In the world of today, practically everyone has a mobile phone, and we all have heaps of names and numbers saved on our devices. However, no matter how many contacts you have, it's not always possible to identify each and every person who rings you up. When you get a call from an unknown number, it might just be a friend or a family member calling to say 'Hi,' however there's also a good chance that it could be a telemarketer or a scammer.
Luckily, there are plenty of apps that you can install that will easily help you identify who's calling you, and even let you know where they're calling you from. Here are six of the best caller ID apps out there:
Truecaller is a fantastic app that allows you to identify incoming calls, and can also warn you about any unwanted spam calls, which is compiled by a community of more than 250 million users around the world. The app in its basic form is free, but there are a few in-app purchases that cost around $0.99 each.
Truecaller's key features:
• Live caller ID that shows you exactly who's calling you, even if you're offline.
• Block calls from telemarketers and spammers.
• Search for any number to find out who it belongs to.
• See how other users have tagged certain numbers.
• You can accept or deny contact requests without opening up the app.
• Notifications that sync with your PC.
• The ability to automatically remove prefixes and suffixes from phone numbers.
• A feature that allows you to suggest a better name for any given number.
NumBuster! is yet another app that can perform both reverse phone lookups, as well as telephone number searches. The best part is that it's entirely free!
Numbuster!'s key features:
• Discover who's calling from an unfamiliar number.
• Rate and comment about certain phone numbers.
• Search for information about phone numbers from anywhere in the world.
• Create your own profile within an online community.
• There are absolutely no ads included in the app.
• Block unwanted calls or text messages.
CallClerk is a handy app that will automatically manage and log all of your phone calls for you, which can prove to be a very useful feature in the long-run.
CallClerk's key features:
• Discover who's calling from an unfamiliar number. You will be shown the caller's name, number, and even picture.
• You will hear your computer announce the caller's name.
• Select a unique ringtone for each caller.
• Receive voice messages or faxes by email.
• Publish your history and directory to your own password-protected site.
• View your call log in Windows' event log.
• Get reports across all computers connected to your network.
• Block unwanted calls or text messages.
• Customize your own online answering machine.
• Send, receive, print, view, and store faxes.
Ascendis Caller ID 3 is a brilliant caller ID app that works with your phone's own caller identification function to help you track down and announce incoming phone calls. However, the catch is that this app costs $49.95.
Ascendis Caller ID 3's key features:
• Automatically hanging up on known telemarketers and scammers.
• Announcing every name and number that calls you.
• Logging calls and informing you who called while you were away.
• Monitoring work calls from home and vice-versa.
• Connecting calls from any phone or computer on a network.
5. Hiya (formerly Whitepages ID)
Hiya is another great app for identifying and logging calls from all around the world. The best part is that it's completely free to use.
Hiya's key features:
• A function that allows you to only receive calls from known numbers.
• A feature that allows you to automatically block and blacklist certain kinds of callers.
• Receive alerts about incoming scam or spam callers.
• Create a personalized phone book with photos, job titles, locations, and other important pieces of information.
• You can add contacts from the Whitepages directory to make sure that they're always up to date.
• Save money by minimizing the number of minutes that unwanted calls take up.
Number Guru is another reverse phone number search engine that's completely free to use, and is described by its manufacturer as the “biggest, baddest, and most handsome callerID and reverse phone service you’ve ever seen.”
Number Guru's key features:
• Coverage of around 100% of landlines and 50% of mobile phones (excluding Verizon numbers).
• Coverage of 334 area codes in the US and US territories.
• Reverse-search any unknown numbers that try to contact you.
• Comment on any phone number to help the online community keep expanding.
• Explore a history of your own searches for quick reference.
