“It’s time our phone calls caught up with the rest of our digital lives.” That’s a line from Thrutu’s promo video. I was already sold on the service before hearing the line — I had read through all the material first — but that really brought it all together for me. Ever since I started using a smartphone, phone calls became more of an annoyance. There are so many ways to communicate; why would I choose the method that takes up the greatest portion of my attention? With Thrutu, which I found on Android Police, there might actually be a good reason. It lets you use the rest of your smartphone to interact with the person on the other line.
There are plenty of purely useful functions of Thrutu. For instance, you can send the caller your location, so that he or she can find you easily. The indicator on the map continues moving, too, so even if you’re in motion it’ll be easy to meet up. You can take that a step further by sending a picture from your camera, which helps navigate via landmarks. Thrutu also allows you to share contacts directly from your address book, making easy connections. Of course, there are plenty of fun aspects that take the app to a different level.
A few of these come stock with Thrutu. YOu can, for instance, doodle on your touchscreen and send the drawing to the person on the other line. I can see this being a cutesy thing for new couples. You can also “prod” a user, which essentially makes their phone vibrate. If you want to send a photo from your gallery, you can do that, too. Beyond those, Thrutu has a few plugins that make it even more useful. PayPal is clearly the best of them. Talking to someone who owes you money? They can send it to you right through the app, while you’re talking on the call. It can also find a logical meeting place, taking into account both of you locations. In an argument? The coin flip function can solve that.
I feel like this is a TV infomercial now: BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE. You can play games with the other party, and access social sites. Plus, there are going to be more of the add-ons in the future, so you can access more of your favorite apps from Thrutu.
Basically, Thrutu turns your call into a more interactive experience — kind of like the other communication media on your smartphone. It’s free, and it’s only 1MB, so you have little to lose by giving it a try. You can get Thrutu from the Android Market. Make sure to send that link to your friends, too. After all, the more people who use it, the better it works.
