Truecaller: Caller ID Blocker Reviews

by LeonJon

I find Truecaller worthless, and the cost to privacy not near worth the price of giving the developers FULL ACCESS TO EVERY SINGLE CONTACT ON YOUR DEVICE. There are two main benefits to Truecaller. One, is to allow you to report a spam caller as a spammer to the developer - Gee Thanks (can you hear the sarcasm dripping in my voice?). Two, allows you to double check a number that has just phone you, to see if other app holders have previously reported the number as a Spammer. Really do not understand the near five star review average, in fact I’m baffled by it. Someone, please explain to me how this is not a worthless app.

This is an update to my prior review, which follows.
[This issue has been resolved, But Truecaller is worthless.]
In order to set up this app on the iPhone, in my case an iPhone 7, to to Settings>Phone>Call Blocking & Identification to turn on this app. The problem is, this app does not appear in the Settings. It appears in my family’s iPhone 6 and iPhone 5. Since this app does not warn about not working with iPhone 7 in its self description in Truecaller Store, I’ve given it one star. I would have given it zero stars, but Apple does not provide the zero star option.

by BasCarMel

We had an issue with someone on Craigslist who tried to get personal information from us. We hung up on him. Shortly afterwards we learned that our phone number was listed as a scam on Trucaller, probably as retribution from the Craigslist scammer. We learned about our phone number being listed as a scam from a local pet grooming shop when they saw it was listed on Trucaller. Trucaller never bothered to check that we had the same phone number since 2001, nor did they check our home address, nor did they contact us before labeling us as scammers. When we finally contacted them, they removed our number from their list. Maybe you should check with them to find out if someone has given them your number out of spite. This is a dangerous violation of privacy for them to convict people in a way for the whole world to see without any proof at all, just some jerk reporting you. The Nazis and Soviets had the same kind of system where you could rat on a neighbor and they would disappear!

by Quad Quad

Once Truecaller is on your phone a red screen will pop up saying ‘SPAM’ every time someone on their list calls. This isn’t often - it only blocks a fraction of unwanted calls - but you will always know about it when a spam call comes in. Infuriating! I don’t want to be notified when a spam call comes in - I want it blocked before my phone goes off!!!

A far better and simpler solution is just to block unwanted calls from within your phone. Once “block caller” is enabled for a number you will never hear from them again. Nothing.

But guess what? You can’t block calls on the this app list, even after Truecaller is deleted. It’s almost as though this app is paid by the spammers!

by Victor-S

My cellular provider is T-Mobile (USA). I use T-Mobile’s Scam Shield service and app. I installed this app, hoping it would catch the few spam calls that Scam Shield does not (one or two a month), but, in the 6-9 months I had it installed, this app only showed two calls as spam and they were both legitimate calls. One was Verizon’s Sales department returning my call. (I manage my parents’ Verizon account.) I don’t remember the other one. this app also marked a couple dozen legitimate text messages as Promotional and Junk. Some of those marked as Junk (and therefore had their notifications suppressed when they came in) were from a 911 Computer Aided Dispatch system (used to notify first responders of emergencies and provide address and situational info). These alerts are followed by other notification methods, but the time it takes to receive an alternate notification and take down an address can have a significant negative impact when every minute counts. this app also failed to mark as spam all of the political calls and texts before the U.S. elections.

So, if you have T-Mobile, use T-Mobile’s Scam Shield and don’t bother with this app. And, if you receive critical text messages, DO NOT enable this app’s SMS filtering.

by Sertano

After adding Truecaller , my spam calls increased considerably. Apparently, Truecaller sold my phone number. In 2 weeks, only 1 call was considered spam by Truecaller when I started receiving over a dozen calls per day. I had to turn the ringer off and ignored the calls I didn’t recognize. I called back some of the “missed calls” and all of the numbers were for non-existent lines. Apparently, the numbers appearing on the calls were randomly generated from non-existent lines. Most of those numbers attempted to be from areas where my number originally came from. I no longer live nor communicate with people with numbers from the area my number originated from, but kept the same number because I’ve had it since the brick phones of the early 90s. I don’t know what True solutions are out there to resolve the spam calls issue which has now gotten worse.

by JoshuaJ37

I used to love Truecaller, and used to tell everyone I know to download it because of how well it blocked spam calls and gave you excellent caller ID. I work in wireless, and used to tell all my customers about it as well. However, in the last 12-18 months it's slowly but surely been going downhill, and now it's completely worthless. It literally blocks no spam calls anymore, doesn't give me any caller ID, and the number lookup took finds absolutely zero names of people or businesses. I will be deleting as soon as I'm done writing my review. I had always considered this a 5 star app, but now if I could rate it 0 stars, unfortunately I would.

Developers, if you decide to fix things and make this work as well as it did years ago, please let me know. It was fantastic when it worked, but unfortunately those days are long over.

by Melih..

I've registered my phone number to the National Do Not Call Registry and I was getting a couple spam calls per month.

As soon as I installed Truecaller the number of spam calls drastically increased. Since they want you to upgrade their pro/paid version they share your number with the spam callers, so you'll get frustrated from the spam calls and pay them to stop it. It's like the antivirus applications who puts viruses to your computer to make their service valuable. I presume this applies to most spam blocking apps.

All in all installing Truecaller was the biggest mistake I made; it's been 2 weeks and I'm getting at least 5 spam calls per day. Do not make the same mistake. Try national do not call registry first. If you're still getting more than 5 calls a day then you can install a spam blocking app.

by Tasticks

My number is registered under the National Do Not Call list so I rarely used to receive spam, marketing or calls (switchboard) calls. However, since installing and using Truecaller, I’ve gotten at least one spam call per day — sometimes three. After some investigating, I read other app users are having a similar experience regarding Truecaller’s privacy policy. It’s almost as if Truecaller is catering to spammers by providing them with your info.

Also, Truecaller only allows you to search numbers after a call or text. It’s not preventive. It does provide some names but most of the time, it doesn’t. Most people are able to self identify with these apps so the results will be whatever information a person has volunteered, which may not necessarily be their legal or government name (i.e., “Mr. L”). Use with caution.

by Tessadedek

I downloaded this app because I got a ton of spam calls in a few hours. I don’t usually get very many, maybe 1-2 per week or so. But I randomly got 13 spam calls in less than 3 hours today. I read that the FTC recommends using a spam blocker app so I tried this app. Three calls came through after I downloaded it and followed its instructions. It also identified a non-spam text as spam and I can’t identify it as not spam. I read the this app FAQ which said a conversation will automatically be moved to non-spam when you reply to it, but this particular message is a promotional message from a company that I subscribed to. So I can’t respond to the message to remove it from the spam section of my messages. I’ll try a different app

by Keeptryinanothernicknamedude

I’ve had Truecaller for a couple of years now. I got it because the spam calls were ridiculous and I can’t afford not to answer my calls because it might be a customer or client or someone I need to talk with. I keep getting bugged every time I open Truecaller to upgrade to premium, however, this app has not really identified the owner of a number for many many months, other than telling me the name of the provider. Why would I want to pay for something that doesn’t tell me the information that I need. In addition, this app has only identified three or four spam calls for me in the last 60 days.

by Valharp

I have used this app for the past 3 years. It was great at identifying mystery numbers, especially those reported by other users as spam. It was integrated into my phone, stopping blocked calls before they rang. And the database updated quickly every time Truecaller was opened. Deservedly, it was picked up by reviewers as an effective tool. But for the last 5 mont, Truecaller has been totally useless. It does not update its database on opening, and updating it manually is very, very slow. It rarely finds the numbers calling me and no longer blocks them. Short story is that it was once a 5-star app and now is a 2-star app. I'm moving on to something else. What happened, this app - did fame go to your head?

by Ruilus

The fact that the spam database has to be updated daily is a huge setback. I have to manually open Truecaller and click update every day or otherwise spam calls go through. Why?

In fact spam calls go through anyways. I was getting a dozen each day even with updated spam list. The funny thing is that after hanging up on a spammer I always check the number against this app database and 90% of a time, the number is on their block list. And yet the call goes through anyways.

I am not sure why this happens and have Truecaller all needed permissions.

Anyways I just installed an ATT call protect app and it blocked 7 spammers within a couple of hours as I can easily see from the log. Only one went through but Truecaller warned me that this was a telemarketer.

I understand that the this app technology is not as the one ATT app uses but but there is night and day difference in results.

Thank you for helping me but it looks Like there is a better solution for me as of now.

by Anonymous93848747

After making sure the correct settings were on, updating my phone, and turning it off and on, I could not get Truecaller to block spammers or spam texts. The only thing it would block were numbers associated with updates I need (USPS, payments made, etc.). I still receive the annoying calls from people who want to buy property I don’t even know and the possible spoof calls where the numbers appear to be real but are not blocked and definitely not people I know. I paid for a premium membership hoping it would work and nothing happened. I still don’t understand the benefits of having a premium membership anyways. Waste of money and energy.

by Tenthandjordan

Love the idea of Truecaller and really appreciate it. It seems to work well at blocking spam callers, HOWEVER, I hate that it doesn’t automatically update on its own; notify you when there’s a new update available; or even show up in Truecaller store to show there’s an update. As a result, I still get spam calls more than I should because they are not included until I go open Truecaller , check if there’s an update, and then initiate it myself. Imagine if we had to do this with all apps? That would be obnoxious. I really hope we can get regular/frequent app updates for this via Truecaller store so we dont have to constantly go in Truecaller and check ourselves. It would save time and stress.

by Froze Me ⛄️❄️

Truecaller used to be good. Before when you copy number to search, it will automatically ask you to paste and search it. After some kind of update on Truecaller this feature has stopped working and you will have to copy and paste then search manually. In addition they won’t find the name for the number you searching for like they do before. It’s kind of annoying. I wish they bring back the old version.

by ZapJ

I’ve really loved Truecaller for several years. But since the last few days of May 2021 it won’t update the spammer list. Just a constant rotating icon implying it’s in the prosess of updating.(So far its been “updating” my spam list for 6 days with no end in sight! I’ve checked and all of the this app 1, 2, 3, & 4 are all active in my Settings.

I have an iPhone 6 that can’t be updated to the new iOS 14-something, but Truecaller still runs & Truecaller Store doesn’t say there’s a problem or offer to let me download an older version of Truecaller .

by CShay2272

I am very glad I installed True Caller on my last phone and now this phone because when I upgraded to an Apple phone I had trouble transferring everything and wound up with only a portion of my contact list.

I had all my customers I’d spoken to within the last 4 years on my previous phone before upgrading.

Thanks to True Caller I got many of them back because when I installed their app on my new phone they still had all my information since I started using them, several years ago, as a caller ID and Blocker.

I actually just realized they would show up in my Outlook on my phone and am very excited and happy to have all the numbers I saved for customers or potential customers who had called in for various reasons.

I now once again know if they have called before and what ever info I had for them except I don’t think the notes saved. Not sure yet.

THANK YOU TRUE CALLER! I really appreciate your service!!

by DweezyGurl

It’s awesome I thought it wasn’t going to work but it immediately turned all those spam calls into red lettered SPAM. I get spam called all day long at school ONLY AT SCHOOL I’ve literally never got spam called at home but at school I get so embarrassed when my ringtone goes off super loud in the middle of class one day it literally happened 3 TIMES i turn my ringer off but the stuff in my backpack shoves my phone all around and one time even ended up calling the cops on accident because of the side buttons. They literally were like “Can the person with the phone number (blah) bla - blah come down to the office IMMEDIATELY.” I was like 😱 but yeah my phone causes problems but Truecaller can fix em so :3

by TheDancingJesus

Truecaller does as promised. It blocks already flagged number. If you decide it’s not a flagged number, it give you the option to unblock. The best feature in my opinion is the community input. If you report a number, it takes note of this and then the next time someone reports it, it will show how many community members have already flagged the number. You are able to the same with text messages. Also, it creates a contact list labeled SPAM with all the fraudulent already verified number.

by Studio155

I have been getting SPAM calls from numbers from +972 and +970 since October 2018. On my whatapp and viver and even direct calls. I have blocked 300+ numbers so far. And still get harrased daily by these people. They have listed my number on this app as Spammer by 110 people. Who are Ofcourse the spammers.
Today i just to know that True Caller has lsited me as a Spammer and i had never used this app ever in my life. Viber has blocked my number since November 2018 and refused to unblock me. Its my official registered number.
I suggest this app to remove me from this block list.

by Enginxxxx

I loved Truecaller. I don't know to how many friends I suggested it over the years. I've been one of the early adopters and have been a huge fan. It blocks spam quite effectively.

Up until now I used it without giving it access to my contacts list. I don't know how it happened but last week when I launched Truecaller to update the spam list (which I do a few times every week) I saw all of my contacts on Truecaller . I removed Truecaller 's access but now it's too late. It apparently uploaded my contacts to its public database. I sent them an email and there's still no word.

For now I suggest keeping away from Truecaller. Even though it blocks spam well, making contacts public is a huge deal and it's not something I would exchange for spam protection. I wish there was a way to remove my contacts from their database.

by B.A.Thompson

I got Truecaller, this app, and its only works part of the time. Understanding there are constantly new numbers added to the spam list, I expect to update Truecaller database daily. Not that big of a deal. The problem is, it clearly identifies a spam caller, but still allows some through. I have found it blocks legitimate spam calls as I recently put my resume online and immediately began getting spam calls. I bought the new iPhone X 256GB, but neglected to turn the blocking options on in settings. Once that was done, no more spam calls... or so I thought. The calls I was receiving, promising job opportunities, required me to sign up for more school. Holding two bachelors and a masters degrees, I politely told the first few I had no interest in school and explained my education level. If you refuse their persistence in signing up for school, they rudely say they can’t help. this app stopped these. However, while clearly marked in red a call is spam and you answer, you will find they let collection agency calls through. I’ve had my number for 10 years now and still get collection calls for someone I don’t know! I haven’t found any better app out there, though, so the collection calls will have to manually be rejected.

by Rainbow_Revenger

Truecaller does as promised. It blocks already flagged number. If you decide it’s not a flagged number, it give you the option to unblock. The best feature in my opinion is the community input. If you report a number, it takes note of this and then the next time someone reports it, it will show how many community members have already flagged the number. You are able to the same with text messages. Also, it creates a contact list labeled SPAM with all the fraudulent already verified number.

by Cowboyskirt

I’ve had Truecaller for a couple years now and I very seldom receive spam calls. To be sure, the more often I open Truecaller and click the little shield icon (spam id) at bottom right of screen to click on “check for updates”, the better it works. I open Truecaller several times a week to be sure I’m protected by following these steps. So it’s an app that you will need to frequently manually refresh, but it takes only a few seconds to do. Easy Peazy! Highly recommend!