[blackwasp]

Caller identification app Truecaller on Wednesday said it identified 29.7 billion spam calls and 8.5 billion spam SMS for its users in India last year.

The Swedish company has also rolled out a new spam activity indicator for Android phone users that will give detailed statistics on the spammer.

“Truecaller has become indispensable in the lives of 240 million (monthly) global active users... In 2019 alone, we identified 29.7 billion spam calls and 8.5 billion spam SMS for our users in India,” Truecaller said in a statement.

Truecaller has over 170 million monthly active users in India. The company, in a previous report, had said India had ranked fifth in 2019 in terms of number of spam calls received by users per month, and eighth position in terms of spam SMS. Talking about the latest feature, Truecaller on Wednesday said it has rolled out the Spam Activity Indicator for Android users to build upon its core proposition of making communication safer and more efficient for everyone.

Currently, three trends - spam reports, call activity and peak calling hours - will be shown to users when they tap on the spammer’s profile image in the app.

A future update will show users the stats right in the caller ID itself to help users make the decision before even picking up the call, Truecaller said.

The feature will be extended to iOS (iPhone) users in the coming weeks.

Spam reports will showcase how many times a Truecaller user has marked a specific number as spam and indicate by percentage if it is increasing or decreasing according to the reports. Call Activity will show the number of calls that particular phone number has made recently, potentially indicating how much of a spammer the number is. Peak calling hours is a time chart that identifies when the spammer is most active, Truecaller said.

Source

[haisaikat]

While this data is enriching to know, I personally always follow and also want to advice others to stay away from True Caller even if that meant I would need to pickup calls from an unknown number and rudely say No if found as spammer or telesales or something I am not interested in.

I am NOT at all comfortable sharing my contact book to unknown people without the explicit consent of my contacts considering how easily these contacts are sold to 3rd parties online (not even fancy dark web)

[Eddy]

Absolutely agree.

I am totally against using TrueCaller. In fact, I even went to their website and de-listed my number. Now nobody can know it is me calling.

However, I use their web page quite often to check for IDs against missed calls. That helps.

[neofromcapone]

Originally Posted by Eddy

Absolutely agree.

I am totally against using TrueCaller. In fact, I even went to their website and de-listed my number. Now nobody can know it is me calling.

However, I use their web page quite often to check for IDs against missed calls. That helps.

+1 to Eddy.
I don't see the need for a TrueCaller to exist, it takes more from the user, than being useful.
Classic case of viral hype marketing of a parasite app.

[GTO]

Going against the opening opinions by saying that I LOVE TrueCaller and cannot imagine using my smartphone without it. Am a premium paying customer of theirs.

- 99.99% of my spam calls are blocked. In fact, I don't remember the last time I answered the call of a telemarketing pest.

- When I am entering a new phone number (either to dial or to save in contacts), I never have to double-check the number as it shows the name right up!

- It also identifies unknown people on WhatsApp, which is the default messaging tool in India. Big plus.

- Some first-time callers are pleasantly surprised when I greet them by their first name. This morning, I exchanged emails with a Roshan (his email didn't have his number). When he called me, I knew who it was - sure was an effective icebreaker with a client.

- There is nothing "private" about my / your phone number. Every car dealer, bank, credit card company, SIM reseller has it, and it's a part of 10,000 lead databases that are sold everyday to marketing departments.

See the kind of info that TrueCaller is now providing on spammers. There is a reason why TrueCaller has 100+ million users in India (that's 10 crore) & we form 65 - 70% of its global user base. It just works!

[mayankk]

True caller has been a godsend, to the extent that it's one of the few apps I've spent money on. My only gripe is the current layout of calls and messages is a little difficult to get used to.
Nevertheless, one of the first installs in a new phone, this app.

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by GTO

Going against the opening opinions by saying that I LOVE TrueCaller and cannot imagine using my smartphone without it.

I agree with @GTO. Had been on the fence for so long with the same assumption that the app was more of a parasite than a useful tool, but not can't think of a day without it.

And it's not only about my number or my contacts being used by them, there are numerous other cases where numbers get shared.

Example 1: I briefly had Airtel Broadband in Bangalore for a few months; closed the account when I came to Mumbai, giving them proper reasons while closure. I still get atleast 10 calls every month from Airtel asking about broadband options/superior services in Mumbai.

Example 2: Numerous pre-approved loan messages from banks that I hold a savings or credit card account

Example 3: New schemes on consumer products/services from companies whom I made the mistake of sharing my number in the past (e.g. Airlines, Yatra, CureFit, etc.). The list is endless.

With so many smses and calls from just the above three scenarios, I don't need to worry about my number being used by Truecaller. I'd rather use their information that tells me to avoid and block the number before picking up the call.

Edit: @GTO and others - apart from the ads removal, what is the real benefit of premium mode? Doesn't the call blocking etc happen on the free version itself? Also I don't really see a use of looking at a profile of an individual at all.

[Turbanator]

Will agree that there’s more of benefits over what it takes. On Androids, it works flawlessly but in iphones, I have to manually share the missed calls and search, is there an option to see the info at the time of call on iOS like Android?

[swiftLife]

Originally Posted by Turbanator

Will agree that there’s more of benefits over what it takes. On Androids, it works flawlessly but in iphones, I have to manually share the missed calls and search, is there an option to see the info at the time of call on iOS like Android?

Absolutely agree. For me also, the only gripe I have when using my iPhone is lack of Truecaller's live caller id.
And no, we can't enable it at the time of call. It's a restriction by the iOS itself. I can only wish that Apple removes this in future.

Though there is a less cumbersome way to search for the unknown numbers. You have to enable the Truecaller widget. Then just copy any number you want to search and go to the widget. It will show you the details of that number. This saves me from the extra step of opening the app and performing the search.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

Edit: @GTO and others - apart from the ads removal, what is the real benefit of premium mode?

Main reason is the ad removal, second reason is supporting a software I like .

Originally Posted by Turbanator

I have to manually share the missed calls and search, is there an option to see the info at the time of call on iOS like Android?

Originally Posted by swiftLife

Absolutely agree. For me also, the only gripe I have when using my iPhone is lack of Truecaller's live caller id.

Damn, that sounds terribly unfriendly. I really cannot imagine not having live caller id.

[paragsachania]

Been a paid user for Truecaller since more than a year and life has been extremely peaceful without marketing and spam calls.

Water purifier, real estate, investment banking, LIC; there were innumerable calls, at times even on Sunday noons. I even remember how automated voice recorded calls from seemingly personal numbers from LIC would continue to call you back at least twice till you picked up and hung up. All these calls are history now.

Also, till we streamline certain processes in our apartment complex, we often run into the bank statement to ascertain incoming payments made to our account and most of the transactions (SBI) don't show the comments or name and rather show the 10 Digit phone numbers in them (mainly for UPI transfers). With Truecaller, I merely put these numbers in search and get the names of the account holders and update our records. Without this, it would have been very difficult to trace such transactions.

[saisree]

Wonderful app for Android. Has saved me from lots of unsolicited calls and I did mark many as spams. Helping the brotherhood you see.

Originally Posted by Turbanator

On Androids, it works flawlessly but in iphones,

Originally Posted by swiftLife

Absolutely agree. For me also, the only gripe I have when using my iPhone is lack of Truecaller's live caller id.

The lack of true support for iPhone has made me to uninstall it.

[ast.ggn]

Truecaller was a must have app for me on my phone at one time so much that I decided not to buy an iphone because live id doesn't work on it. There are numerous calls throughout the day which I get are spams from banks, insurance etc.

However there was a pattern for me which I realized: 99% of the calls from unknown numbers were spam. Very rarely someone would call me and I didn't have their number in my phone book. So I decided to delete the app and try living without it. From last 6 months, I don't have Truecaller and it is an inconvenience not having it. The thought of missing an important call plays on your mind everytime you don't pick up a call from unknown number.

Privacy is actually an issue but you can't help it as said above, your details are already available and sold over internet to marketing guys. Privacy is a joke in our country.

Originally Posted by Eddy

In fact, I even went to their website and de-listed my number

Did you check by calling a Truecaller user if your name is reflecting? As far as I know, Truecaller database works by gathering data from other user database too. Suppose 100 people from your contacts have saved your number, it will still use that information and show your name.

Here is a link to one of the founder's old interview explaining things. The way he skips and goes around the main question (privacy) is still debatable.

https://youtu.be/UrruLHHhRrk

[Sheel]

Originally Posted by Turbanator

On Androids, it works flawlessly but in iphones, I have to manually share the missed calls and search, is there an option to see the info at the time of call on iOS like Android?

Your answer -

Originally Posted by Sheel

Do iPhones suggest names when you start keying in numbers or still do not?

Does Truecaller's app show you the name or it appears post the call is cut and you have to look it up?

They still do not.

I thought I would get the iPhone 11, but I did not. These 2 reasons were the main reasons for getting an android handset.

I don't want to carry 2 devices, hence..

Originally Posted by GTO

Going against the opening opinions by saying that I LOVE TrueCaller and cannot imagine using my smartphone without it. Am a premium paying customer of theirs.

Same here. I too have paid them and I even know who is on a call .

Having a ~20 year old mobile number, you tend to get marketing calls and now even WhatsApp messages [business accounts] it helps filter them out.

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

Edit: @GTO and others - apart from the ads removal, what is the real benefit of premium mode? Doesn't the call blocking etc happen on the free version itself? Also I don't really see a use of looking at a profile of an individual at all.

There are lots of other options when you pay them. Seeing who is on a call is one of them.

Please have a look at these SS.

[bharatbits]

My phone is most of the time on Silent. Later i see the missed calls, check the names on Trucaller and decide who to call and who not to call.

Service is good but their new UI is not very convenient with so many touch points and links. Calling a person is not very easy. Large screens also do not help either.