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Ask HN: Are there any good “Caller ID” apps for iPhone out there?

15 points by janandonly ↗ HN
I'm asking because I sometimes get calls from numbers I don't recognize. Now, blocking those calls is trivially simple on iPhone, it's just a switch under "settings".

But I am a curious person. I want to know who or what company called me.

Some Caller ID apps force the user to upload their entire contact list. I am not interested in those. I consider that a breach of my privacy. Maybe that is their true monetization method? Reselling contact lists?

10 comments

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rany_
> Reselling contact lists?

I don't think they're doing this because they just upload your contact list to their database so the "caller ID" feature works better. It wouldn't make sense for them to sell their database because then they might end up helping a competitor.

Of course that doesn't make these practices right

Daedren
With Caller ID apps, it's a give and take relationship.

Their phone databases get filled with your contact list, that's how they get to be accurate and up-to-date.

rany_
Truecaller's website allows you to do a search for any phone number provided you login with either a Google or Microsoft account. If you don't set "enhanced search" when logging in then it won't request any data other than your email.
jbverschoor
Sometimes my iPhone tells me who’s calling. Probably based on some public database.
thenthenthen
I noticed this as well, most of the time it seems like an very odd seemingly random string (and not displaying the actual number at all if I…recall correctly?)
bistro
That's one of the main thing I miss since switching to an iPhone. On a Pixel, there's almost always some company name displayed when I get a call from an unknown number. I'm guessing it's based on Google looking up the phone number.
adamfeldman
Hiya works great on iOS. I refused the contact-upload prompts and Hiya hasn’t bugged me again.

The T-Mobile “Scam Shield” feature is also nice (free on some plans). I send those calls straight to voicemail.

theGnuMe
Spammers just spoof caller id so it won't tell you much.