People often neglect to change the phone app on their smartphones
The Getty
Every Android smartphone has one app that most people never change, despite there being better alternatives out there – the phone app itself. Most people don't realize that the app that handles phone calls can be modified just like a web browser, email client or any other smartphone app. Instead, they stick with the stock phone app provided by their smartphone manufacturer and miss out on a host of extremely useful features.
The phone app I strongly recommend you install on Android devices is Phone by Google. It's free, has powerful features that can save you from annoying spam calls and makes it easy to ring local businesses, and it's almost certainly better than the one that came with your phone – unless your phone is a Google Pixel, in which case you probably already have one. Got it!
Google convenience by phone
Google's phone has a huge advantage - it deals with those annoying spam calls that are the bane of every smartphone owner's life. By default, the phone is flagged by Google if an incoming call is suspected spam by flashing a big red warning on the screen. When a message is flagged as spam, you can be pretty sure it's going to be a nuisance call. I've been using the app for a week now, and every time a message was marked as spam (I get a few a day), I replied to check it. Google gets it right every time. It's so good, that I've now dived into call settings and turned on the option to filter spam calls so they don't even ring my phone and bother me. It is true that other phone apps also have spam detection. Samsung's own Phone app works similarly, but there are other reasons to choose Google's app.
looking for numbers
If you want to see the number of pizza places in your local area, you'll probably fire up Google and search from there. However, Phone by Google lets you search for places from within the Phone app, in the same way you can search for a contact saved on your phone (it does this, of course).
It's also smart about how it searches for numbers. For example, if I search for "Domino's," the three phone numbers returned are the three closest branches of the pizza delivery service. If I search for "taxi", it lists local cab companies It's all based on your current location, not a predetermined hometown, so if you're in a strange place and need to call a cab or a local restaurant, you can do it right from the phone app.
Advanced features
Google phones have other powerful features, but they may not be available in your region or from your service provider Visual Voicemail, where you send a transcript of voicemail messages, is a feature, like call screening, where Google effectively answers the phone for you (if it's a number you don't recognize) and you can read back your call back. A transcript of what the caller said to Google's auto-responder before deciding to give. If your current phone app doesn't offer these features, it's probably time to hang up.
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