Looking for beta testers for new call blocking app

[phil12210]

Update: CallStop has been put on hold for a while.  Palm's phone APIs are not very well documented so I'll be coming back to this project later.

Hey Everyone,

I just whipped up a very simple call blocking program for the PalmOS Treo/Centro line.  This is a *very* light weight, feature-limited, call blocking program.  In fact it's hardly a program at all, it's actually just a preference panel.  The idea here is to add a new preference panel to your device to choose when certain catagories are allowed to ring and when they're not.  For example you can set all "Business" contacts to only ring Mon-Fri from 9am to 5pm.  Or you could make a "Blocked" catagory to add numbers that will never ring.  So far the only option for blocking a call is to simply acknowlege it and do nothing.  On your device it appears as though no call ever happened, to the caller it just rings until it hits voicemail.  Version 1.0 will have some logging and attention manager integration but for the 0.9 Beta version I'd like to just make sure everything is working properly.  Now before you ask the question "There are a ton of call blocking programs out there, why did you write another?" I will answer that.  First: being a developer sometimes when there's certain functionality I want rather than finding a program to do it I'll just write one.  Second: *Most* call blocking software is pretty heavy, giving you a plethera of individual blocking, scheduling, and often times ringtone management.  I wanted simple and light weight.  Also, I plan on pricing this program lower than all other call blocking software available so it will give the needed functionality without costing an arm and a leg.

Anyhow, I just finished this yet to be named program last night so of course it is missing a name and some screen shots.  Drop me a line by either replying to this forum or a direct email and I'll see about getting you a beta version to try.

Thanks,
- Phil -
BoraWare

[phil12210]

Any takers?  I've got two pages of replies over at T|C...  so I was just wondering.

[DickieD]

A lot of them are two-timers - I think the developer boards here sometimes have adverse effects (aside from their benefits, which there certainly are) because they kinda can bury posts.

I have had three call-blocking software... and have never 1nce used them to block n e calls . I'd definitely be willing to help test (you know I'm always willing), but I'm sure you have enough and I'm supposably supposed to be in a period of tryna grind it, so I might not be the best tester (at least for this).

(Now if there were a more advanced beta of Chatworks or Keyswitch... holla atcha bol )

[phil12210]

I probably should have mentioned that the beta is publically available.  Meaning you can just go download it at BoraWare.com (it's called BWApp0005 until it has a real name).  Just don't put it in the downloads section just yet.

[Lizzrd]

DL'ing...will give it a spin.   

[DickieD]

Just don't put it in the downloads section just yet.

Come on - that was only one time, and I waited for MONTHS before doing the update!

[phil12210]

Hey Everybody,

I have two pieces of great news. The first is that there's a brand new release available. This release introduces an additional attention manager alert feature. What this feature does is post a silent background alert causing the little bell (or asterisk on older devices) to blink. The alert says who was blocked and at what time. This feature can be enabled independently for each category. You can set your personal contacts to be blocked at night when you're sleeping then view the alerts the following morning to see who was blocked and call back any as necessary. You can choose to disable this feature for your "blocked" category so that telemarketers and whatnot disappear forever. The second piece of good news is that I have decided on a name. Actually my wife picked her favorites then we agreed on one. I know that I was going to put up a poll but we only came up with three choices so we just picked one. Anyhow, congratulations to MouseGlider (over at TreoCentral), we decided to use the oh-so-simple "CallStop" Anyhow, I'll quit rambling on and on and just post the link to the download. So here ya go... Download CallStop 0.9.1 here: http://www.boraware.com/index.php?op...Beta&Itemid=23

- Phil -

[jimhuff]

Ok, I set up a category "Phone Calls" and set my home number in that category to test CallStop (see screen shots).

When I call my cell phone from home, the call comes through as normal.  I'm expecting it to go straight to voicemail and notify me so.

Can you see what I doing wrong?

[phil12210]

There *might* be a bug with fresh installs.  Try simply enabling then disabling and try it again.

[jimhuff]

Sorry. that didn't work.

[phil12210]

One other thing to note:  The calls won't get sent straight to voicemail when blocked.  They'll actually ring until voicemail to the caller (and your phone shouldn't do anything at all).  Is that what's happening?   Also, which device are you using?

[brownster]

All seems to be working on my Verizon 700p. I like the alert notification. I am hoping that you can add the ability to add entries to the recent call list, as I depend on the recent call list for business.

Great Work Phil!!!

Jim

[jimhuff]

One other thing to note:  The calls won't get sent straight to voicemail when blocked.  They'll actually ring until voicemail to the caller (and your phone shouldn't do anything at all).  Is that what's happening?   Also, which device are you using?

  I'm confused, I was looking for the calls to be sent  directly to voicemail without bothering me by ringing on my phone.  It rings on my phone as always, so I don't see anything different than before except I now get an alert to calls I ignore.

I use Centro with AT&T

[phil12210]

I'm confused, I was looking for the calls to be sent  directly to voicemail without bothering me by ringing on my phone.  It rings on my phone as always, so I don't see anything different than before except I now get an alert to calls I ignore.

I use Centro with AT&T

Your phone is not supposed to ring to you, it only rings to the caller.  If CallStop is working correctly and and you have alerts turned off you wouldn't have *any* idea a call came in.  I'm wondering if maybe there's something different with the way GSM phones handle things.  I'll look into it.

- Phil -

[VetDoctor]

Nice, I just saw this and will give it a try.