Are you fed up with unidentified calls chipping away at your sanity? Calls from commercial entities, not friends or loved ones. But how can you tell the difference between a telemarketer and a member of your family?
Easy. Install a caller ID app on your phone.
Applications that identify callers in real-time are known as caller ID apps. That is, the apps compare the incoming number’s caller ID to a database of known telemarketers and scammers. They have privacy issues, but if you’re not bothered or want to learn more, keep reading.
What Makes a Good Caller ID App?
We use two factors to evaluate which app gives the best experience:
- Pros: Aesthetics, features, and overall utility are all positive aspects.
- Cons: Some of the app’s more vexing features, such as if it asks for too many permissions. Some apps with excessive permissions may expose the user to harmful activities. However, the nature of a caller identification app necessitates a significant amount of personal information, and even then, many go overboard.
A Word of Caution About Caller ID Apps
Some caller ID apps have been known to steal your contacts and store them in their database. While this greatly enhances the accuracy of identification, it may also compromise your privacy.
Most applications have some kind of access to your personal information, but caller ID apps are among the worst. Caller ID apps may not be for you if you value your privacy.
Phone by Google
Phone by Google is one of the most under-appreciated caller ID apps in the Play Store. Google’s official phone calling app, which has over 500 million downloads, uses Google’s vast caller ID coverage to inform you who’s calling even if they’re not in your phone contacts.
The app can also assist you in screening unknown callers and alerting you to any spam and fraudulent calls.
The Phone by Google app has one major drawback: it’s only compatible with newer Android devices running Android 9.0 or higher.
Pros:
- Simple and lightweight with a pleasant design and an optional dark mode, this software is easy to use.
- Spam protection: The app will alert you to strange callers and make it simple to stop them so they don’t bother you again.
- Extensive caller ID coverage: Thanks to Google’s all-knowing skills, Phone by Google can tell you who is contacting you. There’s also the ability to look for neighboring addresses and phone numbers.
- Optional call screening: Call Screen can help you manage your incoming calls by screening them for you, removing spam, and leaving you alone.
- Say goodbye to calling your voicemail. The Phone by Google app allows you to browse your voicemails, play them in any sequence, and read their messages.
- Support for emergency location: If you ever need to make an emergency call, the Phone by Google app will display your current location, making it easy to share your location with emergency personnel.
Cons:
- Certain elements of the Phone by Google app are only available in the United States and in the English language at the time of writing. Automatic screening and transcriptions are included.
- Only compatible with newer Android devices: Only Android devices running Android 9.0 or later can use the phone by Google app.
- Has the potential to be intrusive: Some app permissions may appear to be intrusive. The program will read your phone numbers and requires your location services to be activated in the background.
Truecaller
Truecaller’s usage of personal data has sparked a lot of debate. Superior design, superb utility, and high identification accuracy are just a few of its benefits. Overall, it accomplishes its goal of identifying unknown calls. Furthermore, Truecaller is compatible with iOS devices. Truecaller, on the other hand, maybe accessing more than you expected.
According to certain reports, Truecaller reads your contact list and stores it in their database. Truecaller has refuted these concerns, claiming that it does not collect the contacts of users who download the app from the Play Store automatically.
If you’re concerned about how your data is being used, you may disable Truecaller’s data processing from the app’s privacy section. The privacy section also allows you to view and download your data.
Pros:
- Truecaller may be used to replace the built-in Android dialer, making it a one-stop shop for making calls.
- Call and text filtering: Truecaller, like most other apps, allows you to blacklist specific callers or texters. Numbers on the blacklist are automatically blocked, which is extremely useful for telemarketers, scammers, and other annoyances.
- Truecaller is highly customizable, allowing you to customize it in a variety of ways. Most crucially, it can block unknown callers selectively. ID-blocking is used by the majority of telemarketers.
- Truecaller maintains a database of telemarketers, which it uses to block call spammers. You can automatically subscribe to this list and block every single one of them with little effort.
- Appearance-wise, it’s a great-looking app! Truecaller offers a user-friendly UI.
- Truecaller claims to have a feature that allows users to delete their information from their database.
Cons:
- Truecaller has a searchable database known as “improved search,” which is poorly defined in the terms of service. Contact information from your phone is copied into the Truecaller database when you activate it. However, due to Google’s terms of service, this feature isn’t entirely functional for Android users. If you download Truecaller through the Play Store, the app isn’t supposed to take your information. The fact that the software appears to duplicate your information is concerning. Your information is not uploaded to the database unless you read the entire privacy terms of service.
- Authentication by SMS or phone call: Truecaller requires you to verify your identity by receiving an SMS or phone call. It does not, however, necessitate the usage of a carrier-provided number.
- Advertisements: The app’s free version contains advertisements. By upgrading to the premium version of the program on a subscription basis, you can remove adverts and have access to additional features.
- They send you emails: Truecaller users have complained about receiving an excessive number of emails.
Hiya
If you’re looking for something a little more uncomplicated, go no further. Hiya is the place to go. Hiya has comparable features to Truecaller, including a telemarketer/scammer block list, caller ID, and more.
Pros:
- Hiya’s app has a terrific design and is simple to use thanks to an uncluttered user interface.
- Great call blocking: Hiya has a database of known spammers and commercial lines that you may use to ban annoying calls automatically. Regrettably, this is a paid function.
- Hiya’s privacy policy is plain and simple.
- Lookup feature that’s cool: Hiya will tell you who it is if you type in a phone number and use their lookup option. This is useful for identifying a business and will also show you if that number has called you before.
Cons:
- Maintains a backup of your contacts: Hiya, like all other caller ID apps, collects all of your contacts. Hiya’s privacy policy may be found here. It’s simple to read and understand (they acknowledge that they will take your contacts).
- To access all features, you’ll need to upgrade: While Hiya basic is a good place to start, you’ll want to upgrade if you want to get the most out of the program.
Summary
A caller ID app should ideally provide two features: To begin, it must use publicly available datasets to identify callers. Second, telemarketers and other undesirable callers must be blocked. Check out the National Do Not Call Registry if you want to block annoying calls on your landline.
While all of the apps on our list can help with those problems, some of them are expensive. Look no further than Google’s Phone app for a superb free caller ID and spam prevention program.
Meanwhile, Hiya and Truecaller are excellent choices for individuals who want an extra layer of security and are willing to pay for it.
