The 3 best apps for blocking spam phone calls

Since 2014, spam calls have risen considerably, and robocalls are getting worse. Of all the nuisance call complaints in 2017, 62 percent were about robocalls.

Think about that: millions of people suffering unwanted interruptions to their lives from a… machine. Unless you find a way to block the calls completely, the robocaller will harass you forever (or until you disconnect your phone). It’s all a bit too “Terminator 2” for our liking.

So what can you do? Get suited up like Sarah Connor and track the machine down for immediate termination? That’s perhaps taking it too far, and besides, there’s a much simpler solution: install a spam call blocker on your phone.

Here are our three favorites.

1. TrueCaller (free)

With over 100 million daily users, TrueCaller is one of the most popular call blocker apps around. Promising to help you track and block spam, identify who’s calling you, and even tell you the best time to call your friends, TrueCaller is a powerful tool against the march of robo-spam. It’ll even block texts, too.

TrueCaller’s strength lies in its community. Every time a member identifies a spam call, it’s added to a list which is then used to block calls not just for that user, but all users. That means the occasional call might get through, but once identified it should, in theory, be blocked forever.

Since TrueCaller crowdsources contacts from its users, there’s been some controversy over privacy. The reverse look-up means you can find names from numbers (but not vice versa), even if they’re not in your address book. Sharing your friends’ contact info without them agreeing to it isn’t really fair, but the good news is you can opt out of this and still use the app.