drupe's new GIF calling feature lets you know what the call is about before picking up

Making calls through your phone’s dialer app is pretty straightforward, but there’s one company out there that thinks there’s room for improvement. Enter: drupe, the always-on Android app that lets you call and message your favorite contacts with just a couple swipes of your finger.

Today the popular dialer app is gaining a new feature that will not only make phone calls more entertaining, but also much more efficient.

The new feature is called ‘GIF calling’ and it allows users to add animated GIFs (via Giphy) to outgoing calls, allowing the person at the other end to get a bit of context attached to their calling screen before they answer. For instance, if you’re calling to share some good news with a friend, add an “I’m so excited” GIF to your call, or an “It’s urgent!” GIF if you need someone to pick up right away. What’s more, if your call goes unanswered, drupe will display a special missed call indication with the GIF so your friend knows why you called.

“It’s a very strategic feature in drupe’s road map, as it shows that drupe can be the actual communication channel between its users and bring a new way for mobile users to communicate that never existed before,” says Barak Witkowski, CEO and Founder at drupe.

GIF sharing has been growing in popularity over the past couple years. Just about every popular messaging app – WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, etc. – have added GIF sharing support within their apps, and many keyboard apps have also added GIF support. The folks at drupe know this, which is why there’s a strong possibility we might see more GIF-sharing features added to the dialer app in the future.

GIFs aren’t the only thing coming to drupe today. The company has also announced a new Drive Mode feature that optimizes the drupe interface to make it easy to use in the car. The contacts on the left side are much bigger in Drive Mode, and you only have the option to place a call or send a text to your contacts. Drive Mode can be activated automatically when the app senses you’re in the car, or when you open Google Maps.

Now, we strongly advise against using your phone while driving, but in emergency situations, this may help you place a phone call a little easier. Witkowski says we can expect to see more context-aware features come to drupe in the future.

drupe has been available on Android since 2015 and has been gaining quite a bit of traction as of late. Back in June, drupe received one of Google Play’s Excellence Awards and was selected by Google as one of the most innovative applications of 2016.

This big drupe update is live now in the Google Play Store, so head to the link below to give it a shot!