Introducing Facebook Hello: ID app helps you identify callers even if you don't have their number

  • When a user receives a call, Hello will show them info about who’s calling 
  • This includes any public information collated from their Facebook profile 
  • Hello also shows how many people have blocked an unknown number 
  • Free app is currently in beta and only available on Android devices

By Victoria Woollaston for MailOnline

Published: 04:56 EST, 23 April 2015 | Updated: 06:11 EST, 23 April 2015

Caller ID as we know it could be getting a revamp. 

Facebook has launched a new app called Hello designed to give you more control over who can call you and how their details appear - even if their number isn't stored in your contacts book. 

It pulls in any publicly-shared data from a user's Facebook profile and lets you easily block unwanted callers. 

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Facebook has launched a new app called Hello (pictured) designed to give you more control over who can call you and how their details appear - even if their number isn't stored in your contacts book. It pulls in any publicly-shared data from a user's Facebook profile and lets you easily block unwanted callers

Facebook has launched a new app called Hello (pictured) designed to give you more control over who can call you and how their details appear - even if their number isn't stored in your contacts book. It pulls in any publicly-shared data from a user's Facebook profile and lets you easily block unwanted callers

The free app is currently in testing and is only available on Android devices in the US. It is expected to roll out to other regions and devices if testing is successful.

'Billions of calls are made everyday on mobile phones and people often have very little information about who’s calling them,' explained Facebook's product manager Andrea Vaccari in a blog post. 

FACEBOOK TWEAKS NEWS FEEDS

Facebook has tweaked its News Feed setting to make posts from friends more prominent. 

The rules about seeing multiple posts from the same person in a row have been relaxed to show more from friends.

Content posted directly by friends who people interact with more or have a direct relationship with will now appear higher up in News Feed so they are less likely to miss it. 

The latest update will also make posts and Pages that friends have liked and commented on appear lower down. 

Facebook said: 'The goal of News Feed is to show you the content that matters to you. 

'This means we need to give you the right mix of updates from friends and businesses. 

'This balance is different for everyone [and] as more people and pages are sharing more content, we need to keep improving News Feed to get this balance right.'

'Today we are starting to test Hello, a new app built by the Messenger team. 

'Hello connects with Facebook so you can see who’s calling, block unwanted calls and search for people and places.'

When a user receives a call, Hello shows them info about who’s calling, even if they don’t have that number saved. 

Users will only see information that people have already shared on Facebook, and not everyone links their mobile number to their account so this could be the app's downfall. 

Callers must also have a Facebook account in order for the data to be shared but they don't necessarily have to be logged in at the time of the call. 

They also don't need to have Hello installed, either. 

Another feature of Hello includes making it easier to block unwanted calls. 

From the settings menu in Hello people can block specific numbers and adjust whether they want to automatically block calls from commonly blocked numbers. 

This is useful for blocking company phone numbers or spam callers, for example, and blocked calls go straight to voicemail. 

When a user receives a call Hello shows them info about who’s calling, even if they don’t have that number saved (pictured).
Hello also makes it easier to block unwanted calls and see which numbers have been blocked from other users

When a user receives a call Hello shows them info about who’s calling, even if they don’t have that number saved (pictured left). Hello also makes it easier to block unwanted calls and see which numbers have been blocked from other users (pictured right) in the app's settings menu

The list of blocked calls can also be reviewed in the recent calls list. 

If a call is made and the number isn't linked to a Facebook account, Hello simply shows the number like a traditional caller ID.

However, if other users have blocked this number the number of times it has been blocked is also shown.

Elsewhere, when users search for people and businesses on Facebook they can call them with one tap when Hello is installed. 

And in the case of searching for businesses, Hello will also show opening hours and web addresses where possible, on the user's screen.