Spam calls are the last thing you want, especially if you are at a business meeting or a family dinner, and they usually don’t go away anytime soon either. But the internet is a huge mesh of information, and Google just made it a bit easier to block and avoid spam calls using its massive trove of data to identify the number through caller ID and notify the user if the call is a spam call or not. The dialer screen will provide information about the caller, especially if the number is not in the user’s contact list or if it is not an established and verified business contact number.
There is a new update to the Google Phone app with the spam protection feature. Currently, the app is only available to the Nexus line-up and devices with Android One installed. Other devices incompatible with the Google Phone app are out of luck. This function is turned on by default in the Google Phone app, but there is a way to turn it off. The user can switch the caller ID and spam protection feature off by opening the dialer, going into more settings, and toggling the Caller ID and Spam Protection option to off. Caller ID and Spam Protection does not affect the options for hiding the phone number when a call is being made from the device.
Google does not fail to mention that call data from the user’s device will be sent to Google for the spam protection and Caller ID feature to work properly. Caller ID also shows information about numbers of businesses only with a valid Google My Business listing, as well as directories in the work and school accounts. If a user wants to change the information about them that is displayed, there is an option to contact the respective admin to change the data, and it will be updated accordingly.
Google has tried to make this feature as robust as they can, but there are always chances of errors, as with every other system. That’s why Google has also provided a feature to report a spam protection mistake or an error in the caller ID from the dialer itself. The user can also block numbers that are identified as spam. This can be done by accessing the recent calls window and tapping the number to either report it as a mistake or to block the number. Users might find these new features to look and sound familiar as they’re not too unlike those of which are found in the highly popular Truecaller app.