Truecaller New AI Feature Rolls Out to Offer Better Protection From Spam Calls

Truecaller has introduced a new artificial intelligence (AI) feature that will automatically block all spam calls and provide better protection against spammers. The feature is available only on its Android app, adding a new ‘Max’ protection for spam calls. It is being rolled out as a premium feature and will only be available to paying users of the app. Notably, the new feature comes less than a month after Truecaller introduced call recording and AI-powered transcription features in India.

Customers who pay on the Truecaller app can go to Settings > Block to discover the new feature. Earlier, this setting offered users two tabs to choose from – Off and Basic. When set to Off, spam callers are identified but not blocked, and in Basic mode, the app automatically blocks calls from numbers that have been reported as spammers on a large scale. Now, there is a new tab labelled Max.

Selecting Max will automatically block calls from all spammers. This setting also gives a warning that it may block calls from some legitimate businesses. In a conversation with TechCrunch, Kunal Dua, President of Search at Truecaller, said that the company tested dozens of algorithms in several markets to identify spam numbers and used its AI system to implement the feature. The company also said that it has taken user feedback to improve the feature and will continue to do so.

However, the feature has a caveat that users may miss some legitimate calls, and while the company promises to take user feedback, it hasn’t revealed its method of identifying spam calls. Users have the option to report calls as spam, but it’s unclear if Truecaller uses other methods to identify such numbers.

The AI-powered Max Spam Blocking feature is only available on Truecaller’s Android app, as iOS does not allow caller ID apps to track spammer status or block those numbers automatically. However, to access it, users will have to subscribe to Truecaller’s premium plan. In India, the membership is available on a monthly plan of Rs 75 and an annual plan of Rs 529.