Truecaller Wants Anyone Calling You To Share The Call Reason In Advance & We Cannot Be More Thankful
The Call Reason feature is part of the new Truecaller for Android update that also includes a new Schedule SMS feature and the SMS Translate capabilities. Apple iPhone users will get access to Call Reason early next year, while the other two features remain exclusive to Android, at this time.
- Last Updated: October 21, 2020, 15:40 IST
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Truecaller, the very popular app particularly for detecting and blocking spam calls and managing messages on smartphones, is getting a new set of versatile tools that cover call security as well as SMS handling on your phone. And it most certainly takes the caller ID experience on phones up a notch. What is on the menu for Android users with the latest Truecaller update are Call Reason, Schedule SMS and SMS Translate features. These three features, free to use, are now rolling out globally with the newest Truecaller app update for Android and the roll-out should be completed within the next few days. Apple iPhone users will have to wait till early next year to get the Call Reason option with an update while the Schedule SMS and SMS Translate features remain exclusive to Android for the time being.
In a first of its kind feature, Truecaller for Android now has a Call Reason option. Truecaller wants anyone who is calling you to also set a reason for why they are calling you—whether it’s a work call, a personal call or something urgent. With the Caller ID on the incoming call screen of your Android phone now updated to show the reason as well, you will have a fair idea of which incoming calls need your attention immediately and which ones can wait. More than anything, the Truecaller Call Reason feature becomes more relevant in these work from home days, when it is a choice between sticking with the Google Meet or Zoom call you are already a part of or answering an incoming call on your phone. This will be particularly true for calls from unknown numbers, who will get a better chance of a response if they share the reason for calling you in the first place. Call Reason will also be available for Priority Businesses and Verified Businesses early next year.
Truecaller for Android also gets a new Schedule SMS feature. This allows users to set a date and time for sending out a particular message and the Truecaller app will send it out at that selected time. Once it is scheduled, you will be able to see the message in the contact’s chat window. You will be able to schedule messages for anytime in the next year, a great way of not missing important dates and occasions! This feature is exclusive to Android phones, at least for the time being.
There is another powerful new feature called SMS Translate which will detect whenever you receive a new message in another language that is not the default language of your phone and translate it for you. Truecaller says this will use Google’s Machine Learning kit, and all the processing and translation is done on your phone itself. You can either keep language packs downloaded and installed on your phone, or in case there is a translation requirement detected, Truecaller will download that language pack before translating it on the device itself. Truecaller supports 59 languages including 8 Indian languages at this time. The Truecaller SMS Translate feature is available only for Android phones.
“We have been working towards building an innovative communication suite for our users and these three features are the next big step in line with this mission. Communication in 2020 is easier in many ways, but also complicated by the vast ways in which people connect for information,” says Rishit Jhunjhunwala, Chief Product Officer at Truecaller, in an official statement. At this time, Truecaller has more than 250 million active users globally, with India being one of their biggest markets.
Truecaller has been aggressively adding new capabilities and features to the apps over the past few months, particularly the Android app. In August, Truecaller had rolled out a feature called Spam Activity Indicator for Android phones, which gave users detailed statistics on every number marked as spam by any Truecaller user around the world. The data includes how many calls any spammer has made in the last 30 days, how many Truecaller users are still reporting the caller as spam and what time of the day they usually call. Earlier this summer, Truecaller overhauled the Android app with a new interface, a Smart SMS inbox that defines messages according to categories such as bills, transaction messages and Personal as well as the Full Screen Caller ID and the updated Truecaller Pay section.
