Caller ID app Truecaller currently blocks 38 billion to 40 billion spam calls annually for more than 374 million users. The company is currently upgrading its filtering technology in hopes of getting more people to sign on to the premium tier. A new 'Max' update for Android Premium subscribers uses AI to block all calls from authorized contacts or calls that the AI determines may be spam, TechCrunch investigates. I found out. database. Previously, blocks and other actions were guided by how the number was listed in its database, combined with prior screening of the individual.
This update is Android only. Apple does not allow Truecaller (or any other caller ID service) to check a caller's spammer status in order to automatically block calls on iOS. Therefore, Truecaller offers a more basic service for iPhone users based on CallKit.
The move comes at a critical business moment for the company. Truecaller's sales for the fourth quarter were $41.52 million, a 4% year-over-year decline. Meanwhile, in India, Truecaller's largest market with 259 million users, the Indian Telecom Regulatory Authority recently ordered all telecom networks in the country to deploy Truecaller-like products to strengthen anti-spam protection. I proposed implementing a caller ID service. So far, the proposal has been met with opposition on privacy and technology grounds, but if enacted it would pose a direct competitive threat to Truecaller.
The new feature highlights that Truecaller believes there may be a business opportunity to tap into people who are fed up with the insidious tactics of spammers. The fix may actually be welcome, even at the cost of not hearing calls from unknown numbers or non-spammers.
Truecaller also leans into current interest in AI in general. Caller ID and spam protection are two core features of Truecaller, and any concerns about AI may be outweighed by curiosity about how well it works to accomplish Truecaller's core tasks. We believe there is…and in the process we are also seeing an increase in premium sign-ups.
The app's premium tier ranges from $9.99 per month to $99.99 per year, depending on factors such as the number of users targeted.
This new feature shows that Truecaller is exploring ways to introduce more proactive automation, after which less active engagement from users themselves is expected. Truecaller has always provided subscribers with a list of all calls that may be blocked, including international calls, hidden numbers, and unknown numbers not listed in the user's contacts. However, to get the most out of the app, users must join and adjust their own lists. From now on, anything identified as “suspicious” will be blocked by default.
“This is what at least some people, people who understand the app well, are looking for,” Kunal Dua, Truecaller's vice president of search, argued by phone.
This isn't Truecaller's first AI feature. It provides an AI assistant that screens calls to determine why the caller dialed you. (Non-AI features include cloud telephony and call recording.)
The AI that powers Max has been in development for some time. Truecaller is testing “dozens of algorithms” across its markets to identify spam numbers, and each of these machine learning algorithms also learns from user feedback, Dua said.
But rolling out this service to iOS users will require a major shift from Apple. Last year, Truecaller introduced live caller ID support to his iOS, but this is more limited and requires iPhone users to go through a process to set up live caller ID.
It will be interesting to see how users react to the all-in nature of the feature, which can sometimes lead to mistakes. The app is currently warning users that the feature “may block legitimate businesses.” Still, the system is expected to improve over time as more spam call data is captured, Dua said.
“Obviously, we do our best to distinguish between spam and legitimate businesses. However, some legitimate businesses may [blocked],” he said. “We want to believe that it's temporary before the community and until the AI algorithms can identify this as a legitimate business…I There is a very high probability, 99.999 times out of 100, that we are calling someone a spammer.
Users can unblock numbers incorrectly marked as spam by machine learning algorithms, which also helps train the AI.
After updating the Truecaller app to v13.58 or later, users can[設定]>[ブロック]You can find new spam blocking features by going to