Carphone Warehouse is introducing a free new smartphone app that will help customers monitor their phone use, thus keeping their mobile bills down to a minimum.

Available on both the Android and iOS platform from 27 June and on BlackBerry smartphones from 7 July, the Bill Angel app measures your call time, text messages and data usage (though, bizarrely, the iOS platform will only be able to do the latter), informing you when you go beyond your allowance. 

“Data use is continuing to skyrocket and more and more customers are now regularly overspending on their bill by exceeding monthly data limits,” says Graham Stapleton, chief commercial officer of Carphone Warehouse 

“At Carphone Warehouse, we’re committed to providing customers with independent impartial advice and have created the Bill Angel app to offer people a simple way to track their mobile phone usage, alerting them before reaching their tariff limits and helping them avoid additional charges.” 

While some smartphones and operators have implemented similar schemes, Carphone Warehouse’s Bill Angel app is the first time a retailer will monitor a customer's mobile usage.

However, here’s the thing: you need to be made fully aware that you will in effect be handing over details of how you use your mobile phone to Carphone Warehouse, who will subsequently be able to track your activity.

We can’t help but feel that this information might be used in the future to try to upsell you or offer you a new “add-on” that will “benefit the way you currently use your mobile phone”, for example. 

Then again, maybe we’re just getting cynical in our old age.

Will you download the Carphone Warehouse Bill Angel app? Let us know in the comments below....