 1, the call ends — and you never knew it happened. Either way, that first call counts as a blocked call.

They leave a voicemail. Their number is then whitelisted so all future calls from them ring through normally. After the call you have the option to add them to your contacts, blacklist them permanently, or do nothing — they stay whitelisted but aren't saved to contacts.

Free tier users get the full press-1 IVR for unknown callers. Free accounts can block up to 5 calls per week, resetting every Sunday. After 5 blocks, unknown callers are still screened but are allowed through automatically. Your contacts always get through regardless of tier.

Callers hear a brief, professional message explaining they've reached a screened number and that they can press 1 to leave a message. It doesn't announce that you're using call screening software — it just sounds like a voicemail system.

After any call from an unknown number, HonuFon gives you the option to blacklist them. Blacklisted numbers are silently dropped — they'll never reach you again and won't know why.

When you first open HonuFon, a guided setup walks you through everything step by step. It takes about 2 minutes. You'll grant a few permissions (explained below), create a free account, and you're protected. The app starts with screening turned OFF so you can enable it at your own pace.

HonuFon works by intercepting calls that your phone would normally send to voicemail — specifically calls from numbers not in your whitelist. To do this, your carrier needs to forward those rejected calls to HonuFon's screening system instead of your carrier voicemail.

This is called conditional call forwarding. You set it up once by dialing a short code on your phone. HonuFon walks you through this during setup. Without it, the app can still protect your contacts and whitelist, but unknown callers won't reach the IVR screening system — they'll just get your carrier voicemail instead.

The forwarding code varies by carrier. For most US carriers it looks like: **004*13607884445#. HonuFon will show you the exact code for your situation during setup.

Android phones are designed to save battery by putting background apps to sleep. This is great for most apps, but it means HonuFon could get paused right when a call comes in. Disabling battery optimization for HonuFon tells Android to keep it running at all times. Without this, screening may stop working overnight or after the phone sits idle for a while — especially on Samsung devices.

HonuFon uses notifications to alert you when something important happens — like if your phone manufacturer revokes a permission in the background, or if a screened caller leaves a voicemail. On Android 13 and newer, apps must ask for this permission explicitly. Without it, you won't receive any alerts from HonuFon.

The overlay permission lets HonuFon show caller information on top of whatever you're doing when a call comes in — including over the lock screen. This is how HonuFon can display screening status and caller details without you having to unlock your phone first.

Your contacts are your whitelist. HonuFon reads them to know which callers should always get through without screening. Write access is needed to save the HonuFon voicemail number to your contacts automatically, so you can dial in to check messages easily. HonuFon never shares your contacts with anyone — they stay on your device and are only used to build your personal whitelist.

This is the core Android permission that lets HonuFon intercept incoming calls before your phone rings. Without it, HonuFon has no way to screen calls. Android requires you to grant this explicitly because it's a powerful permission — only one app can hold it at a time. Some phone manufacturers (particularly Samsung) occasionally revoke this permission in the background. HonuFon monitors for this and will alert you if it happens.

Some Android manufacturers — particularly Samsung — aggressively manage background apps and permissions as part of their battery saving systems. This is the manufacturer's behavior, not a HonuFon bug. HonuFon's heartbeat monitor checks your permissions every 15 minutes and will send you a notification if anything gets revoked, with a tap-to-fix link. If it happens repeatedly, the notification message will name your manufacturer and explain that this is their system behavior.

All users can call 971-HONU-FON (971-466-8366) to hear messages by phone. Paid users also receive WAV file attachments by email. Pro users get WAV files plus AI transcription in email. Paid and Pro users can also access messages via the web portal at honufon.com/vmadmin.

HonuFon gives you a separate dedicated voicemail system on your HonuFon number. Your carrier voicemail on your main number is unaffected. Most users find they never need it once HonuFon is set up.

Free accounts store up to 20 messages. Paid stores up to 50. Pro stores up to 100. Messages stay until you delete them or you hit your limit — at that point older messages are removed to make room.

Yes. HonuFon is free to download and free to use with up to 5 blocks per week. Your contacts always get through. No credit card required to start.

Paid ($4.99/month) gives you unlimited blocking, 50 voicemail messages, WAV by email, email and SMS notifications, and web portal access. Pro ($9.99/month) adds AI voicemail transcription, 100 voicemail messages, DND hours, and full call stats.

Pro Family protects your whole household. One parent plus up to 3 kids starts at $14.99/month. Two parents plus up to 3 kids is $19.99/month — think of it as getting a second full Pro account for just $5 more. Each parent gets everything in Pro. Child devices get full call screening with parent-controlled whitelisting. Additional children beyond 3 are $1/month each.

You can cancel anytime through Google Play. Your account reverts to Free at the end of your billing period and you keep your call history and whitelist.

Email us at support@honufon.com and we'll get back to you. We're a small team but we read everything.