UPDATED 10:30 EDT / MARCH 23 2015

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Facebook reportedly making an Android dialer and caller ID app called Phone

Samsung Galaxy S6 UnveiledOver the last few years, Facebook Inc has been churning out app after app with standalone features separate from the core Facebook app. These have included Groups, Messenger, Camera, and others. Now, Facebook is apparently adding another tool to its long list of apps with boring names with its new dialer and caller ID app for Android called Phone.

Information about Phone was leaked to Android Police in the form of a few screenshots taken by users showing an install page for the app. The images are marked “FB-ONLY” meaning that they were likely for internal use on Facebook and were somehow accidently pushed to the general network. One of the screenshots of the app includes the text, “Phone is a new app that shows you info about who’s calling and automatically blocks calls from commonly blocked numbers.”

 

“Nothing to announce at this time”

 

There are currently no details on what exactly “commonly blocked numbers” refers to, but one likely explanation would be telemarketers or other unwanted callers that are blocked by significant numbers of people could be blocked across the board. Of course, this would mean that Facebook would have to monitor what calls are received by users in the first place, which would only add more fuel to the fire in the debate about privacy involving the social media giant.

This would also mean that Facebook could keep track of call data for marketing purposes much as it keeps track of conversations on Messenger or on the social networking site itself. While Facebook anonymizes data collected in this way, it can give marketers and other businesses insights on how people use their devices, including how many different people they call, the length of their conversations, and so on.

In a statement to VentureBeat, Facebook confirmed that the app does indeed exist, but added, “We are always testing things and have nothing to announce at this time.”

So far the only information about Phone indicates that the app is for Android only, which is unsurprising as Apple is notoriously reluctant to approve apps that duplicate core features of its phones.

Image via Phonearena

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