Called Away: Polite Exit

Called Away gives you a polite way out of an awkward moment.

You set up a caller and a reason. When you tap, your phone rings with a call from that caller. You pick up, the caller talks to you, and you have a believable reason to say "Sorry, I have to take this" and leave. Nothing is dialed and nobody is actually calling: the call is made by the app, on your phone, and nothing leaves your phone.

Use it to step out of a conversation that will not end, a date that is not going well, a meeting that has run long, or any moment where you want to leave kindly and without a scene.

HOW IT WORKS
1. Choose who calls. Pick a caller, such as "Mom" or "Boss", with a name and a ringtone.
2. Choose what they say. Pick a scenario, for example "Family needs you" or "A work problem".
3. Choose when. Ring now, in 10 seconds, in 30 seconds, in a minute or in 5 minutes. Or schedule a call for later.
4. Tap once. A countdown starts. When it ends, your phone rings, even on the lock screen.
5. Answer and talk. The caller listens for when you speak (the microphone only measures how loud it is) and answers back, so the call feels natural.
6. Hang up when you are ready and go.

WHAT IS INCLUDED FOR FREE
- Three ready-made scenarios: Family, Work and a calm Check-in.
- One caller you can name and set up.
- Built-in voices that work without a connection.
- Ring now, or after a short delay, and a limited number of scheduled calls.
- Alert a friend (described below).
- Home screen widgets for one-tap calls and for Alert a friend.
- English and Spanish.

PRO: ONE PAYMENT, NO SUBSCRIPTION
Pro is a single purchase through Google Play. It adds:
- All the ready-made scenarios, and your own custom scenarios.
- Choose the story of a scenario and preview how the call goes.
- Unlimited callers, with photos.
- Repeating and unlimited scheduled calls.
- Text threads from your callers.
- Record your own voice, or a friend's with their permission, and change the voice style.
- Voice speed and pitch.
- Call retries: if you decline or miss the call, the caller calls back.
Optional extras may be sold separately in the future. The free version has no time limit, so you can try it before you decide.

ALERT A FRIEND
Add up to three trusted contacts. When you need someone to know you are in an uncomfortable situation, open Alert a friend, from the call screen, the Escape tab or a widget, and choose a contact. Your own messaging app (SMS, WhatsApp or another app) opens with a message ready, and you tap Send yourself. You can add your approximate location to the message. Your location is read only when you open the message, only while you are using the app, and it goes only inside the message you send. The app never sends anything on its own.
Alert a friend is not an emergency service. If you are in danger, call your local emergency number.

PRIVATE BY DESIGN
- Works offline. The app does not ask for internet access.
- No account, no ads, no analytics and no tracking.
- Your callers, schedules and texts stay on your phone.
- The microphone is used during a call only to tell when you are talking. Nothing is recorded and no sound is sent anywhere. If you choose to record your own voice, those recordings are saved on your phone and you can delete them at any time.
- Delete everything at any time in Settings > About and data > Delete all my data.

GOOD TO KNOW
- For the phone to ring on time with the screen off, allow notifications, full-screen calls and exact alarms when the app asks. A short setup guide shows what is missing.
- Only use recordings of a voice with that person's permission, and do not use the app to deceive or harass anyone.
- Called Away is a tool for leaving situations politely. Use it with kindness.

Questions or ideas? Write to [email protected].