Independent automated assessment · 6 signal sources · 3,993 reviews scanned · analyzed 2026-10-04.
Phone by Google
Google LLCGoogle’s official phone calling app is now available to download for the firs…
4.4 ★51,657,226 ratings
5B+Downloads
4+Age rating
—App size
FreeIn-app purchases
About this app
Google’s official phone calling app is now available to download for the first time. Phone helps you easily connect with family and friends, block spam callers, and know who’s calling before you answer – all with a simple, intuitive design.
Powerful spam protection See warnings about suspicious callers that help you avoid unwanted calls from spammers, telemarketers and scammers. Block numbers to prevent them from calling you again.
Know who’s calling you Google’s extensive caller ID coverage lets you know the business that’s calling so that you can answer with confidence.
No more waiting on hold 1, 5 Hold for Me lets you go back to your day. If a business puts you on hold, Google Assistant can wait on the line for you and let you know when someone is ready to talk.…
Preview
Real screenshots from the store listing.
Independent evidence report
The evidence behind this assessment
This is where the page changes from an app-store listing into an evidence report: findings, important reviews, pricing and a dated history.
Which version this describes
When we ran this analysis, and what the store lists now.
This analysis describes version 161.0.726587057-downloadable of the app (the version number recorded inside the package we inspected), analyzed 2026-10-04 . The app may have changed since.
The store currently lists version VARY, updated 2026-09-30.
What we measured
Each line is a measurement published as a measurement, never a verdict.
Each line is a measurement, published as a measurement. Where we have not looked, the line says so rather than reading as a zero.
Developer replies to reviews
Replies to at least 1 review in 20
Price in the store description
States no price and billing period
Cancelling, in the store description
Does not say how to cancel
Themes reported by reviewers
No theme reported
Counted from the reviews we have read for this app. "No theme reported" means no theme reached our reporting threshold — it is not a finding that nothing is wrong with this app, and we do not say it is.
Five-star share of ratings
65–79% five-star
Arithmetic on the stores' own published rating counts. It says nothing about why the ratings fall where they do.
In the package we scanned
From the package we downloaded and read — version 161.0.726587057-downloadable, scanned 2026-09-29.
Permissions Android classifies as dangerous
6 or more requested
Counted against the eighteen permissions listed in collect-package.ts. A dangerous permission is one Android asks the user to grant; requesting one is not itself a finding.
Analytics or tracking SDKs in the scanned package
None found
Advertising SDKs in the scanned package
None found
Counted as distinct SDKs in the package we scanned. One mediation bundle can contribute several, so this is not a count of advertisers.
Graded bands · predicate set 1.4 · how these are measured
What the analysis found
App-specific findings, grouped by what each one rests on. How they are graded lives on its own page.
Context 1
Measured and published because a reader would want to know — deliberately not a charge. The measurement alone does not show a harm.
Asks for more sensitive permissions than similar apps
The package requests substantially more of the device's sensitive permissions than the typical app in its category. This is a measurement, not an accusation: a permission is granted because a feature needs it, and a wide request list is a reason to look rather than a finding on its own.
What we saw: Requests 10 sensitive permissions (ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION, ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION, CAMERA, READ_CALL_LOG, READ_CONTACTS, READ_PHONE_NUMBERS, READ_PHONE_STATE, RECEIVE_SMS, RECORD_AUDIO, SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW); the median for 84 scanned apps in…
Positive evidence 2
Things this app does right, published at the same strengths as the catch list.
Developer says data deletion can be requested
The developer's data-safety disclosure on the store states that users can request deletion of their data, or the app's own text offers a way to delete the account. This restates what the developer declares; it is not a test of whether deletion works. Apple publishes no equivalent disclosure, so on an Apple-only listing only the app's own text can support it.
What we saw: The developer's store data-safety disclosure states that data deletion can be requested; we have not seen a deletion control in the app's own text
No advertising SDKs
No advertising or mediation SDK of any kind was found in the package.
What we saw: No advertising or mediation SDK found in the package
One source only — shown, not confirmed 1
A single kind of evidence. We publish these because withholding them would be the bigger distortion, and we do not treat any of them as a finding we stand behind.
In the app's own text: Tracking and data collection concerns
The app ships session-recording or a wide tracking stack, holds permissions that read personal data, or is reported by users to sell, leak or over-collect it. The evidence line says which of those was observed.
What we saw: The app requests QUERY_ALL_PACKAGES, which lets the app enumerate every other app installed on the device.
Assessment & version history
App changes and Appworthy events in one timeline.
What this app sells
Useful store-disclosed pricing, kept below the app listing.
Business modelFree
Prices and terms as disclosed by the store listing.