Facebook's new app is only available in Nigeria and two other countries

Facebook launched a new app yesterday aimed at solving the issue of mysterious incoming calls. The app, which is only available on Android, is called Hello and it uses data from Facebook to tell you whoever is blowing up your phone with calls.

Obviously, the app will only work if the caller has shared his/her number with Facebook. For instance, if you share your number publicly on Facebook, people with Hello downloaded will know when you call them even if they don’t have you as a contact on their phone.

Likewise, if you share your number with only Friends, those are the people who will be to see that you are the one calling. You can also block numbers, so you can still keep people who you don’t want to call you, from calling you.

The app also lets you make phone calls and find phone numbers for other people on Facebook (including businesses). The phone call feature is basically the same as using your traditional built-in phone tool. Unlike Whatsapp or Messenger, which utilize WiFi or data to make calls, Hello requires a voice plan. That is, it essentially works on top of the existing phone tool on your phone.

On why Facebook didn’t build the Hello concept into Messenger, “We didn’t want to force this experience on the 600 million people who are using Messenger,” Product manager Andrea Vaccari said. “There is a future where we may decide to bring some or all of these features back into Messenger. That’s definitely a possibility.”

The new Hello app was available from yesterday –Wednesday – on Android in just three countries: the U.S., Brazil and Nigeria.