Read BEFORE you purchase this app
This is an app with great potential for putting an end to unwanted phone calls and text messages -- but it unfortunately suffers from a HUGE shortcoming. It relies on the Do Not Disturb function in the iPhone, and enables the user to effectively white list contacts in the address book and organize white lists by groups or individuals. You can cherry pick allowed callers, the rest go to voicemail. Or you can white list your entire address book in a single action. Sounds perfect, right? Heres the deal breaker. While anyone on a white list will wake up the phone from its locked position and ring the phone for voice calls, any text messages from that white listed contact WILL NOT wake up the phone with a text alert or tone. So if you have family, clients or business associates on a white list who text in addition to voice call, youll never know you have incoming text messages unless you wake up the phone and check the screen throughout the day. Yah, right, not happening. I contacted the app developer and still am not clear on whether it’s just too much work to code this functionality or whether it’s technically not doable because of the iPhone Do Not Disturb function. His “recommendation” was to apply a silent ringtone and text message tone for all contacts, and then one-by-one apply custom tones to contacts in your address book. Effectively what he said is this: Do not use this app. But, wait, that’s $9.99 too late! If you spend a few hours assigning custom ring and text tones to contacts, you can thus use the iPhone’s built-in features to stop phone and text spammers. That’s bliss in your life, but you don’t need to buy Call Bliss if you take that route. Maybe the developer will fix this shortcoming. Maybe not. In the meantime, since this flaw was not disclosed in the app description and I didn’t notice a prior reviewer who mentioned it, here’s the word of caution before you plunk down $9.99: caveat emptor. I will give it three stars. It’s not to hate, it’s not to call great. It’s just OK, i.e. the app that almost succeeded.
AhhClem about Call Bliss - Silence unwanted calls and texts, v1.4.7
