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What exactly does City ID do?

F

flarn2006

Newbie
I noticed the City ID app on my Thunderbolt, and opened it to see what it was. Turns out that's what was causing the city to appear on the screen when I got a call, and that it was only a free trial. However, when I typed a phone number into the app, the city appeared instantly, which would suggest the number-to-city lookup is being done on the device, rather than in the cloud. If this is in fact the case, what exactly is the monthly fee for? I could understand it being a trial app that you need to pay once for, just like any 30 day trial program, but a monthly fee only makes sense if there's a service you need to keep paying for.
I selected to stop the trial and remove the app, because I didn't need it and it was just taking up space, but would there be any way to hack the app to get it for free?
 
Incoming calls should no longer be identified by the city once the trial is up. If I remember that correctly. That app was the first to go once I rooted my DX.
 
I know what it is; what I'm asking is how does it work? If the lookup is done on the device without involving the internet or cellular network, it doesn't make sense to have a monthly fee.
 
The lookup must be done locally (at least on CDMA devices) because once the phone is ringing, your data connection is no longer available. While I don't have or use the app, the monthly fee is probably for updates to the database that's stored locally.
 
UncleMike said:
The lookup must be done locally (at least on CDMA devices) because once the phone is ringing, your data connection is no longer available. While I don't have or use the app, the monthly fee is probably for updates to the database that's stored locally.
Click to expand...

But what if you're in the middle of an online game when a telemarketer calls you? Also, what if I just want to use the built-in database as it is?
 
I'm still not sure what use the app is. Is it really useful to know what city someone is calling from? Can't you just look at the area code?
 
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