Assume that you’re in the middle of something important when your phone rings in the background, totally hindering your focus. You will obviously pick up the call to see who is calling.
But now the Google Phone app, on the other hand, is finally offering you an out with a new caller ID feature.
Knowing that an unknown number is who it claims to be will help you avoid falling victim to popular schemes in which crooks act as legitimate businesses in order to swindle you for confidential information or money.
The Google Phone app now has a handy feature that will assist you in avoiding unnecessary phone calls.
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The app is available for free on all Android phones
Google is now making their Phone app available to a wider range of users, and you can download it directly from the Play Store — no sideloading needed.
It lacks some Pixel-exclusive functionality, such as Call Screening with the Google Assistant, but it includes the essentials, such as spam filtering and access to Google’s vast database of business and personal phone numbers for better caller ID.
If you enable it, the latest Google Phone feature will announce the name and phone number for all incoming calls. Yes, it’s a fairly simple feature that was previously missing in the app, but the latest stable version adds it in the form of a new setting called “Caller ID Announcement.”
The functionality can be found on the app’s main settings tab. Tapping it brings up the “Announce caller ID” menu. From here, you can use it for all calls, only when using a headset, or fully disable it.
Verified Calls complements Google’s earlier attempt to rein in robocalling through a call-screening feature that leans on Google Assistant to help identify calls. Below, we’ll walk you through what we know about this new Verified Calls feature, and how to get it.
What exactly is Google Phone Verified Calls?
The functionality, which is an enhanced version of caller ID, checks to see if a call is actually coming from a participating company.
When you get an incoming call from a confirmed business, you’ll see the company name, logo, a verification badge, and a reason for the call – as long as the business offers this information.
Where would Verified Calls be useful?
To begin, Verified Calls will be available in the United States, Mexico, Brazil, Spain, and India. Google will continue to add countries in the future.
There’s still a lot we don’t know about Verified Calls, but rest assured that we’ll begin testing it as soon as we can and update this post accordingly.
We have some steps you can take if you need more help getting rid of robocalls. Carriers are also collaborating on technologies that will help minimize spam calls and make features like Verified Calls more widely available.