NordVPN adds Message Protection to iOS and launches free HangUp app

NordVPN has brought its Message Protection feature to iOS and launched HangUp, a free standalone app for blocking scam calls. The company confirmed the iOS release to TechRadar. Both tools are available now.

Message Protection is part of the Call and Message Protection toolkit in NordVPN’s iOS app. It checks SMS messages from unknown senders against phone reputation databases, analyzes links and categorizes message content. When it flags a suspicious text, the app sends a notification describing the threat and opens the message in a safe view designed to prevent accidental taps on malicious links. NordVPN says it does not store call or message content. The tools work whether the VPN connection is on or running in the background.

HangUp is a separate iOS app available free on the App Store. It sorts unknown callers into categories including scam, telemarketing, survey and debt collection. Users can set it to automatically block known scams and telemarketers. The app also keeps a localized call log of blocked calls and the reasons for blocking them.

“It doesn't decide for you, it just gives you a second to think,” NordVPN product director Domininkas Virbickas told TechRadar. He said HangUp is free to put warnings in front of as many people as possible.