Ring ring. Ring ring. RING RING. You're calling your friend, partner or mother. No answer. You try again in an hour, still no answer. Later that night — same thing. What's going on? Next day you get your answer: "Sorry, I forgot my phone on silent!". How many times have you heard that?

Looking at it from the other way, how many times have you silenced your phone for a meeting, a movie or just a quiet evening, and forgot to turn the ringer back on? "I left my phone on silent" sounds like the world's lamest excuse, but it really does happen. And it's annoying.

Luckily, there are some ways to solve this conundrum. We've already told you about 2 ways to automatically silence and restore your phone's ringer, and while they're both good, they're not something you can install on a newbie's phone and expect results. If you want you and everyone you know to never forget a phone on silent again, you need to Shush!

Don't Shush Me!

OK OK, you don't need to shush, you just need Shush!. We've already mentioned this efficient and minimalistic app in our list of 6 beautiful and interesting timer apps, but although it's very simple, it deserves a whole review for itself.

Shush! is a super-simple app that makes sure you'll never forget your phone on silent again. It does so semi-automatically — all you have to do is tell it when to restore the ringer. You don't even have to launch it. It's very easy to use, and it even comes in 5 different color themes. What more can you ask for (hint: not much)?

Using Shush!

Anyone who can use the volume buttons to silent a phone can use Shush. It honestly doesn't require any more expertise than that. When you first install it, there are only two things to set up: the color scheme, and the notifications.

Remember when I said there are 5 different color schemes to choose from? Well, there are actually 6, but one of them — the pink — is very elusive. It's the app's default when you first launch it, but once you touch the bar to change colors, you don't get to choose pink again! You do get to choose from red, blue, purple, green and orange, so I think you'll be fine.

Notifications, when on, are a simple way to cancel the timer and restore your phone's ringer with a tap. They also serve as a constant reminder that you've set your Shush! timer.

Since turning your ringer back on is simple anyway, notifications are not really necessary unless you want them sitting up there all the time, reminding you of your Shush! timer. If you turn them off, Shush! will show a small toast message every time you set it, but after it disappears, you'll have nothing.

So how do you set Shush? Easy: put your phone on silent using any method you're used to. Once your phone's on silent, Shush! will automatically launch its timer.

You can set the Shush! timer to anything from 15 minutes to 12 hours, in increments of 15 minutes. You can either slide your finger on the circle Ovo style, or use the plus and minus buttons. Shush! will tell you what time the ringer will come back on, so you don't even have to do the math yourself.

Another thing you can control is your phone's ringer volume once it comes back on. Tap and hold the triangle and slide your finger from side to side to set this. If you leave it alone, your ringer will be resorted to the same volume it was on before you set it to silent.

All's that's left to do now is tap "Shush!", and you're done. Your ringer will come on at the specified time, no bells and whistles. You can also choose "Keep it off" if you don't want to set the timer this time and just switch your phone to silent mode.

Naturally, you can turn your ringer back on at any time — you're not bound to the timer — but this way, you know you're not going to forget.

Anyone Can Use This. Seriously.

Shush! is one app that truly lives up to its name. It's so simple, I'm secretly plotting to install it on my mother's phone and never hear that annoying excuse again.

Shush works on Android 2.0+, and is completely free to use, no ads. If you love this type of automation, you can find more great apps on our best Android apps page, where Shush! is also featured.

Do you often forget your phone on silent? How do you solve this problem? Share below!

Image credit: Beth Jusino