Truecaller introduces SMS and Google Duo integration, and makes TrueSDK platform-agnostic

In a press event in New Delhi, Alan Mamedi and Nami Zarringhalam, the two co-founders of Truecaller announced a multitude of features in Truecaller 8, the next version of the popular mobile identity app. Truecaller 8 introduces a completely new redesign of the Android app with a slew of new features.

SMS

Truecaller will now allow users to instantly see who’s SMS’ing them and filter out all spam messages. According to the company, spam SMS account for 15% of all SMS messages sent globally, and represents 1.2 trillion spam messages each year.

Flash Messaging

The latest update will allow users to send quick pre-defined messages to any Truecaller user to let them know if the user is in distress, on his way, or has reached home. You can also share your location instantly.

Truecaller Pay

In a partnership with ICICI Bank, India’s leading banking and financial services provider, the Truecaller Android app will allow users to send or receive money securely over their mobile phone.

TrueSDK

With TrueSDK, Truecaller has allowed apps and services to on-board and verify users – but only on Android. Now, with its support for iOS and web platforms, TrueSDK is going platform agnostic.

According to the company, TrueSDK is contributing over a third of of daily user on-boarding and verifications for its partners and the number of apps leveraging TrueSDK has grown by over 8X.

Airtel Truecaller ID

Truecaller also announced a first of its kind partnership with Airtel to launch Airtel Truecaller ID in India that extends the caller ID feature to non-data users of feature phones.

The subscription based service will send the users a Flash SMS before the call hits the users’ phones with the details of the caller.

“Airtel and Truecaller will enable millions of feature phone users to enjoy a ‘smartphone like’ experience in offline mode and add to their mobile experience. We hope this partnership will encourage other global developers to innovate for the feature phone segment, which still forms a large part of the overall market in countries like India.”

– Raj Pudipeddi, Director – Consumer Business & Chief Marketing Officer, Airtel

Google Duo

In a strategic agreement with Google, Truecaller will integrate Google Duo within the Truecaller app adding a communication layer to the as-yet identity app. Truecaller integration with Google Duo will be available in the coming months for Android and iOS as a permission-based service, where users will be able to opt-in and out at any time.

While Truecaller had been building a mobile identity platform all this while, the latest announcements hint at the company’s next big goals – that of a communication agent as well as a service ecosystem.

Are you a Truecaller user? What are your thoughts on today’s announcements? Let us know in the comments!