I've recently got my g1 replaced with a htc hero and i love it in almost every way except for the dialer which i HATE!
Now maybe i'm being an idiot but i can't seem to stop my call button bringing up the dialer, I'd like to see my contacts, or groups or generally anything but that hideous dialer. I almost never call numbers not in my contacts. Can this be changed, or can i use something like acontacts - i don't really like it but it's a step in the right direction however installing it previously call asked me what i wanted to use and i can't work out what settings need cleared to let me change this. Many thanks
That pad is not only for dialing numbers, it works as a T9 contacts search by any part of name, surname, company, inicial, etc. - try it. I think that this very dialer is the best thing of the HTC Sense and the best thing that could have happened to Android.
Also try selecting a result with the trackball and then scrolling sideways, notice the numbers changing (if a contact has more than one).
If you are aware of this functionality and still want to change it, maybe somebody else will help.
I was not aware, but really i think it looks hideous. I'd rather not have it personally. It may look ok themed but... can you recommend a decent theme i can steal one from?
If you don't like the dialer just go into contacts instead and choose who you want to phone from there
peterc no offence intended but why would you even bother replying if you have nothing useful to say? I'm perfectly capable of using other applications or opening contacts directly my question related directly to the 'call' button.
I suggest you read your OP again. You asked (and I quote) "I'd like to see my contacts, or groups or generally anything but that hideous dialer. I almost never call numbers not in my contacts. Can this be changed"
And my answer is yes it can - don't use the dialer, access your contacts directly, and you can then call them directly from that app. I did not know from your question whether you were an experienced user or a first timer that had just got the phone did I? Many new users do not know many of the basic features of the phone, such as using the contacts app, and are looking for help.
But hey don't worry .... now I know that you are so knowledgable that you obviously don't need my help, I will not bother trying to help you in the future
peterc10 said:
I suggest you read your OP again. You asked (and I quote) "I'd like to see my contacts, or groups or generally anything but that hideous dialer. I almost never call numbers not in my contacts. Can this be changed"
And my answer is yes it can - don't use the dialer, access your contacts directly, and you can then call them directly from that app. I did not know from your question whether you were an experienced user or a first timer that had just got the phone did I? Many new users do not know many of the basic features of the phone, such as using the contacts app, and are looking for help.
But hey don't worry .... now I know that you are so knowledgable that you obviously don't need my help, I will not bother trying to help you in the future
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you seen this part though?
Now maybe i'm being an idiot but i can't seem to stop my call button bringing up the dialer, I'd like to see my contacts, or groups or generally anything but that hideous dialer.
pauliusba said:
Have you seen this part though?
Now maybe i'm being an idiot but i can't seem to stop my call button bringing up the dialer, I'd like to see my contacts, or groups or generally anything but that hideous dialer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes I did see that. And, referring specifically to the last part, if he (or she) goes into "People", he will see his contacts, and he can then list them in Groups, and he can phone any of those people without going into the "hideous" dialer. So I reckon my suggestion was valid for that bit too.
But at the end of the day if somebody has any better suggestions, which at the moment nobody appears to have, then I am happy for the OP to try those instead of my useless one.
peter i'm really not trying to pick a fight but what are you arguing about. My question was, as pauliusba understood related to having my 'call' button launch another application. Your suggestion was entirely unrelated to the call button.
regards
John
Related
Hi,
I was wondering, can I put a code on my contacts and my messages?
I just dont like it when people are playing with my phone, how easy it is for them through my contacts and messages.
Never had this problem with previous phones (well it isn't a REAL problem, just a hindrance), cause there you had to go through at least 2 or 3 clicks to see them.
Anyone know any software I can install for this? Or how I can enable it?
Im running the stock rom btw, should it matter...
Put the main pin code in Settings & Lock or...
...don't give other people your phone!
I've never heard of something which locks just the items you mention, sort of goes against the point of an easy to use, easy to access phone UI.
I think I saw a Samsung phone which had it, everything was open on the phone, just the text messages required a pin. I saw it and loved it.
And its mainly now that I have a new phone that everyone wants to see it and use it, and I don't want to be prick and say no =)
As for a main PIN, I do have that.
what you got to hide!?
yes samsungs (well at least use to) enable you to set codes for individual programs. eg texts, pictures, videos etc etc. not seen another phone that does that though. tbh its good with have a lock code at all as alot of phones dont even have that!
best thing to do is turn touch flow off so its just the windows today screen, then they have to scroll trough your programs etc to get to contacts/msgs
List things you wish Android would change (stock) that'll make it perfect...note, nothing about apps or third party skins...I'll start with 3 though I can think of a lot more
1. Better looking notification bar...I like the look of the icons, but the notification bar still has that 1.0 feel to it...not a fan
2. Better looking and more functional media app...and movie player
3. Better looking buttons and selection actions.
(doesn't matter if desired changes are superficial or system deep)
PS. I can't wait until this UI refresh that Gingerbread guarantees...ALSO...
am I the only person who loves when Apple announces new ****, because Android then does better and so on and so forth....the Apple, Android beef should be encouraged by fanboys on all sides...we all benefit greatly.
The dialer needs to be more functional. I cannot afford to scroll down 500 of my contacts to find a name, a simple keypad/numberpad on the contact section would suffice just like it works for sense ui.
mythamp said:
The dialer needs to be more functional. I cannot afford to scroll down 500 of my contacts to find a name, a simple keypad/numberpad on the contact section would suffice just like it works for sense ui.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you tried google gestures or voice dial? They work great but I dont have enough contacts to justify using them, wish I did but for me its quick to scroll.
Also the tab on the right is handy but im sure youve probably tried these things
mythamp said:
The dialer needs to be more functional. I cannot afford to scroll down 500 of my contacts to find a name, a simple keypad/numberpad on the contact section would suffice just like it works for sense ui.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you tried Dialer One? It is pretty awesome.
But I agree, the default dialer should work a lot better.
To add to the general discussion, I dont think there is much wrong with the media player but I would like the addition of an EQ and the ability to scroll through the playing song with more accuracy - something the iPhone does particularly well.
I also think the market needs massive improvements to make Android truly great. There may be 50,000 apps but when so many are themes and porn, that number becomes meaningless. I would rather there were only a few thousand really good and useful apps instead.
The UI should natively support themes to change icons, colors, etc
Perfect is yet far away. With basic features like call recording missing, it's take some time.
gllu said:
Perfect is yet far away. With basic features like call recording missing, it's take some time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When it's something provided only by third-party apps on other phones, I don't think it should be called a "basic feature".
gllu said:
Perfect is yet far away. With basic features like call recording missing, it's take some time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm pretty sure recording a call, in America at least, is illegal unless you notify the person being recorded..
Wisefire said:
I'm pretty sure recording a call, in America at least, is illegal unless you notify the person being recorded..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Negative Ghost Rider...
In the US, it is determined by the state that you live in. Many states have what is called "single party" laws, which means that as long as one person is aware the call is being recorded (you), then it's legal.
I cant take my android phone to work. The inability to go to work is easily the largest single weakness of the phone imo. Millions of people need exchange (fully functioning and not through a third party server work around) and to connect to stand alone installations of outlook, often both. It rankles that I am still going to have to buy a winmo phone when when 7 hits to replace my old winmo phone because my 39 mflops N1 is a no go for work.
Decent copy and paste functionality would be nice. yikes even apple gives you that
Sync Tasks with Google Calendar
Sync Sports Calendars
Set "Peak Times" for Google Sync
crachel said:
Sync Tasks with Google Calendar
[*]Sync Sports Calendars
Set "Peak Times" for Google Sync
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i managed to find a workaround for that one, i found an exportable calendar for my local baseball team that did the trick, shows up just fine on my phone, its only googles native sports calendars that dont work in android
I sure would like support for wireless proxy servers, and for the phone to properly pull default gateway information via DHCP like it is supposed to.
gllu said:
Perfect is yet far away. With basic features like call recording missing, it's take some time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Since when is call recording a "basic feature"...wow
As much as I love Android, I think the UI could use a lot of work. It lacks cohesiveness, and can be quite bland.
This guy can change all of that, however: http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/palms-matias-duarte-has-joined-google-as-user-experience-direct/
How about these two simple features:
1) Native support for sound profiles. Coming from a blackberry this was shocking.
2) Unified gmail/hosted gmail inbox option. Not everyone would enable it but again a blackberry user is used to getting to all messages in one box. Currently I am constantly changing between 4 accounts in gmail. Super annoying.
Android is the best mobile OS out there but I think it isn't ready to be called perfect.
krabman said:
I cant take my android phone to work. The inability to go to work is easily the largest single weakness of the phone imo. Millions of people need exchange (fully functioning and not through a third party server work around) and to connect to stand alone installations of outlook, often both. It rankles that I am still going to have to buy a winmo phone when when 7 hits to replace my old winmo phone because my 39 mflops N1 is a no go for work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tried Touchdown? It's a $20.00 app, and it's one time.
jmbrown32 said:
As much as I love Android, I think the UI could use a lot of work. It lacks cohesiveness, and can be quite bland.
This guy can change all of that, however: http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/palms-matias-duarte-has-joined-google-as-user-experience-direct/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's only as bland as you make it.
Thread dedicated to the initial challenges when changing from a Tilt 2 to an LG Quantum.
Why is this thread needed?
AT&T insurance for the Tilt 2 is now sending the LG Quantum as a replacement.
The phones are hardly comparable. Windows Phone 7 is vastly different than Windows Mobile 6.5. It is not HTC. Does not have Sense.
Windows Phone 7 has some very annoying characteristics that can be avoided if you set things up with specific care and knowledge originally.
I just got me replacement phone today. I will continue to update this thread with information as I find it. Hopefully it will help others in the process, since there will be more of us as insurance replaces people's phones.
Tips from day 1 of use
#1. Your intial live account can not be changed without a hard reset. Do not use an old hotmail account as you Windows Live ID. Create a new one. I recommend one that you will only use for this purpose. If you need to change it, you must wipe your phone (hard reset) to replace this. Your primary hotmail account cannot be removed and there is no way to not sync the contacts from it.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2430020
I recommend telling no one this id. Do not use the email for anything. Include some number or something, so it will not be guessed. do not store information in this account, such as emails or contacts, if it can be avoided. Plenty of other options like gmail for this purpose.
#2. Common email domains are easy to setup. Even custom ones are. But it first will try, then let's you configure.
#3. There is a list that has settings. Swipe from right to left to get to the list. Then go to settings. Now you can change things how old of emails to get and how much of it.
#4. Open an email with an attached pdf. Get the viewer. better to do this earlier than later when you need it. By default, the phone has no ability to view a pdf. The pdf viewer lets you do this.
#5. Stop looking for tasks, you won't find them. They don't sync with Exchange.
#6. There is not a built in twitter app. I am downloading moTweets, because I liked that before. I am using the Try option. There is also a free Twitter and a free Foursquare.
Looks like there is some map software. Not sure if it costs money yet.
Not finding Bing or Google Maps.
Bing is built in. just press the button in the lower right. Not sure why that is the only way to launch it though.
#7. Installed Zune with no issues on Windows Home 64 bit. It updates the software on the phone. You do not loose settings during this. Not like a ROM flash. Synced Videos, pictures, and music.
#8 Blue tooth paired easily. Remember most devices are 0000 for the pin.
#9 Found my WiFi and I connected it fine.
#10 Uninstall the bloat that AT&T puts on. It's not much, but you don't want apps that cost a monthly fee when free ones exist.
First impressions after 1 day
Allthough the look and feel is not customizable, it is very consistent.
A few things are not 100% obvious, but once learned is not difficult.
Things do just work.
Very fluid display. Nothing lags.
It's easy to get your stuff onto it. I need to still test copy and paste with Office.
I was thinking that I would be totally unhappy with the phone. But, I think it might just be doable. A non technical person should have no trouble with this phone.
Marketplace has alot of free apps.
Day 2
Not all clock alarm apps are equal.
Big Clock, which I downloaded from the marketplace failed to wake me this morning.
Tested the normal Alarms this morning and it did work with the screen locked.
As always test your alarm before you need it.
Annoyed that there are no snooze options. Just 5 minutes.
Glad Mango is coming soon. Mango gives all the snooze options we used to have.
Back in Windows Mobile 6.5 Digital Outcast gave us the snooze options that we were used to. M$ had taken them away.
For Win Phone 7, I haven't found a short term solution to this yet. Going to have to wait for Mango.
Liking the OS more and more. Marketplace makes the downloading and installing of apps very painless. Wish it was more clear about what has live tiles though.
AccuWeather weather app appears to be live. LG Clock and Weather does not appear to have a live tile, but lets you put in multiple cities.
Wish I could find the HTC tile with weather and clock. HTC Hub is not it.
Post #5
Intended to later have more info.
I like to have 5 posts of each thread I create.
As a potential future WP7 Device owner, I can't think of a better thread to follw than this one, so on behalf of myself and other TP2/Tilt2 owners who may one day move on, thank you very much for creating this thread...a lot of people move on from a deice earlier than the majority but don't leave the majority much of anything to work with in regards to what to move on to or to stay away from, or how to dial in the new device a better way than what the manufacturers have configured, so this thread is indeed very much appreciated...at least by me, and I am sure others as well.
While you will be missed in the Energy thread, I'm glad I have someone familiar to work with the new OS so should the time come, I will be versed as well as can be on what to expect, and do or not do...thank you for all you did for us with the Rhodium, and thank you in advance for all you will do for the WP7 community...you better the community here wherever you go or whichever thread you are posting in ....
Now for my first WP7 noob question...can the live tiles color be changed...and are there alternatives on this device to the live tiles?
GT247 said:
... Now for my first WP7 noob question...can the live tiles color be changed...and are there alternatives on this device to the live tiles?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes. They can be changed, but you get to change them all from 1 color to another.
slide the panels to the left. This now shows a list. Slide down to settings.
In the section titled Theme, tap it and pick a different color.
Other tiles, like music and video, and pictures get the image from what you have played or viewed.
The Me tile gets it's image from Facebook.
And apps can choose to follow the theme or provide their own image.
For the pictures tile, you can manually set it, by: "Open the Picture hub and tap and hold on an empty space and you'll get the option to select the picture you want." source of quote
End of day 2
Realizing that I do not dislike the phone or Windows Phone 7. This is very hard to admit.
With Windows Mobile 6.5 and 6.5.3 and Sense 2.5 with Cookie 2.0. It was fun figuring out all the ways to make the phone do what it should just do. With Windows phone 7. It just does them the way it is supposed to do it. It might not do it how you are used to it doing it, but it does it and it does it well. It can't do everything you're used to it doing, but it does what you actually need it to do and want it to do.
I was expecting to be extremely disappointed in the phone. But I'm not. Things work. You rotate to landscape. They still work. Energy Roms are much prettierand NRGZ28 did a fantastic job at making it do what it should do.
But Windows Phone 7 does a great job.
The things it falls short on will soon be corrected with Mango.
And no M$ did not pay me anything for this post. I am totally surprised that I would feel this way after just 2 days.
I suspected this would be the case....when everything runs faster and smoother and better without having to tweak it to do so, and the initial worry of not being able to tweak to your hearts content to make something you want to work work...when that worry wears off because you dont have to tweak it...well...when any worry wears off and you realize the new phone with the new OS actually really does improve a lot of things.. when everything opens up as your finger is leaving the screen and just starts doing what it's supposed to do...really...how can that be beat?
I'm glad you're giving us positive feedback, as I knew everything would run butter smooth, like yourself, I had reservations about liking the new platform and the new appearance and other changes you're going through with the new device could be overcome by functionality (lol)....
Yep....Mango should come out and lock you in my friend...I imagine after that you'll be glad that usb port died (just please, if you do end up happy about it, don't tell me so...cuz I'm bummed it happened still lol)
I'm curious as you explore...if there will be little things wp7 doesn't have, that the old winmo did...as I have two android devices and the tilt2, I'm finding some things lacking in "the other OS"...little settings (that are sort of kinda actually big deals, to me) are missing...one is...on the tilt2 I can select to show my caller ID to everyone, noone, or just to contacts...can you do that on the Quantum? Have you noticed a need to wonder how ram is controlled? Have you tried opening a zip?.....I'm happy you're on wp7 now (kinda)....I will want to buy a wp7 if someone I trust tells me theye tested it out, put it through it's paces and that it's a solid performer that's user friendly that I can count on to keep me connected to my customers and employees calls and messages and navigates me through my day and gives me awesome browsing and streaming media over the net between my appointments...yep...I'm paying attention to your thread my friend...my usb could go any day too....lol
Thought I found something that I could not do
Thought I could not accept an appointment from Outlook.
In the email, there is a link that takes you to your calender. You accept it from the tentative meeting. I like this better, because you can actually see what your day looks like when accepting it.
Have not found a free twitter program with a live tile.
For weather, the only free one with a live tile update seems to be The Weather Channel. Weather bug does not show anything on the tile. AccuWeather is not updated live.
As plain as the tiles look, they are clear too read. And everything scrolls so fast and smooth. I'll take plain with function for that responsiveness any day.
GT247 said:
I suspected this would be the case....when everything runs faster and smoother and better without having to tweak it to do so, and the initial worry of not being able to tweak to your hearts content to make something you want to work work...when that worry wears off because you dont have to tweak it...well...when any worry wears off and you realize the new phone with the new OS actually really does improve a lot of things.. when everything opens up as your finger is leaving the screen and just starts doing what it's supposed to do...really...how can that be beat?
I'm glad you're giving us positive feedback, as I knew everything would run butter smooth, like yourself, I had reservations about liking the new platform and the new appearance and other changes you're going through with the new device could be overcome by functionality (lol)....
Yep....Mango should come out and lock you in my friend...I imagine after that you'll be glad that usb port died (just please, if you do end up happy about it, don't tell me so...cuz I'm bummed it happened still lol)
I'm curious as you explore...if there will be little things wp7 doesn't have, that the old winmo did...as I have two android devices and the tilt2, I'm finding some things lacking in "the other OS"...little settings (that are sort of kinda actually big deals, to me) are missing...one is...on the tilt2 I can select to show my caller ID to everyone, noone, or just to contacts...can you do that on the Quantum? Have you noticed a need to wonder how ram is controlled? Have you tried opening a zip?.....I'm happy you're on wp7 now (kinda)....I will want to buy a wp7 if someone I trust tells me theye tested it out, put it through it's paces and that it's a solid performer that's user friendly that I can count on to keep me connected to my customers and employees calls and messages and navigates me through my day and gives me awesome browsing and streaming media over the net between my appointments...yep...I'm paying attention to your thread my friend...my usb could go any day too....lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had no idea that you could control the caller id being sent on a per contact basis with the Tilt 2. I imagine it was just inserting *82 or something before dialing. Ultimately the carrier needs to handle the *82 since they do know your number when sending from the tower to the rest of the phone network.
Still early in the testing.
I don't know WP7 settings, on the tilt2, to control caller id setting, I go to start menu>settings>personal>phone>services and then from there I can select "call barring" "caller id" "call forwarding" "call waiting" and "voicemail and text messages"....once an item is highlighted I can click "get settings"...once "get settings" is selected it checks the network settings and then displays the current setting on the network...on the TP2 caller id settings they can be changed on the network from the device...I'm hoping this is possible on WP7
Another question I have is if pinch to zoom works in emails and other apps, not just the browser
GT247 said:
I don't know WP7 settings, on the tilt2, to control caller id setting, I go to start menu>settings>personal>phone>services and then from there I can select "call barring" "caller id" "call forwarding" "call waiting" and "voicemail and text messages"....once an item is highlighted I can click "get settings"...once "get settings" is selected it checks the network settings and then displays the current setting on the network...on the TP2 caller id settings they can be changed on the network from the device...I'm hoping this is possible on WP7
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
GT247 said:
Another question I have is if pinch to zoom works in emails and other apps, not just the browser
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
pinch to zoom works when reading emails, but not when replying or text messaging.
found the setting about sending caller id on the Quantum
Settings - Apps - Phone. You can pick send to everyone, no one, only contacts
when the device is on a call does the lockscreen lock the buttons and touchscreen? ie: is it a waste of time to try to lock the device while on a call? lol
GT247 said:
when the device is on a call does the lockscreen lock the buttons and touchscreen? ie: is it a waste of time to try to lock the device while on a call? lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The exchange server that I use for work pushes a policy forcing the phone to lock.
Pressing the power button on the top not only shuts off the screen but it also locks it.
When I answer the phone, it is easy to unlock, if I want. Just slide up, and enter the code. Then I can do anything while on the call.
The proximity sensor disables the touch screen when you have it by your ear, so you don't actidentally hang up.
Something the phone does not have is physical talk and end buttons. But, I honestly have not had a need for them.
Custom Ringtones and Alert Sounds
Although it's real eay for a developer add ringtones to their device or for anyone that has unlocked it. It is annoying that they have locked this down.
Mango is supposed to allow custom ringtones, so just need to wait.
Supposed to be on September 15th.
Wow...ringtones are locked down? Amazing....really. Please don't think I'm knocking them for doing it, I'm sure there's a reason for it, I just find it surprising is all. Have you examined the GPS Capabilities?
GT247 said:
Wow...ringtones are locked down? Amazing....really. Please don't think I'm knocking them for doing it, I'm sure there's a reason for it, I just find it surprising is all. Have you examined the GPS Capabilities?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
GPS works great.
Good news is that the LG Quantum has a built in reg editor. Kind of clunky. Nothing like the good old Total Commander or Dot Fred Reg Editor.
And the location of there is an app the runs on your computer to make a xap files for ringtones.
And you can then sideload the xap onto the device and the ringtone remains.
First you need to unlock the device.
I have not unlocked mine yet. I should be able to unlock with just a few reg ediits. Haven't done it yet though.
On the 15th Mango officially will be available, and that allows custom ringtones without any hacks.
Some Good threads
Use your Windows Phone as a thumb drive.
Registry mods for WP7 - NoDo
Custom Ringtones
mp3 files work just fine, at least with the NoDo 7392 update.
All the built in ringtones seem to be mp3 as well
Lot of good links here
Hi. Here's the deal...my elderly parents are travelling this winter in another country. International roaming is expensive, as is international travel, and we're looking for as many ways as we can to save money. One of the ways we've considered to deal with both of these problems is to buy a sim card where they are at, rather than bringing their phone from home and paying outrageous international roaming charges. This is where Hero comes in...I have an unlocked HTC Hero that I could let them use. The problem is, they are intimidated by technology, and having a capable phone with lots of features is overwhelming to them. I was wondering if there's a way I can lock the phone down so it goes to the dialer and nowhere else. No lock screen, no email, no Android market, no text messages sent or received, none of that, just the dialer to make and receive calls. Ideally, I'd like to be able to return it to normal functionality when I get it back, but if this is a one-way thing, that's OK, too. It is currently running Elelinux-7.1-Hero-v3.6-Light.
I apologize profusely if this is a silly question...I'm new at all of this.
Tired_ said:
Hi. Here's the deal...my elderly parents are travelling this winter in another country. International roaming is expensive, as is international travel, and we're looking for as many ways as we can to save money. One of the ways we've considered to deal with both of these problems is to buy a sim card where they are at, rather than bringing their phone from home and paying outrageous international roaming charges. This is where Hero comes in...I have an unlocked HTC Hero that I could let them use. The problem is, they are intimidated by technology, and having a capable phone with lots of features is overwhelming to them. I was wondering if there's a way I can lock the phone down so it goes to the dialer and nowhere else. No lock screen, no email, no Android market, no text messages sent or received, none of that, just the dialer to make and receive calls. Ideally, I'd like to be able to return it to normal functionality when I get it back, but if this is a one-way thing, that's OK, too. It is currently running Elelinux-7.1-Hero-v3.6-Light.
I apologize profusely if this is a silly question...I'm new at all of this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's kind of easy what you want...but not every thing can be erased
1ownload eles ROM
2. Open the archive with WinRar or other app that you use
3. Go to /system/apps and you will find all the app there with the extension .apk
4. Delete what you think that they won't use (but be very careful): for example market.apk (you said that they don't need it)
4. Close the program and you will see that the rom is more lighter
5. Flash the rom
6. Enjoy
For the part with the lock screen i don't think i can help you...
Hope you get work done
Stefan
The lock screen part is really the important part. The other apps can still be installed, just abstracted away from my parent's eyes, if they're locked into the dialer. I guess I wasn't clear enough when I described what I was looking for. I want to make it so that the dialer program is the only program accessible to the user...when they press the home button, I want it to go to the dialer rather than to a launcher. When the screen goes off due to inactivity, I want it to go to the dialer right away when any button is pressed rather than showing a lock screen. On iPhone (sorry, it's a platform I'm more familiar with), there's a jailbreak app called IncarcerApp that can do this...is there anything similar for Hero?
Lockscreen
Hi there! If you want to get rid of the lock screen what you can do is go into settings on the phone then Cyanogen mod settings then tablet tweaks and in there, there is a tick box or similar that you can press to disable the lock screen!
Hope that Helped
Thanks for the tip, PP337, but that's still not what I am looking for. I did some Googling last night, and I found a lot of developers refer to what I am looking for as 'Kiosk Mode'. Unfortunately, everything I found on that is in the context of creating a new app, rather than using an existing one.
I'm obviously not making myself clear enough, but I'm not sure how I can phrase it more clearly. I really hope we won't have to go buy a junky SIMlocked Nokia phone that we'll have to throw out in three months when they come home.
i can't understand one think....why is it so hard to unlock a phone??? especially when it's so simple...
Stefan
Unlocking a phone is indeed simple, for you and I. But for an elderly person, particularly one who is unfamiliar with technology, being confronted with a screen full of app icons can be intimidating. I tried to get my mom to use the Android phone as it is, and she is terrified of breaking something or doing something wrong, to the point where she won't use it for those fears.
I have to say, I hadn't expected it would be this difficult to make this 'open platform' do what I want it to. If it were iPhone, I'd be done by now. Disappointing.
Could you not just remove all the homescreen icons? Can't remember which launcher comes with that ROM, but if you install launcher pro for example, you can remove all the icons even the dock. You can then choose to have just one homescreen and just the dialer icon. Or you could leave it blank to just select the dialer button to make calls. Then disable the lock screen as described above. Would that be ok for them ?
Tired_ said:
I have to say, I hadn't expected it would be this difficult to make this 'open platform' do what I want it to. If it were iPhone, I'd be done by now. Disappointing.
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how old are your parents that you say that they "can't unlock" a phone... Both my parents use android on their phones and don't have any problems....
Don't want to be rude or things like that but it's easy on android...
Stefan
stefpaul said:
how old are your parents that you say that they "can't unlock" a phone... Both my parents use android on their phones and don't have any problems....
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She's 72, and in the early stages of Alzheimer's. He's 70 and has a severe learning disability.
I tried the suggestion someone posted about LauncherPro with only one icon. She accidentally long-pressed an empty space and the menu came up and she didn't know what to do. I was able to tell her what to do because I am here now, but if that had happened when I wasn't around she wouldn't have been able to cope at all, for fear it was dialing some 1-900 number or doing something else she didn't want. I'm shocked that it isn't possible to lock Hero into a single app, but it seems it simply isn't. Thanks anyways for all your help.
Tired_ said:
She's 72, and in the early stages of Alzheimer's. He's 70 and has a severe learning disability.
I tried the suggestion someone posted about LauncherPro with only one icon. She accidentally long-pressed an empty space and the menu came up and she didn't know what to do. I was able to tell her what to do because I am here now, but if that had happened when I wasn't around she wouldn't have been able to cope at all, for fear it was dialing some 1-900 number or doing something else she didn't want. I'm shocked that it isn't possible to lock Hero into a single app, but it seems it simply isn't. Thanks anyways for all your help.
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Are they traveling alone? That sounds like something you should worry about more then just having a phone for them
You could use adw and lock the desktop by pressing menu and choosing 'lock desktop'. That would prevent any accidental menus popping up. You could also hide the status bar from adw settings and disable the lockscreen from cm tweaks menu. You could also download a dialer widget (https://market.android.com/details?id=dialer.impact) and set that as a widget on a single homescreen and lock the desktop on adw launcher.
Hope that helped
Car Home may help
Firstly, hi to all the folks at xda-developers. I have always found this place to be the most useful resource when it comes to figuring out android, but never had an unanswered question till just now.
I just helped my dad migrate from a blackberry to a nexus 4, and while he is quite happy with most of the phone's offerings, he finds it exasperating that the phone does not display the company field from his address book in the people/contacts app. After a week searching online for answers, it appears this is indeed not possible on android yet, and the best advice I found was to manually change the company field to middle name/last name and then "everythings alright with the world again". Hopefully, the people on xda recognize that this is hardly a 'solution'.
I then set out to find an app to replace the phone book, but that was a dead-end. Too many apps out there, not enough documentation on what does what properly and most of the descriptions suggested that they were over-kill for what I was looking to do.
So, my question is this ... Does anybody who knows the internal workings of android 4.3 on the nexus 4 know if this can be a simple tweak on a rooted phone? I do not have any experience at all hacking phones, Im not even a developer, but I imagine the display is controlled by some sort of style-sheet type entity (xml?). My reasoning is that the information is already on the phone... The only thing that needs to change is the way the phone displays the information. Would it be possible, at some level, to edit a file to display an extra line of information?
Of course, if somebody knows of a specific app/mod that already does this, please point me in the right direction.
Thanks,
Karthik
Oh yes --- IF it turns out that there is no way to do what I want without some major hacking of the OS, can somebody suggest the best way to unload the contacts from the phone to a desktop, some app that will automatically remap the company name field to the middle name/suffix, and then upload the contacts back to the phone?
The company is displayed right below the name in the top left corner of the people app.
At least in the paranoid android rom
Swyped from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4
In the stock version, the only way to see it is when the actual contact is opened... Meaning, when viewing contact details. The problem with this is that when you have multiple contacts with the same name, it is impossible to dial the right one directly from the Phone App. Each time, one must click on the person's avatar on the left side, which does some weird 'half opening' of the contact, then click again on the top of that dialog box to open the actual contact, at which point the company name is displayed at the top corner.
In my dad's case, he has many many contacts with the same names, even same first and last (we in India have third initials that finally differentiate the persons!) ... On his blackberry, the company name ALWAYS showed under the contact name, and so it was easy to call the right person. With android, neither the phone app, nor the auto-complete introduced in 4.3 seem to care about the company name. So each time, he has to open the contact fully to figure out whom to call!