# True Caller Ap **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 7, 2018, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-caller-ap/824109 "2018-11-07T01:04:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SanDiegoTim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@SanDiegoTim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanDiegoTim)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2018, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-caller-ap/824109/1 "2018-11-07T01:04:30Z")
Anyone using this “call blocker” on their cell phone? Happy with it? ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2018, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-caller-ap/824109/2 "2018-11-07T01:17:27Z")
**Moderator Action** Since this is looking for personal experiences, let’s move it to IMHO (from GQ). ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2018, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-caller-ap/824109/3 "2018-11-07T16:46:19Z")
Since discovering that it’s now impossible on Android to block a number completely (so that they can’t leave a message either), I’ve given up on the idea of blocker apps. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2018, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-caller-ap/824109/4 "2018-11-07T16:51:25Z")
No, but I researched it, and it says it cannot identify “unknown” or “private” numbers or “spoofed” numbers. Not much good to me, then, I’m afraid. ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2018, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-caller-ap/824109/5 "2018-11-07T16:57:03Z")
Between Jasmine’s and mine, that’s two strikes against (I assume) all blocker apps. The times you really want it to work, it lets you down. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2018, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-caller-ap/824109/6 "2018-11-07T19:29:58Z")
I have used it and am more than happy with it. It blocks unknown numbers and when a number is listed in their database as “Spam”, it lets me know. Works perfectly. Somehow I’ve completely avoided political calls this election cycle and I’m not sure if that’s related to TrueCaller or not. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2018, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-caller-ap/824109/7 "2018-11-07T19:37:01Z")
> [@DavidwithanR](#): > > Since discovering that it’s now impossible on Android to block a number completely (so that they can’t leave a message either), I’ve given up on the idea of blocker apps. I’ve never understood that. They claim that it can’t be done for whatever reason. If there isn’t an app already, there should be one that can pick up/hang up on calls you want not only blocked, but also not able to leave messages. In fact, I have a few numbers that I know will leave messages, so I unblocked them and now I just answer and hang up on them. Otherwise I have to wait for them to leave a message and go to my voicemail to delete it. IIRC, there’s _some_ way for a caller to go directly to voicemail, but that doesn’t seem to be the case with these. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2018, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-caller-ap/824109/8 "2018-11-07T20:34:10Z")
I have the Ultimate Call Blocker. I’m immensely unpopular. My phone hasn’t rang in months. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2018, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-caller-ap/824109/9 "2018-11-07T20:46:51Z")
I wonder if an app could be made to automatically answer with a computer voice that says something like “Thank you for calling, please enter 123 on your keypad for this call to go through.” Something that would thwart at least the robo-calls would be useful. ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2018, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-caller-ap/824109/10 "2018-11-07T21:54:59Z")
Google and Apple have real customers (advertisers, not you and me), who have a financial interest in spam calls getting through. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2018, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-caller-ap/824109/11 "2018-11-08T15:47:53Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > I have the Ultimate Call Blocker. > > I’m immensely unpopular. My phone hasn’t rang in months. I don’t answer any calls from numbers I don’t recognize. I’m also unpopular. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2018, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-caller-ap/824109/12 "2018-11-08T16:42:36Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > I don’t answer any calls from numbers I don’t recognize. > > I’m also unpopular. > > 🙂 Far too often, I also don’t answer when it’s a number I **DO** recognize. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![echoreply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/echoreply/32/3641_2.png) [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2018, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-caller-ap/824109/13 "2018-11-08T17:54:30Z")
I’ve used a variety of call blockers on Android, including True Caller, and some others I don’t remember. Those definitely had an option to either try and block the call, or answer and then hangup. I use Google Voice for my voice mail, so I can block a number on both my phone and Google Voice, and then that number can no longer leave messages. I don’t use the True Caller and the like anymore, because my phone has Hiya builtin, and they are completely ineffective with the type of spam calls I get. The problem is that 99% of the unwanted calls I get originate from a random number. Sure I can block that number, but it hardly matters, as that number will never call me back. That number has also never called anybody else with spam, so the crowd sourcing aspects of these blockers is also useless. Hiya will occasionally ID the number with a person’s name, but that person isn’t the one actually calling, me just the one whose number was spoofed. On our current system, there is no way to detect a spoofed number, so it’s impossible to know if the incoming call originated with a phone assigned that number, or a robo-dialer in India. Unlike the last 30 years, almost none of the spam calls I get are from (semi-)legitimate businesses who are cold calling from their own phone to drum up business. The calls I get are all robo-dialed scams. I very rarely get calls from a company I’ve done business with before seeing if I want to give them more money ("You replaced my windows last year, why would I possibly want you to replace them again?’) ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2018, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-caller-ap/824109/14 "2018-11-08T18:05:59Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > I have the Ultimate Call Blocker. > > I’m immensely unpopular. My phone hasn’t rang in months. The real Ultimate Call Blocker would be canceling your phone contract, and throwing your phone in a bucket of water just to be sure. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2018, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-caller-ap/824109/15 "2018-11-08T18:45:33Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > The real Ultimate Call Blocker would be canceling your phone contract, and throwing your phone in a bucket of water just to be sure. 😃 Newer phones will still work in a bucket of water. Encasing it in concrete would be better. ---
**Author:** ![MostlyClueless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@MostlyClueless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MostlyClueless)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2018, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-caller-ap/824109/16 "2018-11-09T12:24:08Z")
My latest shit phone, made by a shit company under the name of “Wileyfox” had Truecaller installed. It replaced Android’s standard dialer, and was almost impossible to remove. I live in Europe, where we have some robust spam and robocaller laws. As such, I never got any spam calls. Until my latest phone, that is. All of them from countries where I don’t know anyone. Interestingly, they always just rang for a single second, too short to pick up. I suspect it’s the Truecaller app itself, generating fake calls to convince people to subscribe. After a while I finally managed to get rid of the app. Instantly, all spam calls stopped. Next time I’m buying a phone without bloatware.