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.

Things you probably don't know about your Xperia

Tell us some things that you recently discovered this or the previous month, but never knew that the Xperia was capable of (respond to this thread).
poetryrocksalot's things:
1) The Xperia's shift key can be used in correspondence to the D-pad to select text or files. (I didn't know that the CAP's symbol was actually a shift key)
2) The center button on the Xperia's optical joystick/D-pad can be used to open context menus in file explorer, total commander, resco explorer, spb diary, and just about anything etc. All you have to do is highlight the field of text and press and hold the D-pad. You will see the circular animation indicating that a context menu is about to be open.
3) Your Xperia's mono speakers leave a 1.5 seconds hissing sound after you press a key tone or activate the speakers. This causes your X1 to lose a lot of battery especially if you enable the following: keypad tones, screen tap tones, hardware button tones. Not all Windows Mobile Phones have the hissing sound. The Xperia is one of a few phones with this imperfection (test your other Windows Mobile phones and report here).
comeradealexi's things
4) If you want to select text in opera you have to hold down your finger on the screen and turn text selection ON.
When making a phone call for example i wanted to ring "James" all i would have to enter is 526 to show keyboards "JAM" and the contact appears!
very usefull and VERY efficient
The same for contacts.
Anyway you also have shortcuts in emails,
just press&hold "H".
All the shortcuts there are invoked by press&hold.
You can also navigate through inboxes and messages without going out,
just with navipad.
oTToToTenTanz's things
5) If you dial with hardware keyboard you do not have use this "shift" key. It gets the numbers in instantly. I guess it is not much of a new thing though...
Bronx's things:
6) ok. mine is quite good. when You open Your message inbox, type on hard keys or onscreen keys any info You are looking for, contacts, numbers even text from message bodies. It is automatically searched for You. just try it - quite useful when You have more than few hundred messages just like me.

If you want to select text in opera you have to hold down your finger on the screen and turn text selection ON.

The optical button is the same functionality as a left-mouse click. Holding it is a right-mouse click.

WhyBe said:
The optical button is the same functionality as a left-mouse click. Holding it is a right-mouse click.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah that's what i said in my post too. It surprised me too, and now I love my Xperia so much more because I don't rely on touch screen anymore...it's amazing...
But the way worded that sounds better than the way I said it in my post.
Kudos

Holding space on the hardware keyboard leads to ". "
I don't know if this is stock or FingerKeyboard enabled it somehow, but I like it for typing emails.

THESpideyWVU said:
Holding space on the hardware keyboard leads to ". "
I don't know if this is stock or FingerKeyboard enabled it somehow, but I like it for typing emails.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow on my Xperia it doesn't work. I want that feature! Actually I want to be able to use the "hold" function as an auto input for function symbols.
Does anyone know how to tweak for this to work?

poetryrocksalot said:
Wow on my Xperia it doesn't work. I want that feature! Actually I want to be able to use the "hold" function as an auto input for function symbols.
Does anyone know how to tweak for this to work?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Didnt WhyBe say something about "FingerKeyboard enabled it somehow"

You can customise the àü key ...for example I have £, % and _ set up against the H key
So to get "_" I just type "H" and then hit the àü key twice (first time gives me "-" then second makes it "_")
...to get "%" I hit the àü key once more
I have the Euro symbol and several others set up this way too... never have to use the SYMBOL key any more!

jcsxda said:
You can customise the àü key ...for example I have £, % and _ set up against the H key
So to get "_" I just type "H" and then hit the àü key twice (first time gives me "-" then second makes it "_")
...to get "%" I hit the àü key once more
I have the Euro symbol and several others set up this way too... never have to use the SYMBOL key any more!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How to do?

doministry said:
How to do?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry -should have said!
Got this from member Maedox...
Connect your phone in ActiveSync mode to your computer and open \Windows\sym.0409.txt
Each line is representing one hardware key. Each time you press àü it jumps to the next character on the line in that text file.
Here's the original thread

Hmm.
If you dial with hardware keyboard you do not have use this "shift" key. It gets the numbers in instantly. I guess it is not much of a new thing though...

Keep them coming there are simple and easy things that people just don't know.

When making a phone call for example i wanted to ring "James" all i would have to enter is 526 to show keyboards "JAM" and the contact appears!
very usefull and VERY efficient

comeradealexi said:
When making a phone call for example i wanted to ring "James" all i would have to enter is 526 to show keyboards "JAM" and the contact appears!
very usefull and VERY efficient
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
erm, i think that has been so since Windows mobile 5.

ok. mine is quite good. when You open Your message inbox, type on hard keys or onscreen keys any info You are looking for, contacts, numbers even text from message bodies. It is automatically searched for You. just try it - quite useful when You have more than few hundred messages just like me.

here's a good one: sliding it open reveals a qwerty hardware keyboard

bronx said:
ok. mine is quite good. when You open Your message inbox, type on hard keys or onscreen keys any info You are looking for, contacts, numbers even text from message bodies. It is automatically searched for You. just try it - quite useful when You have more than few hundred messages just like me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Props for that one!

etegration said:
erm, i think that has been so since Windows mobile 5.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
okay. but the thread says "Tell us some things that you recently discovered this or the previous month"
so i am

ring-bearer said:
Props for that one!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The same for contacts.
Anyway you also have shortcuts in emails,
just press&hold "H".
All the shortcuts there are invoked by press&hold.
You can also navigate through inboxes and messages without going out,
just with navipad.

DatDereX1 said:
here's a good one: sliding it open reveals a qwerty hardware keyboard
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol!!! laughed my heart out

installed some input， they don't work

I installed a a few input, but apart from the original input I can not use any of them when typing. I press an hold input setting, no selection of those inputs.
I did tick the box of them inputs at Setting.
something wrong here?

Which keyboard did you install?

The same to me trying to use Better Keyboard. I gave up.

Did you try selecting Better Keyboard from the 'All programs' list and selecting 'Enable Better Keyboard First'?
It won't work unless you enable it first of all. Works perfectly on my Hero.

thecastlefordkid said:
Did you try selecting Better Keyboard from the 'All programs' list and selecting 'Enable Better Keyboard First'?
It won't work unless you enable it first of all. Works perfectly on my Hero.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, this is the procedure I've tried to follow many times. But when I go to the input method selection dialog (the gear button left to the space in the regular keyboard), Better Keyboard isn't there.
I know I'm wrong in some way, but I don't figure out where's the catch.

The way I activate it is to open a new text message or email and in a text input field, press and hold for a few seconds. You should then get an option called 'Select Input Method'. Select it and choose Better Keyboard from the returned list.

thecastlefordkid said:
The way I activate it is to open a new text message or email and in a text input field, press and hold for a few seconds. You should then get an option called 'Select Input Method'. Select it and choose Better Keyboard from the returned list.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK, you're the man. I don't know what was the differences between what you wrote and what I readed until this evening, but I understood you and now I have Better Keyboard up and running. haha
Thanks!

select text

Silly Q, how do you select text from an email? And other places...
it keeps thinking I want to scroll the page...
and in list boxes I can't use calligrapher at all!

speakerphone said:
Silly Q, how do you select text from an email? And other places...
it keeps thinking I want to scroll the page...
and in list boxes I can't use calligrapher at all!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From an Email, you press and hold your finger on the screen and a list of options should appear, choose Make Selection and then you can drag your finger along what you want to copy, once you selected that press and hold again and cut/copy and then hold to paste in.
For text messages, you press and hold your finger on the screen until you get two icon/cursors. You move the cursors along so it highlights what text is between the two cursors. Tap what you want to do etc.
For other programs I'm not sure sorry.

thanks! that did it!

MrMagicMushroom said:
....
For text messages, you press and hold your finger on the screen until you get two icon/cursors. You move the cursors along so it highlights what text is between the two cursors. Tap what you want to do etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is it possible to make this method available in emails and webbrowsing?

yafibo said:
Is it possible to make this method available in emails and webbrowsing?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm very interested in this too. Apparently it is possible, but I cannot find a way or a discussion in which it's explained how.

MrMagicMushroom said:
From an Email, you press and hold your finger on the screen and a list of options should appear, choose Make Selection and then you can drag your finger along what you want to copy, once you selected that press and hold again and cut/copy and then hold to paste in.
For text messages, you press and hold your finger on the screen until you get two icon/cursors. You move the cursors along so it highlights what text is between the two cursors. Tap what you want to do etc.
For other programs I'm not sure sorry.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, great knowledge
Regards

Select Multiple emails on HD1
How do i select multiple emails in inbox on HD2

I'm having a love hate relationship with the Legend now

Hi all,
1. How do you copy & paste certain text with Android?
2. How do you take note? or you just have to use Voice Recorder?
I'm quite disappointed with the Legend/Android for its basic functions of making call; taking note while making call; copy & paste; Sending contact by SMS (have to send via MMS).
It's funny that I've been so comfortable with winmo & laughing at the Iphone's inferior features.
Now the iphone users can laugh at me!!!
just my 2cent

1. You just hold the finger over the text you want to select, then copy it or use the small thingys to select more text. Easy as pie!
If you hold over a word and get a popup you can search the word on google, wikipedia and translate the word/sentence.
For notes you can download a notepad application from market free, there is several to pick from.
---
there is an application on market thats named "note pad" or search for "andronotes".
This is a simple app to make notes and e-mail them.
if you want to take a note during a call, just press the "home" button and open the application, just as you would do on winmo.
----
and in apps not inside sense, you can just press and hold on the text and "select text". then use the triangle or the scrollwheel/optical scroll to select the word and then press and copy/cut.

jmkhenka said:
1. You just hold the finger over the text you want to select, then copy it or use the small thingys to select more text. Easy as pie!
If you hold over a word and get a popup you can search the word on google, wikipedia and translate the word/sentence.
For notes you can download a notepad application from market free, there is several to pick from.
---
there is an application on market thats named "note pad" or search for "andronotes".
This is a simple app to make notes and e-mail them.
if you want to take a note during a call, just press the "home" button and open the application, just as you would do on winmo.
----
and in apps not inside sense, you can just press and hold on the text and "select text". then use the triangle or the scrollwheel/optical scroll to select the word and then press and copy/cut.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi jmkhenka, in my messages, if I press my finger on any word, it auto highlights the whole message & gives me the Message options. There's no Copy. The only thing closest to copy the message is Forward.
In Winmo, during a call, I only have to pull out the Stylus & the Note will pop up to let me take note.
I will look into that app that you recommend.
Thanks for your time jmkhenka.

This notes app also looks very nice:
http://code.google.com/p/android-notes/