SemiSilent
by Toni McQuilken
May 5, 2011 7:00 AM –
Install
SemiSilent. Cell phones are simultaneously great and terrible devices. They allow us to be available to anyone at anytime. Unfortunately, they also make us be available to everyone at anytime. You can silence your phone, but then you risk missing calls you actually want to receive. With a standard phone you’ve had two choices, be available but interrupted, or be able to focus and unreachable. Enter SemiSilent. With SemiSilent, you can select the contacts you want to be available for. Then you can set your cell phone to silent mode to save yourself from being disturbed by the rest of the world. If one of the contacts you selected calls you, your ringer will be turned on so you don’t miss their call.
Price: Free, $0.99
Pros & Cons:
Pros
- Easy to choose which contacts you want to ring
- Not too many additional features
Cons
- Not a lot of additional features
Features:
If you’re like me, you have some sort of automation app that automatically turns down the volume on the phone at night so things like emails or inconsiderate friends won’t wake you up in the middle of the night. Or you silence your phone in meetings (like you should). However, there are always a few people you want to hear from no matter the time of night or even the settings on the phone. SemiSilent is an answer to that.
The app allows you to create a “white list” of people/numbers that, no matter what your ringer volume settings, will let those calls through. You can adjust the SemiSilent ring volume, so if it’s full blast, or just louder than what you have the rest of the phone set as, you’ll get the call.
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SemiSilent
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SemiSilent Contact List
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SemiSilent Search
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SemiSilent About
Usefulness:
Very. If you have children, or want to set specific people, like parents, to always ring through, this is a great way to ensure you won’t miss an emergency call.
Ease of Use:
Super easy. You get a list of all your contacts, and check off the ones you want to add to the white list.
Frequently Used:
This is a set-once-and-forget type of app. You’ll go through and select everyone you want SemiSilent to ring through, and then you don’t need to go in again unless you want to add or change people or volume levels.
Interface:
The contact list doesn’t just list people, but all the numbers associated with them. So you can only allow numbers you know will be the most likely to be used in an emergency, for example.