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Mom Builds an App so Her Son Will 'Ignore No More'

Ever get the feeling your calls are being ignored? In the age of smartphones and caller ID, we all know it happens, but what can be done?
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Ever get the feeling your calls are being ignored? In the age of smartphones and caller ID, we all know it happens, but what can one really do about it? One Houston mom might have just found the answer.

Sharon Standifird, 47, said her teenage son Bradley wouldn’t pick up when she called to ask him to let the family dog outside. It wasn’t the first time and she had had enough. Standifird thought, if only she could find a way to control his phone. If she could figure out a way to lock his phone if he didn’t pick up, maybe that would do the trick.

“The more I talked about it with friends, the more it seemed like a good idea. So, I literally googled how to make an app and each step I needed to take after that,” says Standifird.

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Five months later, Standifird not only has her app up and running, she’s also selling it. It’s called “Ignore No More.” Parents install it on their phones and set up a list of contacts the child can call when their phone is locked. Standifird said it is almost impossible for the child to erase the app, though she may try.

The app costs $1.99 to download, and so far, it’s only available for Android devices. Still, it already has thousands of users. Standifird is now at work on an iPhone version.

As for Standifird’s 17-year-old son Bradley, her inspiration for the app, he thinks it’s great, but not so much for him.