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Truecaller is a popular app among Android users. However, on iOS, the app has made very little sense. That is because the most critical feature that Truecaller offers, which is the live caller ID, was never available on iPhones. You could search for a number in the app later on, but you never got notified who was calling, in real time. That has now finally changed. Truecaller on Wednesday announced that its live caller ID feature is now available on iPhones
Apple’s latest update with iOS 18 allows third-party apps like Truecaller to securely connect to their servers and fetch information about incoming calls in real-time. This is a groundbreaking achievement for iPhone users who’ve patiently watched their Android counterparts enjoy this privilege for years — safe to say that while the patient dog does not have the fattest bone in this case, the dog is eating.
Although Truecaller has always prioritized iOS development, as seen in its 2022 relaunching to iOS for spam detection, and its 2023 update with live caller ID experience which was futile, it’s unclear why this particular feature took so long to arrive. Perhaps the delay is tied to Apple’s previous limited support for server connections for caller identification.
iOS users, despite accounting for only around 750,000 paying subscribers compared to millions on Android, contribute a staggering 40% of Truecaller’s revenue. With numbers like that, it is in the company’s best interest to continue investing heavily in its iOS app.
With this achieved, the next step for Truecaller is working on support for images to show up in the caller ID for its iOS users.
To enable the Live Caller ID Lookup feature on iPhone, navigate to Settings > Apps > Phone > Call Blocking & Identification.
Commenting on the update, Rishit Jhunjhunwala, CEO of Truecaller, said, “We are excited to bring the full power of Truecaller to iPhone. We see tremendous potential and growth in our iPhone user base, and parity with Truecaller’s Android experience has been top of their wishlist. This update does that and more while preserving privacy for all calling activity.”
Truecaller has been blocking unwanted communications for over 15 years. Now, it has integrated its advanced AI and global database of over 433 million active users to provide seamless caller identification on iPhones. Now, Truecaller can identify nearly all incoming calls, ensuring that no call goes unanswered or unidentified as long as it has relevant information.
In addition to identifying calls, the update addresses one of the most requested features from iOS users: automatic spam call blocking. Now available globally, this feature ensures that unwanted calls are intercepted and blocked before they can even ring through to the user’s phone.
