> There's not even an option to silence the ringer for any call not from my contacts;
It's called Do Not Disturb, with Allow Exceptions, Calls from My Contacts Only. Android has it, and iOS does to (I think the options are even similarly named.)
> Why is it so hard to configure my phone to only allow my friends to interrupt me at any moment of the day, rather than any rando?
It's not that hard. EDIT: or maybe it is, because phones are complex devices with opaque UIs with poor discoverability. But the information is out there.
It's called Do Not Disturb, with Allow Exceptions, Calls from My Contacts Only. Android has it, and iOS does to (I think the options are even similarly named.)
> Why is it so hard to configure my phone to only allow my friends to interrupt me at any moment of the day, rather than any rando?
It's not that hard. EDIT: or maybe it is, because phones are complex devices with opaque UIs with poor discoverability. But the information is out there.