Blotter / Help & support
Blotter.
Help & setup.
Set up your filter, refine your keywords, and understand which messages iOS makes eligible.
Open the right page in Settings.
- Open Blotter and add a keyword or phrase you want to filter.
- In iPhone Settings, go to Apps → Messages, find the message-filtering settings, and select Blotter as your text message filter.
- Return to Blotter to add or refine your rules.
On supported versions, the selector is labeled Text Message Filter. Settings labels can vary with iOS version and language.
Broad words can also match legitimate messages. Check Junk in Messages and adjust your rules if something you wanted was filtered.
Choose how words match.
Add words or phrases in Blotter’s Keywords screen. Matching messages are classified as Junk. The matching options apply to your keyword rules:
- Match case
- When enabled, capitalization must match. Otherwise, “offer” can also match “OFFER”.
- Match accents
- When enabled, accented letters are distinct. Otherwise, “café” can also match “cafe”.
- Whole words only
- When enabled, a keyword matches at word boundaries. For example, “vote” does not match inside “devoted”. Turn it off to allow matches inside longer words.
What Blotter can filter.
Blotter checks eligible SMS and MMS messages from unknown senders that iOS provides to third-party text filters. It does not filter iMessage or messages from people in Contacts.
Rules apply to incoming eligible messages. Adding a keyword does not run a new scan over your existing conversations. iOS controls whether a message is sent to the filter.
Check these first.
A message wasn’t filtered.
Confirm Blotter is selected in Messages settings, the keyword is saved, and the matching options fit your example. Check that the message is an eligible SMS/MMS from an unknown sender, rather than iMessage or a contact. Use a made-up test phrase such as “pineapple offer” with a “pineapple” rule when testing.
Where is the Activity tab?
Blotter does not keep an activity feed or keyword-match history. Check Junk in Apple’s Messages app to see filtered messages. Open the updated Blotter app once to let it remove older stored activity; the updated filter also removes its old private log when it next runs.
How do I stop filtering?
Deselect Blotter in the text message filtering settings in iPhone Settings → Apps → Messages. You can also remove or change individual keywords in Blotter.
I see an old-data cleanup error.
Open Blotter again to retry cleanup. If it continues, contact support with the error and iOS version. You do not need to send messages or phone numbers to describe the problem.
Issues & ideas
Found something?
I built Blotter for my own inbox. Report bugs, ask questions, or suggest changes in the GitHub repo. I check in as time allows.
Open a GitHub issue Browse issues
For email or private questions: app-support@droessmj.com
Include the app version, iOS version, matching options, and a made-up example. GitHub issues can be public. Please do not post real texts, verification codes, or phone numbers.
Read the Blotter privacy policy →