The number of fake call generators in the app store seems to continue to grow, offering users numerous different ways to set up an exit strategy for difficult business meetings, boring party conversations, unbearable dates, and unwanted phone calls. There is no denying that it is slightly scary how many people seem to use these apps, since you might not be able to trust the sincerity of excuses made in your own conversations anymore.

While most of these apps make it a lot easier to get off the hook, there is still room for improvement before complete believability is reached. Here is a comparison of 7 apps reviewed by Appcraver.

 exitstrategy ($0.99): Compared to the other apps reviewed here, this fake call generator offers the most useful features all wrapped up in one app. Exitstrategy lets the user schedule fake calls, receive fake SMS, and it offers a very handy panic button, which sends a call out one minute later. When the fake call comes in, the iPhone looks inconspicuous and callers are chosen from the phone’s contacts. One downside is the that the timer is cancelled should you receive an actual real phone call. But with three options to get out of a situation, this app offers great value for its price.

HottrixPhone Pro ($2.99): Another good call simulator that provides the great option of creating a caller playlist, allowing the user to receive numerous timed calls by different callers. This feature lets HottrixPhone stand out and it gives the user more than one reason to end a meeting or a boring date. A further plus for this app is the fact that it is the only one out of the 7 reviewed, that uses actual iPhone ringtones, adding a great deal of authenticity. Another unusual feature is the voice selection, which provides a voice on the other end of the fake line. This is a great idea for the fake call genre but its execution in this version is still fairly poor.

Fake Calls (0.99): With an interface that offers a good degree of believability but with a lack of options (just one ringtone for example), this app positions itself in the medium range. With choices for name, type of number (mobile, home etc) and wallpaper, Fake Calls provides what it promises and lets any user step out with the help of a pre-timed call. More varied options, which are offered in different aspects by both apps above, are missing though, making this app simple and easy but nothing exceptional.

Escape Pod ($1.99): Unlike all other apps reviewed here, Escape Pod is not a fake call generator, but since it serves pretty much the same purpose it is included in this round-up. Escape Pod generates different sounds that can be activated while on the phone, offering a way to end a phone conversation. The sounds range from ambulance to baby crying to the more imaginative alien attack. While the fake call apps get you out of a face-to-face meeting or date, Escape Pod provides assistance in getting off the phone.

AlibiSMS ($1.99): This app exclusively offers fake text messages, which are fully customizable in their nature. It comes with a welcoming interface and is easy-to-use. The app does what it promises and will work for anyone who chooses SMS as their getaway tool. Compared to some other apps like exitstrategy, AlibiSMS offers only one feature but this app does well with believability, an aspect that some other apps struggle with.

Wingman ($0.99): Wingman sets itself apart from all other fake call apps by offering an excuse to bail as well as more positive support that is supposed to help the user to stick around. This positive help consists of conversation starters, romantic date ideas and pick-up lines. The idea is great and refreshingly positive but the execution is slightly lacking. The fake call function works pretty well and does its job but does not offer as much control as some other apps do.

GottaDash ($0.99): This app is aimed at the business user that needs help getting out of meetings. Unlike some other apps, GottaDash offers selections for ringtones and duration of the ring. But while it starts off with good ideas the app does not follow through. Ringtones do not offer much variety and none are close to actual iPhone sounds and after a fake call is ended, the apps selections show up on the screen. These issues add up, making it hard to believe in the authenticity of the call and therefore putting the user in danger of being called out by other iPhone owners.

Hottrix, makers of iBeer, iMilk and iMunchies, offer HottrixPhone Pro as their contribution to the fake call trend among iPhone users.  Unlike other apps of this category, HottrixPhone Pro provides some options that make the fake calls more believable and the announced update should further the app’s features.

This fake call generator comes with four existing fake contacts and lets the user add contact names from the iPhone’s address book to add to a playlist. This list can be edited, allowing the user to turn callers on or off and to change the order of the playlist.

The user can choose from five pre-recorded voices, which will speak once the call is answered.  For anyone with questionable acting skills this feature sounds like the perfect solution to the problem that most other fake call apps have, i.e. that you have to talk to yourself to make the distraction believable.

But while this idea is great, the development of this feature does not work well. The volume of the voices cannot be adjusted, which means that every fake call has to be answered on speaker phone. Given that the whole idea of HottrixPhone Pro is to lie to the person next to you, this seems like a fairly odd choice, especially since the fake voice starts talking gibberish after the first sentence. Hottrix announced that the next update (2.1) will include the option of recording your own voices, which would make this feature a lot more believable.

Unlike most other fake call generators, HottrixPhone Pro allows the user to receive not only one fake call but numerous ones from the customizable playlist. So if you are in a tough spot and need more than one good reason to bail, this app will be just what you are looking for. Furthermore HottrixPhone Pro uses actual iPhone ringtones, which adds to the credibility of the call.

After setting the playlist, HottrixPhone Pro shows the iPhone’s actual screen saver with the correct time and date. The font of the caller’s name looks slightly different than the true iPhone font, adding some risk to using this app on other iPhone owners.

Compared to other fake call apps, HottrixPhone Pro gets brownie points for utilizing actual iPhone ringtones but there are some features that need to work better, first and foremost the voices and their volume. Check out the comprehensive tutorial on your iPhone.

A super hero’s work is never done even when you’re a pig. SuperPig is a “hammy” hero with a jet pack and ammo that flies all around the world. The goal of SuperPig is simple. Protect the world from the alien invaders. Your weapon of choice is the pebble launched from a pebble shooter on your back. As you compete in the game you may earn one of five hats that give you special abilities.

You can also pick up food items like doughnuts and hotdogs to help you increase your score. The game has more than fourteen different levels that offer easy, medium and hard play. SuperPig combines a classic video arcade game feel with the fun console controls of the iPhone and iPod touch to offer players a pleasurable gaming experience.

After a few hours of play with SuperPig, you’ll start to want more. More what? More of everything! The game definitely needs a larger variety of enemies. It begins to feel a bit repetitive challenging the same kinds of aliens over and over. Additional weapons would be a nice touch as too. The pebble thrower is a clever idea but a flamethrower, bow and arrow, or slingshot might be even cooler.

The game also lacks a real soundtrack. This problem isn’t unique to SuperPig. A missing feature in many iPhone apps is ability to play your own music while battling to save the world.

After a couple hours of game play SuperPig did freeze a couple of times. A simple quick reset resolved this issue.

Overall, SuperPig gets a fair rating. SuperPig is visually interesting, moderately entertaining. The developers offer a mildly challenging game that will keep kids and adults alike tilting, turning and tapping their iPhones and iPod touches for hours on end. SuperPig might help you have a new super hero.

AppCraver recently heard from Bachar Sarah the developer of the MyMate app. He answered our questions about developing apps for the iPhone and iPod touch.

1. When did you start developing apps for the iPhone?

Bachar: I started developing about three months ago and this is my first app.

2. What was the inspiration behind your app?

Bachar: The inspiration behind MyMate came from issues I along with most men face every month with their spouse or significant other. I thought just being able to know where they are in their cycle would be great help. From there I tried to make the app more useful by adding additional features like the ability to store sizes.

3. How did you settle on your price point for the app?

Bachar: I determined the price point by looking at similar apps and seeing what they are selling for. I also wanted to offer a discounted price initially to make it easier for everyone to get.

4. How did you like the developer tools provided in the iPhone SDK? Is there anything missing?

Bachar: The tools are good for the most part; I just wish they can make the ad-hoc distribution simpler.

5. What are some of the other iPhone apps that you like?

Bachar: Some of my favorite apps are Aquaforest, AirSharing and Shazam.

6. What kind of features should apple implement in future versions of the iPhone / SDK?

Bachar: I can think of two features I hope Apple would implement, one is to allow apps to run in the background and the other is to have the ability to remove system apps.

7. Are you working on any other apps that you will be releasing soon?

Bachar: I have a lot of ideas but no plans at this point.

So, how does it feel to be top of the paid-apps charts in the App Store? Surprised?

We’re a little surprised but it feels fantastic to be there.

How do you think being able to play Led Zep’s “Stairway to Heaven” on Ocarina has contributed to your success?

It’s the most often and longest song played on the radio. Our YouTube video plays off that and has been viewed more than 200,000 times. We were poking fun at our ingrained culture.

What was the rationale for pricing the product for only $0.99?

We wanted it to be accessible to the maximum number of people. Of course, we hoped to generate revenues from it, but we also wanted an aspect of social media and for it to go viral.

How many Ocarina apps have you sold?

I don’t have exact numbers. It is in the hundreds of thousands.

What do you think about pricing in the App Store in general? There are an awful lot of free or inexpensive apps available and some of them are quite good. Do you think consumers are being trained by developers to pay less than an app is really worth?

We’ve thought about this question as well. We’re sensitive to price but with everyone, including ourselves, so new at this, we really don’t know what the right price is yet. The App Store is a unique marketplace. It may well skew pricing for mobile apps, not only here, but in other places in the world.

You say in your application description for Ocarina that 99 cents is an introductory price. When do you plan to change it and to what price?

We’re evaluating that question on a dynamic basis. It’s fluid in response to a number of factors. For the short term, it will remain at 99 cents because the response has been really, really great.

What’s the top price you think any app might sell for and why?

It really depends on the app and how big a user group you’re expecting. From Smule’s point of view, we’ve been in it for only a few months. Something like Ocarina is a social experience. We wanted something that would get word-of-mouth and grass roots interaction. Lowering the barrier on price is helpful for that. The more specialized the apps, the more it might make sense to price it higher.

What sorts of apps do you have in store for the future?

We are constantly trying to figure out what to do next. We’re still learning what kinds of apps do well and how to match that with interactive sonic media. We still learning, like many of our users, what it means to be ‘Smulian.’ It’s something with audio and social interaction with the person you’re standing next to rather than virtual. We want to provide technology that enables people to do cool things and to be expressive. We want to be facilitators of that technology.

What apps are on your iPhone?

I have lots of versions of Smule apps. I have other music apps like Four Track. You can actually do recording in a multi-track way. I love Field Runners. It’s beautifully executed. I also have iClouds and iChalky. I use the Web browser quite a bit too, as well as the other built-in apps.

AlibiSMS allows the user to customize and save pre-written fake text messages, which will be send to the iPhone at a pre-selected activation time. The name of the fake sender of the SMS can be either selected from the iPhone’s contacts or entered directly. The message itself is written by the user and the activation time and ringtone for the SMS can be selected as well. Furthermore any screenshot can be selected to serve as the backdrop of the SMS, allowing for the message to appear realistic.

All of the possible selections above are great and provide more believability than some other fake call/SMS apps. But while AlibiSMS serves its purpose by all means, the app could be enhanced in its development. Like most other apps of a similar nature, the ringtone options of AlibiSMS do not offer the same sounds that the iPhone offers, making the falseness of the SMS easily detectable for any iPhone owner who has looked into these kinds of apps. There are also no pre-configured messages for unexpected situations. And the personalized home screen is one great idea that could be improved as well. While the screenshot of the home screen gives the fake SMS a great realistic touch, it is still a screen shot, which means that the time on the screen will be inaccurate once the message arrives. Maybe the next update will address these issues and make an already good app even better.

Concentrating only on fake SMS messages, AlibiSMS provides a customizable reason to escape for anyone resorting to the App Store for help in uncomfortable or unwanted situations. Compared to other apps AlibiSMS’s price tag of $1.99 might be a little high but the app delivers what it promises and offers more options for personalization than many of its competitors.

Go to Samposoft, set up an account, upload your pictures of the new baby using your PC or Mac. Then, anytime you want to show someone pics of the new kiddie, find a wi-fi connection (it won’t work otherwise), go back to Samposoft.com and bring up your photo album. That’s the theory anyway. I couldn’t get it to work.

In fact, WiPix is not even mentioned on Samposoft’s Web site. Click on the iPhone link on the site and two iPhone apps come up, and neither one is WiPix.

One is “WiFon”seems to be some kind of GPS-related app and the other is “iPolaroid” with is supposedly new and available on the App Store. I’m not a lawyer, but I don’t think Polaroid would be happy about having it’s name attached to an app that supposedly allows you to use you PC or Mac to view photos on your iPhone.

What a disaster! Perhaps this is why WiPix still hasn’t garnered a single review after more than a week in the App Store.

Burning Monkey Casino is a great way to get in some Vegas-style action on your iPhone. Video Poker, Blackjack, slot machines and more await you. As long as you don’t mind some strange-looking monkeys joining you for a few rounds.

Burning Monkey Casino’s strength lies in its variety of chance-based games and its integration with the iPhone’s touch screen. In the lottery ticket game, you “scratch” your ticket by rubbing the screen with your finger. Tap your bets during blackjack. Touch the cards you want to hold onto during video poker. And swipe your way in the main screen through games that include a money wheel, slots, a three-card money game. For a timeout from the gambling, tap on the “lounge act” for a quick shot of a various group of performers who briefly appear under the spotlight. It is a random component Burning Monkey Casino could do without.

Much like a Vegas showgirl, the casino seems to be all sparkle with not a whole lot going on underneath the shine. The video poker and lottery ticket scratcher is little more than a cyclical experience of loss and victory. Burning Monkey Casino seems built to provide a variety of games as opposed to encouraging players to go in-depth with one particular game.

If you are the competitive type you will have fun trying to increase your cash flow through the various games offered in Burning Monkey Casino. And, if you believe that variety is the spice of life, then this selection of casino games could be just what your iPhone or iPod touch is missing!

Burning Monkey Casino is an excellent time-killer for those looking for some mindless fun. The app has a solid identity from the wacky characters and cartoon-like graphics that keep it from being just another casino video game. Because of some of the game’s quirkiness, true casino aficionados will probably be disappointed. But there are a lot worse ways you could spend $0.99.

Dynamate has a strong opening screen with intuitive controls — everything that you need is right on the front page. In the center of the screen is the Start Game button. Left of that is the Resume button, while right of the Start Game button is your choice of difficulty level which goes 1 to 5.  Bottom left you can read the instructions on how to play the game if you are a little confused. Right of that is the Hint button to help you solve the puzzles more efficiently. And to the right of the Hint button is the sound toggle, which I prefer to keep on silent because the noise the game makes gets annoying after a while.

The object of Dynamate is to get rid of all the balls on the screen. Each of the balls are color coded and coordinates with another color. When you get the two colored-coordinated balls together, they disappear and your on your way to solving the puzzle. Dynamate is very easy to get a hang of and with a simple click and slide across the screen, the ball moves to where you want it. Be careful, with Dynamate you can lose track of time, but if you do happen to catch yourself and need to stop playing, you can pause it and resume it at any time.

Dynamate is seriously as simple to start and enjoy as any puzzle game is likely to be. Without a learning curve, players are free to fire it up and get lost in the game immediately. What more could you ask for?

Gazette connects to your folders in your Google Reader account and it doesn’t matter how many feeds you’re subscribed to.

Some App Store reviewers have complained the syncing is slow, but I was able to subscribe to 13 feeds containing 120 items in less than a minute. Others have complained that Gazette is buggy and crashes. I didn’t encounter any problems so I have no complaints in that regard.

You can easily star articles that you’d like to read later simply by tapping the star icon next to each article. You can also share the article with friends and colleagues through Google Reader or via your email.

If you read and star articles offline, when you’re back in range of a network, Gazette will push the articles to your Google Reader account.

Gazette’s interface is streamlined, the app is functional, easy to use and does exactly what the developer says it does at a reasonable price. It doesn’t get any better than that.