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My crusade against unscheduled phone calls is well documented and, as the rest of the world adapts to the inevitable, we are still left with a disproportionate number of people that assume everyone is doing nothing, besides waiting for their call.

There’s no debate that Pavlov’s dogs learnt faster than these cretins, as I still receive unscheduled phone calls from people whose calls I have NEVER answered, literally, in years.

They usually spend a full day calling multiple times and then, the next day, they send a WhatsApp, receiving a quick reply, usually within three minutes. But they don’t remember that next time. Oh no, they will repeat the process all over again. Even though I have never, ever, answered their phone call. Fascinating, hey?

The lack of respect is more than that, though. Because everyone knows that a phone call will disable the receiver doing anything on their device, for as long as the caller keeps ringing. So these people are KNOWINGLY disabling your phone – whether you are using GPS, busy text chatting to someone, researching on the internet, or trying to order an Uber.

They do not give a rat’s ass. This is their time and you better stop what you’re doing and pay attention.

I have long claimed that the phone ‘app’ on our device breaks so many Apple privacy rules for apps (like, say, allowing anyone to disable your phone at the touch of a button), that it’s staggering that it exists at all.

Well, things are about to change.

In what I see as the biggest step forward for smartphones since Angry Birds, unscheduled moron callers will no longer be taking over your device when they decide to call. Nope! With the upcoming iOS 14 update for all iPhones, they will now appear at the top of the screen, like any other notification.

It should look something like this:

No, Simon, I will not take your call. Send me a WhatsApp tomorrow and we’ll talk.

Via 9to5Mac, here’s what it might look like on an iPad:

Yes, that’s Simon trying again in the bottom right. Get a grip, man.

So that little bar pops up, and somebody is calling. And you know what? They will be flicked away as well, like any other notification.

Just like that.

Like the bog fly they are.

I’ve chatted to the gang at Digicape, who are equally as excited for this incredibly important update. They can’t give me an exact date, but they reckon we could get a test run on the beta version very soon.

iOS 14 will only work on the iPhone 6S and up, but you can always trade in your old devices at Digicape (up to five old iPhones, iPads, Macs, Apple Watches or Apple TVs) for store credit and upgrade to something newer and fancier.

The end of abrupt, interrupting phone calls – I’ve been calling for this change for years, and now it’s finally happening.

It really is a curse being ahead of the curve.