It’s been some time since the tech press has had a field day reporting on a high-profile app rejection -- and thankfully, this isn’t one of them. However, the developers of the free TrapCall did spent 201 days in App Store review hell -- probably second only to the official Google Voice app, maybe?
9to5Mac is reporting on the saga of a new app called TrapCall, whose developers spent a nerve-rattling 201 days “in review” waiting for the app to get approved. Thankfully, this story has a happy ending, as the free app was finally released from limbo on March 31 and is available for all to enjoy. TrapCall product manager Nate Kapitanski summed up the 201 day App Store limbo as “incredibly frustrating.”
“The whole situation was incredibly frustrating as we had a real hard time even getting a response from Apple after 2-3 months as to what was possibly holding our app up,” Kapitanski told 9to5Mac via email.
So what makes TrapCall so potentially controversial? First of all, while the app is free, it won’t do much on its own -- you’ll have to sign up for the paid TrapCall service which starts at five dollars per month. Once you do, TrapCall will unmask blocked or private incoming phone numbers simply by pressing the power button twice to decline the call, which switches it over to the TrapCall service. In a moment, you’ll get either a text message or push notification with the name, address and phone number of the blocked caller, when available.
TrapCall doesn’t stop there -- according to 9to5Mac, the service can also “transcribe your voicemails into text and send them via text messages, email or push notifications” as well as “play a recorded message telling blacklisted callers that your phone number has been disconnected.”
While TrapCall sounds like a worthwhile service, we’d have to agree with 9to5Mac when they claim “this seems like treading the fine line between Apple’s guideline principles and big no-nos.” If the app is something you’re interested in, better grab it now before the App Store review team potentially wises up…
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Rebelord
April 04, 2011 at 8:01am
"First of all, while the app is free, it won’t do much on its own -- you’ll have to sign up for the paid TrapCall service which starts at five dollars per month."
I thought having a subscription based service associated with an application meant that you had to be able to purchase it within the app itself. Which from looking at the app in the app store shows none whatsoever. That sounds like a reason to decline the app right there, doesn't it?
