Truecaller launches new messaging app from India

Truecaller, an app that helps identify unknown numbers and also block spam calls launched a new app on Tuesday that offers a substitute to the stock messaging app on Android phones from India.

Truemessenger, which will follow in other markets after India in two-three weeks, seeks to curb spam messages by identifying numbers in the SMS inbox.

"Truecaller identifies 900 million calls a month and one in seven calls are spam. We are looking to provide the same experience in texts with the new Truemessenger app," Truecaller India head Kari Krishnamurthy said.

Truecaller has currently over 80 million users in India, while its global user base is near 150 million.

"India is the number one market for us and we are also looking to double our team in India. Truecaller has 10 people working out of Bengaluru and Gurgaon," Krishnamurthy added.

The company, which generates revenue only from premium subscription, is also planning a lot of partnerships to increase their consumer base. Currently, Truecaller has partnerships with Airtel, Tata Docomo, Gionee, Obi, Celkon, Micromax, Microcsoft, Cyanogen among others.

Commenting on the launch, Alan Mamedi, CEO and co-founder of Truecaller, said: "Today's messaging apps are under constant attack from spammers and surrounded by uncertainty, but when we communicate via email for instance, our email app shows you the sender's name and filters out spam messages for you, but SMS has lacked these essential components - until today."

"With Truemessenger we've re-imagined the SMS app experience by making it more social and putting control back into the users' hands so they always know who they are communicating with," he added.

The company has no solid monetisation plans till date and currently uses the multi-app strategy to get new users on board which Krishnamurthy says is the company's key focus.

"We aim to have 150 million users in India and 300 million users by the year-end," Krishnamurthy said.

Truecaller has two other apps -- Trucaller, Truedialler -- except the newly launched Truemessenger which is only available for Android now.