Only a few days before International Women’s Day, the caller ID platform, Truecaller launched its new application called Guardian. This new app will allow the users to share their location only with specific contacts so that the guardians will receive notification about the user’s location and alerts during any emergency. This new app will not share any personal information with any other third-party app for commercial purposes which also includes Truecaller itself.
This new app by Truecaller has been launched on 3rd March 2021. According to Truecaller, the Guardian app is an in-house built product. Efforts of team members from Sweden and India for the past fifteen months have finally helped in developing the app. If you already have a Truecaller account you can sign in with that in Guardian or you can use your mobile number to sign up. If you aren’t a Truecaller user, then an OTP or a missed call will be generated to verify the mobile number.
The Guardian App
To use the Guardian app, there are only three pieces of information that are required from the user’s end, namely, the user’s contact log, phone permission, and location. The Guardian app doesn’t have any premium model so it is free to use for everyone. The app will not show any ads as well, the company says. In the future, Truecaller plans to add a shortcut for downloading the Guardian app from the Truecaller app so that more people can download and use it. The main motive behind building the Guardian app is to crowdsource personal safety like we crowdsource protection against scams and frauds with the help of Truecaller, said Alan Mamedi, CEO and co-founder of True Software Scandinavia AB (parent company of Truecaller).
Alan also said that he believes the company has the right tool and conviction to make Guardian a success. The best thing about using the Guardian app is that there is only one model for the app which is free. So, the company to some extent is putting more focus on safety than business growth. This is a truly good initiative taken by Truecaller as the app will work with police as well.
How will the App Work?
Guardian app will provide a huge degree of customization to the users as they will get to select the specific contacts with whom the former want to share the location. There will also be options of when to start and stop sharing location. Along with that, the users can also share the location permanently with some contacts. Suppose a user shares the location with the selected contacts in a particular trip, it will keep working in the background. The app will also notify the selected contacts and help them follow the location precisely during any emergency.
Closely following the location will not be enabled in any normal scenario to preserve the battery. Apart from the user’s location, the app will also notify the remaining battery life and network strength to the selected guardians. The app is compatible with an arrangement where the user’s and the guardian’s phone run on different OS (Android and iOS). The users will also be able to call or text the selected contacts once the location is shared only with one tap.
Community Guardians Feature
Truecaller’s Guardian app also plans to launch a feature called Community Guardian. This feature will be useful once the emergency mode has been enabled by the user so that the community guardians in the user’s vicinity can help the user. This will help in crowdsourcing personal safety and help traveling much easier for women. The community guardian feature will help the user receive support from other contacts that are not selected by the user. Truecaller is also trying to involve local law enforcement officials to make the app more effective. This app is designed mainly for ensuring women’s safety, but any user can download and use the app.
Alan also focuses on data sharing as he mentions that no personal data will be stored or shared for commercial purposes. Data will be directly streamed to the client and it will not even touch the platform’s infrastructure. The app is now available in Google Play and soon it will be available on App Store. The company doesn’t have any plan to commercialize the app ever even after it is successful.
Annasha Dey is an NIT student, who apart from studying engineering is also a content writer. She has a great interest in photography, writing, reading novels, and travelling as well. She is a foodie who loves socializing and hanging out with her friends. She is also a trained Kathak dancer and a big fashion enthusiast. Dey also loves watching TV series, which includes F.R.I.E.N.D.S. and Big Bang Theory. To be a better writer she prefers to read more