For a long time, the well-known caller ID app Truecaller has disadvantaged iPhone users by failing to provide real-time caller information, a feature that its Android customers have long benefited from. That will change today when the business releases an upgrade that allows its iOS users to use caller ID in real time.
Because Apple enabled Live Caller ID Lookup in iOS 18, which enables third-party caller ID apps to safely call their server to obtain caller information, the company was able to implement the feature. Notably, this is the Swedish company’s first significant release since the resignation of co-founders Alan Mamedi and Nami Zarringhalam from daily operations in November 2024.
Only about 750,000 of Truecaller’s more than 2.6 million paid members are on iOS as of right now. However, iOS subscriptions account for 40% of Truecaller’s Premium income. Additionally, the company receives 80% more income from iPhone subscribers and a 5X conversation rate to its premium tier on iOS compared to Android.
Given how crucial the iPhone is to Truecaller’s revenue, the business keeps improving its iOS software.
Thanks to Apple enabling the app to keep a wider range of numbers locally, Truecaller updated the iOS app in 2022 with an emphasis on improved spam detection.
“Overall call identification was improved. In an interview with TechCrunch, Truecaller Product Director Nakul Kabra stated that this was insufficient because of the high volume of calls in nations like India, which would not be covered by the offline database.
The corporation has additional obstacles in India, such as the introduction of a service called Calling Name Presentation (CNAP), which is intended to reduce spam. Local telcos are now launching the service, which may eventually become a rival to Truecaller.
In 2023, Truecaller also included a live caller ID feature to its iOS app, although it wasn’t real-time and required a step involving Siri.
Truecaller was forced to use a locally stored dictionary of a small number of phone numbers on iOS prior to the release of iOS 18.
In addition to its larger database for Android users, Truecaller developed a new server architecture and a separate, encrypted database for iOS users in order to allow the new feature. In order to display the caller ID in real time, the Apple Phone app sends encrypted requests to this database and receives encrypted responses, which are only decoded on the client (iPhone). This procedure is known as “homomorphic encryption” because the calculations employ encrypted data rather than initially decrypting it, and the client decrypts it to show caller information if it matches the data on the server.
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Kabra informed TechCrunch that Truecaller had developed a mechanism to maintain data synchronization between two databases.
There may be a slight delay at the moment because these requests are queued up and our encryption process takes a long time and is highly costly. However, he stated that it shouldn’t last longer than a few hours.
Last week, TechCrunch tested live caller ID under Truecaller’s beta program and found that, while it occasionally misses, the service generally provides caller information in real-time.
On iOS, Truecaller’s premium tier costs $9.99 a month, or $74.99 annually, per user. Additionally, the firm provides its family plan for iOS for $14.99/month or $99.99/year, with the premium Gold membership costing $249/year.
Via iPhone Settings > Apps > Phone > Call Blocking & Identification, users can activate the Live Caller ID Lookup feature.
The caller’s name now appears bolded over their number in Truecaller’s new UI on iOS 18. Truecaller is currently working on enabling photos to appear in the caller ID for iOS users.
SOURCE: TRUE CALLER
