Google Phone app now lets you block spam calls

[kids]

Nuisance calls could soon be a thing of the past thanks to the Google Phone app.

Its latest update means that avoiding those annoying spam calls just got a whole lot easier.

The tech giant announced on Tuesday that the latest version of the Google Phone app is able spot spam callers and alert you that you could be at risk.

The app also enables users to mark certain numbers as spam, alerting Google that you do not want to receive any more calls from that particular number.

The update also marks any numbers which it thinks are suspicious as ‘spam’ or ‘suspected spam caller’.

[hrym]

I'm not clear whether this only applies to Nexus devices, whether it'll work with some or all manufacturer stock apps (which may or may not be based on the Google one) or whether it's available from Play for devices that don't have it.

[kids]

@hrym

The Google Phone app is available to users of Google’s Nexus line of smartphones, as well as to users with an Android One running Android Marshmallow 6.0 or later and can be downloaded from the Google Play Store 

The new update is enabled by default and is an extension to the caller ID system already available to Nexus users which helps them to identify when they are being called by a business or number that is not stored in their address book.

Google announced the update to its Phone app in a post made on Google Plus which read:

“Spam callers be gone! Today, we’re beginning to update your Google Phone app with spam protection on Nexus and Android One devices to warn you about potential spam callers and give you the ability to block and report these numbers.

“If you already have Caller ID turned on, spam protection will be available on your phone once your app updates to the latest version.”