TrapCall is an application by Tel Tech Systems that enables an iPhone user to find out who’s calling them from blocked or private telephone numbers. It just arrived in the App Store, but the developers submitted the application to Apple months ago – waiting a staggering 201 days for their app to be approved.
By using the TrapCall service and accompanying iPhone application, users who receive calls from a blocked number can tap the sleep button twice to decline it and pass it over toTrapCall. Almost instantly, the service will then send the user a text message with the name, telephone number and address of their caller.
Tel Tech claim this is the only application in the world that can provide this feature, and although it’s a free download, you’ll need to sign up to the service at $5 a month. Nate Kapitanski, Tel Tech’s product manager, told 9to5 Mac about their wait:
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.
Another TrapCall feature is the ability to translate voicemails into text and send them via SMS, email, or push notifications. You can also set the service to play a recorded message to blocked callers informing them that your number is no longer in use – perfect for dodging those frustrating sales calls.
After 201 days in review with Apple, you’d think the TrapCall app went through some pretty stringent checks before being given the go ahead. However, it still seems to go against some of the App Store’s rules. I wonder whether TrapCall will be available for as long as it was in review.
