Database Users

Scrolling through Contacts - Inconsistent Feature?

Ok.....here is one for the gurus.
A while ago, by accident, I came across what I suspect is a feature in scrolling through Contacts which I could not replicate for the life of me.
Basically, when opening Contacts using the scroll wheel, I somehow managed to get a large icon appearing on the screen & I could then scroll through the individual letters of the alphabet. When I closed Contacts & re-opened it, I couldn't replicate it.
After playing around with it today, I got a step closer but buggered if I can make this feature stick permanently. May be it requires a registry hack.
To see what I mean:
1) Tap Contacts.
2) Scroll up or down until the text field is cleared.
3) Tap Menu -> Options -> Ok.
4) Now scroll up or down.
5) Goto 2
Another user over at Whirlpool Forums found the following method:
"The closest that I can think of is open contacts list, press and hold the down button on the 4 way direction pad, the large alphabet will show up after a second or two. Not very useful to me though..."
What I would like to see is that feature invoked permanently so that I can access Contacts from the Start menu using the scroll wheel & then being able to scroll through the alphabet.
I stumbled across this in the original ROM (shipped with Australian D810) but am currently using 1.23.707.6.
Ideas anyone?

I was wondering if this was possible as well. I hope there is a way to do this because this seems more useful to me when navigating the phone in portrait mode.

maybe its a bug, it happens when you open the contacts app, set focus on the search area, remove and restore focus on the app and press up or down.
this also works:
open contacts app
tap search area
press windows key twice( open and close start menu )
press down or up

I don't think it's a bug!
The way it works on my device is:
Place the focus anywhere in the Contacts list or Select box
Hold the Down or Up direction keys
After 2 screens of scrolling, the Large Letter scroller starts
Release when you reach the letter you want.

It is not a bug. It works on my Wizard, that if I were to press and hold my d-pad (no, I dont' have a wheel) long enough, the big letters will appear. So, in a scroll wheel case, I think probably you will need to scroll it fast enough/long/consistent enough for it to appear?

Apoc said:
set focus on the search area,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks Apoc - I think you're onto something there regarding focus.
NeilM said:
I don't think it's a bug!
The way it works on my device is:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Irrespective of how you open Contacts & where the focus is, pressing & holding the up or down key on the direction pad will bring up the alphabet icon after 1 - 2 secs. My aim is to wholly & soley use the scroll wheel to open & search Contacts using the alphabet icon without touching the directional keypad whatsoever - only the scroll wheel.
hanmin said:
It is not a bug. It works on my Wizard, that if I were to press and hold my d-pad (no, I dont' have a wheel)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
May not be a bug on the Wizard, but potentially is on the Trinity/D810 utilizing the scroll wheel.
Apoc's comment re: focus had me perform some more testing & managed to get a step closer. Depending on how you close Contacts will determine whether you can open Contacts & scroll (using the wheel) through the alphabet successfully.
It seems that Contacts needs to be running in the background as a "running program" & is achieved by closing it using the side "OK" button after having put the focus in the search field using the scroll wheel. Will also work tapping the X to close unless you have configured X to actually close running programs.
To start off:-
1) Press side ok button to open Start menu.
2) Scroll to Contacts & depress.
3) Scroll up to set focus in search field.
4) Press side ok to close Contacts (actually closes as a running program).
5) Press side ok to open Start menu.
6) Scroll to Contacts & depress.
7) Now scroll through alphabet - Woohoo!
8) Scroll back to search field to set focus.
9) Goto 4
As long as Contacts runs in the background as a running program I can replicate this repeatedly, but once its closed fully, it seems that focus is returned to the first entry in Contacts rather than the search field hence preventing me from scrolling the alphabet when re-opening.
So, is this a bug or an inelegantly implemented feature?
[Edit] Perhaps a registry hack could set the focus on the search field rather than the first entry in the list. If that is at all possible & works then it definitely becomes a handy feature.

This is not a bug, its a function of windows mobile. It works the same way that an iPod does.

jlagden said:
This is not a bug, its a function of windows mobile. It works the same way that an iPod does.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you not mean that it is a WM function that could be improved? The way I see it, depending on the method used to open Contacts depends whether one sees it as a function or not.
Unfortunately I don't have an iPod to compare with.

thunderbird1 said:
Do you not mean that it is a WM function that could be improved? The way I see it, depending on the method used to open Contacts depends whether one sees it as a function or not.
Unfortunately I don't have an iPod to compare with.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what more would you want it to do? it saves you time scrolling from a to z.

jlagden said:
what more would you want it to do? it saves you time scrolling from a to z.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What saves time? Either I'm missing the point or you have mis-interpreted mine.

you can also use your keyboard and select the arrow up / down key for a few seconds to trigger the alphabet search (big letters).

andason said:
you can also use your keyboard and select the arrow up / down key for a few seconds to trigger the alphabet search (big letters).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cheers for that, but I've already noted that in my earlier posts.

thunderbird1 said:
What saves time? Either I'm missing the point or you have mis-interpreted mine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are suggesting that it is a function that could be improved, but I don't see what gain you would get. This function is also present in an old WM2003 device that I have, so it clearly isn’t new.
If you want it to initiate instantly when you use the scroll wheel, you are only going to jump to the first contact in each alphabetical section. This is great if you only have one contact per alphabet letter, but if like most people you have multiple contacts in each section you will still have to do an additional scroll to select the contact.
The time saving is due to the jumping quickly to each alphabet section.

Dialer optimization - double tap / click to dial and up/down arrows

Guys,
does anybody know if and how can I make my dialer not dial the person when I single tap on the row but only highlight it and then use either the hardware dial button or the big green "talk" button ... or double tapping the highlighted row?
I find it very annoying when I tap an adjacent row by mistake and have to search again. This happens pretty often when I drive and have my HD2 on a stand but it also happens from time to time when hold the phone in one hand I try to select/dial the topmost row in the result list.
The last part brings another question - is there a way to add two arrow buttons at the bottom of the dialer which will go trough up/down through the list? These will be very helpful in such "car" situations and also in the case where the search criteria results in large list (more than 3-4 items) which requires a scroll (flip scroll) and/or hiding the dialing pad to see the full list. Currently I've mapped the Vol Up/Down keys for up/down directions with AEButtons but it's not very convenient / comfortable.
I'll try to make some kind of screen shot to show what exactly I mean but I believe you get the point.

Here are the screen shots - the original and the modified (using paint)
It would be great if somebody can make such a dialer ... or explain what I need to make it myself. (the arrow buttons should stay visible when one hides the dialer ... or when the user presses them to start moving the "focused" contact just as if hardware arrows are pressed).

pankov said:
Here are the screen shots - the original and the modified (using paint)
It would be great if somebody can make such a dialer ... or explain what I need to make it myself. (the arrow buttons should stay visible when one hides the dialer ... or when the user presses them to start moving the "focused" contact just as if hardware arrows are pressed).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not sure but I don't think I can do it. I'm not to good at editing those resource dll files.
Someone like RyanMogul6800, or Fards, would know about this. Maybe senf one of them a PM.

[Q] Long press screenshot question

Is it possible to enter the same editing screen with a phote as you get when you make a screenshot?
As in: I make a photo on my phone, is it possible to edit it the same way as a screenshot?
I do not like the S-memo app but i want to use the stylus on a photo in an easy way...

choose photo from gallery, then hit the capacitive menu key (bottom left), then:
more->edit. Then click on the far right icon (the one with scissors & pens in a jar). That brings up a menu with "Pen" as one of the options and you're good to go.

[GUIDE] ..::The Galaxy Note Tips n Tricks Collaboration::..

Mod edit - all of the information here has been moved over into the Galaxy Notes Tips and Tricks thread. Please continue the discussion there.
Hi and welcome to the Samsung Galaxy Note, Tips n Tricks thread...
This is just a collaboration of all the tips that were gathered mainly from the thread 'Galaxy Note: tips and tricks' started by 'galaxytab1'. So massive thanks to him and to all the members that contributed to that thread. I take absolutely no praise in doing this thread as all I am really doing is copying info from one place to another to make it easier for new and experienced users to find what they want. All credit goes to the contributing users.
So to make it easier please do not try and reply to this thread, if there is some information about the Note that you want to share please either post it in the 'Galaxy Note: tips and tricks' thread or PM me to add it to the list, same goes with editing. As always use these tips at your own risk.
Link2Post 'Links' usually mean there is more info about the tip (i.e. Pictures) from their original post.
Prehaps if any admins read this and deem this worthy of useful maybe you could sticky & lock it with certain user editing functions?
Index:
Post 1. Introduction
Post 2. Tips n Tricks
Post 3. Tips n Tricks that help better use of your Note
Post 4. Technical information & tricks
Post 5. Custom & stock ROM related

Tips n Tricks about the Note only
1. Pressing and holding the menu key brings up google search... it also it toggles the keyboard in the browser, even when a text input box isn't selected... (Jade Eyed Wolf)
2. Certain widgets from Samsung are resizable: Bookmarks, Weather, and S-memo. These are again only seen in galaxy note i guess.. Link2Post (galaxytab1)
Hold the widget until it gets big and the desktop gets small, indicating it's able to be moved. Then let go and it'll drop back down and the resizing lines will appear. Touch and hold the grey triangle on the lower right corner, and drag to resize the widget. (maxh)
3. The new browser in 2.3.6 upgrade has this new brightness option in the settings tab. (galaxytab1)
4. There is the ability to tag your music for easier searching. (galaxytab1)
5. You can also do live recording using the built in FM Radio. (galaxytab1)
6. Long pressing on the status bar then sliding your finger left and right adjusts the screen brightness but only when NOT using auto-brightness. (djowett)
7. Three ways to take a screen shot:
I: Using the S-Pen hold in the button then press on the screen until the shot is taken.
II: Like you were doing a hand shake, swipe the bottom of your palm across the screen either left to right or right to left.
III: Press The home button and power button together. (dr.ketan)
8. There is a toggle for the noise reduction during calls. Press menu AFTER call is connected to invoke the option. (Galaxytab1)
9. When you open your contacts list if you swipe your finger over their name to the right it calls them and when you swipe left it opens up an SMS to them. (Braxos)
10. The contacts can be made to search not only with the first letter but second also. Try touching the letters 'A,B,C...'on the right edge of the contacts list and then swipe away towards left, you will see the second letters appearing by which to look up contacts. (Galaxytab1)
11. Pressing the home button wakes the screen up from sleep. (ItsMathematics)
12. The built-in alarm app will ring out the headphones, when plugged in. (eksasol)
13. Pressing the button on the S-Pen and then double tapping on any screen at any point will bring up the S-Memo app. (zs6wdl)/(BaconDanny)
14. Track and remote control various options using 'Find My Mobile' activate in Settings/Location and Security. See this post for a more detailed description http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1410757 Very handy if you loose your phone. (dr.ketan)
15. Pinch to zoom also works in the camera app. (hagba)
16. You can control the FM radio using the packaged earphones. Long pressing the call button starts and stops the player and single presses moves you to the next station. (Strategist )
17. Touch and twist with one finger to rotate photos in gallery, don't use the top of your finger, more like if you were pressing in a fingerprint and then twist 90 degrees. (Darius)
18. Pause your music using the palm of your hand. When playing music and the screen is active place your palm of your hand over the entire screen to pause it until you remove your hand. (Darius)
19. In camera settings choose "edit shortcuts" and you can drag the ones you want onto the left for quick access. Also works for video mode shortcuts as well, useful for quick resolution change. (Darius)
20. Use three fingers to scroll completely up or down entire pages. (masiegel)
21. Long pressing the home button will bring up the last 6 programs used and a short-cut to the task manager. (hagba)
22. To make the keyboard disappear quickly, swipe downward on the keyboard. (imajin)
23. Don't use voice commands? Don't want it to pop up when double clicking home button? It can be easily disabled in apps/Voice Talk/Menu. (Galaxytab1)
24. To mute your ring or alarm just gently turn over the phone so the its face down on a flat surface. (mcatt66)
25. Long pressing the back button in the browser brings up the history list. (katyarevishal)
26. In settings-accessibility at the bottom is a sub menu called answering/end calls, there you can toggle the use of the power button to end the call. I like this one as there is always a small delay in the seen coming on to highlight the end call button.
There's also a toggle for answering a call using the home button and an automatic answer option using the stereo headset. (jamieross)
Pictures supplied by galaxytab1 Link2Post
27. S-memo syncs with Google Docs, just go to S-Memo/Menu/Sync. (Galaxytab1)
28. Tips on S-memo sync with Google Docs:
I. Search option in Docs searches the whole of your document and not just the title. So, of you type something in the notes, it is searchable.
II. Title can be entered at the top, however, any text that you enter on the notes becomes the title.
III. S-Memo also has a tag system (Edit Tag) which neatly arranges your memos together, go to S-Memo/Menu/Sort by tag. (Galaxytab1)
IV. If you are syncing with google docs, deleting a memo doesn't delete the memo on google cloud. So any memo you deleted will be back next time you sync unless you login in at docs and delete the memo.
29. In the stock browser if u pinch to zoom out while fully zoomed out it brings up the new and choose window feature. (jamieross)
30. Upon pressing the status bar for a few seconds,when its pulled right till the bottom of the screen,it disappears immediately,without the need it to pull it up or going back. (NoRmAlY_CrAzY)
31. In S Planner, pinch to zoom will take you to year/month/week/day/now views quickly. Pretty slick. (Croak)
32. While playing a video touch the screen and slide up or down to control the volume. And slide left or right to control the elapsed time. (hagba)
33. I. When opening the calculator you got the standard use of it switching to landscape mode your phone then the calculator switches to a more scientific mode. Not a fully scientific but it gets some good things. (Braxos)
II. Just to add if u slide down the arrow u get all your past calculations.... (jamieross)
34. You can fast forward and rewind while watching videos in the stock galaxy note app. (Chillz88)
35. The photo editor provided by Samsung has this one nifty feature:
Crop a photo and paste into another/The cropped image colour scheme will adjust to the new background. Link2Post (galaxytab1)
36. 3rd party launchers don't support widgets from s-memo, s-planner etc (galaxytab1)
37. Here is one more use of the pen:
Install Handwriting Recognition Calculator from Samsung Apps (not in Market). It works most of the time and even if recognition is not good, there is an edit option to reenter the figures. Kinda cool with the pen! Link2Post (galaxytab1)

Tips n Tricks that help better use of your Note
1. To read at night, display brightness can be dimmed using the app 'screen filter' at http://market.android.com/search?q=pname:com.haxor . (Galaxytab1)
2. ezPdf has this 'freehand' annotation, pen can write on the pdf file and saved there itself, visible on any platform as comments within the pdf.
https://market.android.com/details?id=udk.android.reader&hl=en (Galaxytab1)
3. Use this app to get to camcorder directly, bypassing camera.
http://market.android.com/search?q=p...wens.Camcorder (Galaxytab1)
4. You can connect any mouse and keyboard plus any samsung printer to galaxy note just using on-the-go cable. (bdodge1989)
5. It is not something exclusive to galaxy note, butI discovered these Swype keypad shortcuts on my note: (galaxytab1)
I. Swype key to '123' key swipe: edit options
II. Swype key to 'a'key swipe: select all
III. Swype key to 'x', 'c', 'v'key swipe: cut, copy, paste respectively.
IV. Swype key to 'r' or 't' or 'y' key swipe: numeric keyboard. (este548)
6. One of the best features I like on the GNote is the Clipboard,I havn't noticed this in any other Android device.
one can select the text in almost any application and it will be copied to the Clipboard,I have downloaded an App called AndClip from the Market(free),with it I can View,copy,Delete etc. all the texts which are copied to the Clipboard.
Very usefull feature. (hagba)
7. The notification bar is tough to draw on such a large screen with single hand use, which is why I am using this app:
https://market.android.com/details?i...tusbarexpander Place it on swipepad or other launchers or home screen. (galaxytab1)

Check this out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGqUILrMR0A

You can record video while on Video call.

Sliding a finger right/left over the keyboard spacebar will toggle keyboard language.
long pressing the Swype icon in the swype keboard will take you to the keyboard settings where you can easily change the preferences.
To disable camera shutter sound,first disable the sound by pressing volume button all the way down and only than start the Camera.

Yeah guys il update this thread when new tricks etc have been added to galaxy1's original thread please dont add anymore here

Stuck this one to the top, the Tips and Tricks thread is second. Hope this helps the effort!

reinbeau said:
Stuck this one to the top, the Tips and Tricks thread is second. Hope this helps the effort!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. Lock this thread otherwise everyone will post tips here messing up the system.

Don't know if this is exclusive to Note, or if this has been posted before, or if this is written in the manuals or instructions. Sorry if it is.
In S Planner, letting go after a held tap on a date box in Month view, or [the small space under the date]* in Week/3Days/Days view, will bring out S Memo Lite and what you scribble will be saved to the day where you entered it.
*This:
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}

galaxytab1 said:
No. Lock this thread otherwise everyone will post tips here messing up the system.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will, but I'm not sure you will be able to edit the first post, you'll have to check after I lock it and let me know via PM if necessary.

Huawei Ascend Mate7 Hidden Functions

I bought the Huawei Acend Mate7 mobile a few days ago and has used it for one week. Today i saw an article about "Huawei Ascend Mate7 18 Hidden Functions", and i have a try, while finding that there are many wrong ways that can't be operated, for example, No.2, 6, 10 and 16 all can't work well. If anyone also got the Mate7, you can try as below:
1. Press the down volume button under the dark screen, you can make a call after hearing the voice and then saying the name on your address book.
2. Quickly press the down volume button for twice under the dark screen and you can take photos.
3. When pulling down the notification bar, pull from the upper-left to the down is the notice, and from the upper-right is the switch.
4. When pulling down the notification bar, if there is news, there won't be the function of the third one, but the notification bar.
5. You can search the applications directly by pulling fron the middle of the screen.
6. Press the down volume button and power key for long it supports screenshots.
7. Slide upper, no need to unlock, then you can change the wallpaper freely, and save the pictures that you loved. Moreover, you can also open the Calendar, Calculator, Flashlight and Camera apps in a quick by just one touch.
8. When under the magazine locking station, you can enter the music interface by double-pressing the screen, and return to the unlock interface by pressing twice again.
9. Clicking the screen when selfie, it will shoot automaticly three seconds later.
10. Under full focus mode, it support take photos first and then focus.
11. You can take pictures by just pulling down in the gallery.
12. Fingerprint camera supported.
13. Mirror function: Blowing to the microphone, fog will appeared on the screen.
14. Blowing once again, and the screen will be disappeared.
15. Pressing the icons in the notification bar for long, it will enter into the relative setting interface automatically.
16. You can change the virtual key combination of the navigation bar in the settings.
17. It can search the bar codes and the two-dimensional code automatically through the camera, clicking the detail and you can have a campare with both the price and the performance.
18. Pressing the camera screen for long, it support dragging the focus frame and metering box, and can adjust the focus with metering points.

Krystyna said:
I bought the Huawei Acend Mate7 mobile a few days ago and has used it for one week. Today i saw an article about "Huawei Ascend Mate7 18 Hidden Functions", and i have a try, while finding that there are many wrong ways that can't be operated, for example, No.2, 6, 10 and 16 all can't work well. If anyone also got the Mate7, you can try as below:
1. Press the down volume button under the dark screen, you can make a call after hearing the voice and then saying the name on your address book.
2. Quickly press the down volume button for twice under the dark screen and you can take photos.
3. When pulling down the notification bar, pull from the upper-left to the down is the notice, and from the upper-right is the switch.
4. When pulling down the notification bar, if there is news, there won't be the function of the third one, but the notification bar.
5. You can search the applications directly by pulling fron the middle of the screen.
6. Press the down volume button and power key for long it supports screenshots.
7. Slide upper, no need to unlock, then you can change the wallpaper freely, and save the pictures that you loved. Moreover, you can also open the Calendar, Calculator, Flashlight and Camera apps in a quick by just one touch.
8. When under the magazine locking station, you can enter the music interface by double-pressing the screen, and return to the unlock interface by pressing twice again.
9. Clicking the screen when selfie, it will shoot automaticly three seconds later.
10. Under full focus mode, it support take photos first and then focus.
11. You can take pictures by just pulling down in the gallery.
12. Fingerprint camera supported.
13. Mirror function: Blowing to the microphone, fog will appeared on the screen.
14. Blowing once again, and the screen will be disappeared.
15. Pressing the icons in the notification bar for long, it will enter into the relative setting interface automatically.
16. You can change the virtual key combination of the navigation bar in the settings.
17. It can search the bar codes and the two-dimensional code automatically through the camera, clicking the detail and you can have a campare with both the price and the performance.
18. Pressing the camera screen for long, it support dragging the focus frame and metering box, and can adjust the focus with metering points.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can also switch between the 2 most recent apps without going into the multitasking screen. Hold down the multitasking/appswitch button on the navigation bar for a second or so and it'll switch to the previous app, pressing again will take you back to the app you just had open
Sent from my HUAWEI MT7-TL10 using XDA Free mobile app

You can make your external SD card the default location for downloads, pics, app data by going to Settings>Storage>Default location>SD card.

Supports NTFS formated disks through OTG adapter out of the box.
PS. My samsung note 2 didn't, whetever I tried when on android 4.4.2 even with custom kernel.