Truecaller gets a major update, simplifying screens

Truecaller, the caller ID app, has released a redesign for its Android and iOS users globally.

Wearing its new look, Truecaller aims to streamline call history, SMS and instant messages into a single tab — a new home screen. The idea is to make the information on the screen readily glanceable and declutter the screen. This is all the more important as spam calls and SMSes and grow unabated today, obscuring the information that matters.

With the new makeover, a user doesn’t need to switch between tabs. Instead, they will always be able to see the most recent activity in one place, and with a single click enter the conversation to make a voice call, VoIP call, chat, text and more.

With the new update Truecaller is also releasing two major features: a new attractive full-screen caller ID, and a ‘smart’ SMS which will automatically categorise texts for better management.

Easy, yet complex

“Communication in 2020 is easier in many ways, but also complicated by the vast amount of ways to connect with people and information,” said Sandeep Patil, Managing Director at Truecaller. “There is a need to streamline this experience, we believe. In recent years we have seen how Truecaller has become your communication hub where all spam — calls and SMS — is identified and there is no need to switch between different apps for calls and messages. With this update we want to make it even more easier for our users to have streamlined communication.”

“At a time when we should be working to support each other in unity, it is unfortunate to see many scammers and fraudsters trying to capitalise on these difficult times. For over a decade now, Truecaller has been the main line of defence against such activity,” he added.

The Truecaller team has also meant the redesign to make for a more contemporary look. Now, with the Caller ID feature, Truecaller’s raison d’être, a user will be able to see an attractive full screen instead of a floating pop-up. Colours on this screen will communicate the type of call the user is receiving: blue for known contacts or new numbers, purple for high priority calls and calls from businesses and delivery services, and red, as ever, for spammers.

If businesses have contacted Truecaller to announce dedicated phone numbers that are not used for spam but for courier, delivery etc, the screen will tag the service and be visible at a glance as well. Gold, one of Truecaller’s popular premium features, will show users who have opted for this category.

Sorting of messages

The smart SMS feature used advanced, on-device machine learning to automatically sort messages into four distinct groups: Personal, Important, Others, and Spam.

Users will find all financial and payment notifications in the Important tab, helping to keep track of bills, payments and budgets. Users can choose to pay a transactional SMS straight from the app, or have Truecaller set a reminder.. Future updates will include travel reminders such as flight delays, bus seat allocation, live tracking and updates on postal/courier deliveries, tax updates and hospital/doctor appointments.

All of this processing takes places offline — which can be tested by going into Airplane mode, and no message leaves the mobile device ensuring privacy. All transactional information is also securely stored on the mobile. This feature will India first for all Android users.