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Need a solution for a quadriplegic to make his own calls.

The chair of my company is paralyzed from the neck down though has enough limited mobility with his arms to manage his wheelchair yoke and an oversized trackball for his computer. Whether in the office, home or wherever, he relies on either his secretary or his handler to call someone for him. He'd like to call people himself with a cell phone that someone leaves on a desk or a table for him without further assistance and wants me to make it happen so I turn to you for ideas (and maybe a registry tweak).
I set him up a few years ago with voice recognition software on his computer and that has worked out very well so I'm thinking MSVC. But the first and hopefully easiest obstacle is how to get the phone, a Touch Pro or Diamond specifically, to default to speakerphone. An earpiece is not the best option because that requires someone to put it on him (and take it off if it's wired) and the battery eventually dies. Any way to do that?
The next hurdle is how to get the phone to initiate whatever command that is the equivalent of pressing the button on an earpiece that triggers MSVC, hangs up and answers incoming calls ideally with the screen off so that the battery doesn't die too quickly or so that the phone doesn't need to be plugged in. So, again, can move his forearm and *maybe* be able to have enough coordination to hit the circular button hard enough to use that though he has no muscle control in his fingers so the pressure would rely on the natural stiffness of his fingers (he uses his thumb to click the large trackball buttons). On the other hand, I could map all the buttons surrounding the circle to do the same thing perhaps. But it would be fantastic if he could trigger the phone by shaking it a little to, again, do the same thing that would be done by pressing a bluetooth earpiece's button.
So, 1) how can I get a WinMo phone always to default to speaker and 2) can he take advantage of the accelerometer of the Touch Pro (or Diamond, whichever) to map a soft jiggle (the phone would otherwise be stationary on a flat surface or fully off) to trigger MSVC? I guess he doesn't need to be able to hang up and incoming calls could be set to automatically answer so if those two functions are out of reach that's not a dealbreaker. And leaving the phone on in order to take advantage of the screen for touching, though less desirable, is also an option as his handler can plug the phone in. Or do any other approaches come to mind?
I grately appreciate it.
Doug

Thought I'd take a shot at a possibility. Since you have his PC voice enabled, what about using something like Pocket Controller? I don't know if it can be voice controlled, but it might be worth exploring something like that.

it might be a drain on the battery but maybe something like having a script that runs msvc once a minute so if he need to call someone just wait and then say what he needs to say. or get him an oqo with data and set him up on skype and use dragon speaking software

get a bluetooth for car like : http://direct.motorola.com/ens/carkits/learn-IHF1000.html
install Cyberon Voice Commander on your phone for voice dial. you can answer and dial with one button and voice cammand.

Hmm.. how about windows Vista's built-in voice recognition software? although it takes little time, I did manage to make it do everything I wanted to do without my touching anything.

How about using My Mobiler to control it from his pc
http://freewareppc.com/utilities/mymobiler.shtml

Sorry to post such an unconstructive reply, but what use is a touch-heavy-reliant phone like Diamond or same-thing-but-with-HW-keyboard like Touch Pro to a quadriplegic?
In my humble opinion you should get a BT handsfree with a proper full-time-phone like Nokia or Sony ericsson.
Again sorry for actually not helping much with your problem. But still, my opinion stays the same as mentioned above. Both the telephones are more reliable on functional hands then others.

Thanks!
Wow these are all very good and equally appreciated suggestions! Feels like I've got enough to start googling and hopefully help this guy out. I am truly grateful for the time you all took to respond. I'll post if I have success or problems...
You people are fantastic.
Doug

I love my new Droid but...

The phone interface totally sux! Is there anything better out there? When I get a call I have to drag the thing over to answer. This is very hard to do with 1 hand. Also half the time the screen goes black and I have to unlock it or whatever. Is there any way to just tap to answer?
Making calls is 10 times worse, you have to unlock the phone, find the phone app, open your contacts, tap your contact, tap make call, and then tap call!! It’s like I have to type a freaking paragraph just to make a call! Is there any way to just press one button to open the phone and then press 1 button to speed dial??
Also I turned on Google Voice to make all my calls. It nice and I know how to turn that off, but now all my incoming calls it says "incoming call from so-and-so... Press 1 to accept" so I have to tape the dial pad, and then tap 1, adding 2 more taps just to answer a freaking call! How do I turn that off?
I love everything else about this PDA, but the phone sux! Please help...
---signed, frustrated
P.S. I think I used less key strokes typing all this than I need to to make a call! lol

Any chance they will improve this interface in v2.2??

Very constructive. And I see it’s your 11th post. It’s not a matter of being impatient. It’s a matter of missing calls because its nearly impossible to do while driving, walking a dog with a leash in one hand, caring groceries, almost every real life situation that keeps you from using both hands on your phone. And as I described it’s a lot more than the 1 swipe.
If you don’t agree with me you don’t need to reply but I find the swipe open to be unacceptable and I'm asking if there is another interface out there that is just a tap open. Or a way to map a hard key to answer the freaking phone!

I'm sitting here at my work phone calling myself over and over to "practice" answering with the swipe. I can do it with one hand but it’s a pain in the ass and just thoroughly a really, really bad design. There has to be an app or mod or something that does away with this.

I just saw the new "Rule the air" Droid commercial. Cool commercial... Notice the one thing they didn’t show anyone doing? Getting or making a call!!!
All these new devices are fantastic PDAs with a really bad phone function slapped on top...

BTW with an 2.2 Froyo official release or rom, when the call comes up theres no need to unlock or swipe, just a click of a button.

What are you running 2.1, 2.01/0 or 2.2? Why don't you try finding an app on the store or searching here? You never know....

So I literally called myself 10 times and practiced answering the phone with one hand. Then I went out to bars and got actual calls and it was like impossible to answer them. That drag thing is just ridicules!! You have to drag it all the way across the screen!! Cany they at least meet me half way?? Even with 2 hands it’s hard to answer!!
Come on, you guys all know this is true. This design is just awful!
I understand why they did it, so when you get a call while it’s in your pocket it doesn’t tap against something and answer when you don’t know it… but it’s just terrible!! And like I said making calls is even worse. It’s like a ton of taps so there is no way to make a call while driving.
The Bluetooth headset would help but we all know anyone that actually uses that looks like a total D-bag..
So here is my solution… Someone will make a killing on this and it will make a mockery of the Android phone interface at the same time. We need a little, lightweight Bluetooth dumb phone that has physical answer and hang-up buttons as well as the full number pad that you can assign speed dials too like a NORMAL F-ING PHONE!! If this was out there on the market I would pay $100 easy for! Leave your brilliant PDA that sucks as a phone in your pocket and use the Bluetooth handset to actually make and take calls like a normal human!!

1. how tiny are your hands that you can't slide the bar down with your thumb?
2. i think there's an app called dialer one that will open a keypad where you can see all your contacts and spell their names out with the numberpad to make it easier

Just because some of you don't have the same issues as the OP doesn't give any of us the right to respond in this manner.
The OP has been called dumb, amateur, told he shouldn't have a smartphone; and the list goes on.
I personally have the EVO; there's not a damn thing wrong with my hands and I come from a very long time of smartphones. MORE times than I can count, I'm swiping the screen and not a damned thing is moving. By the time it unlocks, the caller is gone.
So until you have the same problem, some of you might want to get your head out the clouds and stop replying like these *smart* phones are perfect and the people using them are too dumb to know what they're doing.

On HTC phones with Sense you simply press a button to answer. No swiping. I'm surprised there's no app out there to do this on other Android phones.

Just cleaned this thread. All deleted posts are in violation of rule 2.
Please be aware of the rules before posting. Nothing constructive to say; then don't post!
WB

gtg465x said:
On HTC phones with Sense you simply press a button to answer. No swiping. I'm surprised there's no app out there to do this on other Android phones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have to slide to answer my phone if it's locked before I get a call. I prefer the swipe because I don't want to accidentally answer a call while the phone is in my pocket. That said, I would recommend the op check out the app I mentioned or root his phone and find a sense based rom

there are apps for this kind of problem search market and google

gtg465x said:
On HTC phones with Sense you simply press a button to answer. No swiping. I'm surprised there's no app out there to do this on other Android phones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do not be surprised, because there is an app to achieve this. It is called ed's Droid Tools.

I've used Gesture Search (by Google) since it was released on the Market for finding and calling and/or texting my contacts. Put it on your home screen, then when you want to call somebody, open Gesture Search then write their first initial with your finger (or thumb) then touch the phone icon to call or the message icon to text. Works well for me. Never tried it driving, but then again, I'm one of those guys who yells at idiots who drive and talk on their cell at the same time (it's illegal here).
The standard Droid UI doesn't have a skin, so you get the basic Android dialer. While I don't think the slide-to-answer is all that bad, I'm also coming from a Blackberry Storm, which was wicked-terrible when it came to doing... well anything, so I don't complain much about the stock android experience. One thing Android is good for though, is allowing UI replacement apps (ala Dialer One) so poke around the Market and I'm sure you can find something that changes the answer experience for you.

Love windows
Love windows
i am also fooled by android
power user any thing u want to do go with windows mobile

Droid9 said:
The phone interface totally sux! Is there anything better out there? When I get a call I have to drag the thing over to answer. This is very hard to do with 1 hand. Also half the time the screen goes black and I have to unlock it or whatever. Is there any way to just tap to answer?
Making calls is 10 times worse, you have to unlock the phone, find the phone app, open your contacts, tap your contact, tap make call, and then tap call!! It’s like I have to type a freaking paragraph just to make a call! Is there any way to just press one button to open the phone and then press 1 button to speed dial??
Also I turned on Google Voice to make all my calls. It nice and I know how to turn that off, but now all my incoming calls it says "incoming call from so-and-so... Press 1 to accept" so I have to tape the dial pad, and then tap 1, adding 2 more taps just to answer a freaking call! How do I turn that off?
I love everything else about this PDA, but the phone sux! Please help...
---signed, frustrated
P.S. I think I used less key strokes typing all this than I need to to make a call! lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hey dude
to help you out with your dialing problem all you have to do is put the phone/contacts app on your homescreen. the way you described calling the contact is the same way you'd have to do it on almost every other phone so don't act like its a huge task.
organize your homescreens to your preference so that it could make your life easier.
also you can add people to your favorites list so you dont have to scroll through your whole contact list.
as for answering calls, its not that bad. you just gotta hold that green button and slide your finger over. I don't understand how that's difficult or why you'd need practice
phone doesn't suck at all bud

Hi There,
I was thinking of getting one of those because most of my calling during driving...
do you advice me to do so? i mean is the hardware bad? or it is just a matter of waiting for sometime to get an update solving all these problems?
Thank you in advance.

Android Wear : A Retrospective

Okay so its been a while since the release of the first Android Wear devices, whats Changed ? Is it Worth It ? Was star trek onto something ?
Android Wear is still in its infancy, and clearly has a LONG way to come.
If your still undecided about getting android wear before the holiday period let me help you make your decision.
I have used both the Moto 360 & Lg's G Watch, so Im ignoring device Specific additions because thats not really anything to do with Android Wear its to do with the supplied hardware so don't expect to hear me talking about screen quality this is SOFTWARE ONLY !
After a summers use of Android Wear i have come to a conclusion that many may find hard to swallow and ill go through my reasons and thoughts lets start with what it does well.
From Now on Android Wear will be : AW
Driving :
It works perfectly in theory for driving, you can "Okay Google" and send a SMS or place a call ( provided it is safe to do so, or via BT in car audio ) Great ! you think but now the problems of reality occur.
If your Travelling to and from work / home e.c.t you may need to send a SMS or place a call to Standard numbers ( Home / Work / Mum / Dad e.c.t ) however asking to call " Joe Blogs *Insert work place name here* " is not always picked up correctly and AW.
The Screen will show a turning loading / thinking icon and do one of two things ( 1 ) Finally work it out but by this time you've given up or have tried again : (2) Sits there thinking and just times out and forces the watch to disconnect from your paired device.
Then you hit the issue of no phone signal and whilst driving you don't have time to check the tiny screen to see if the microphone icon shows that its ready and connected to accept your voice task again your sat there talking to your watch like an idiot.
Now android Wear has no way of telling you without looking that you have signal / Connection / ready to accept a command, so you may aswell have your phone hooked up Via BT audio in your dock and do it all via the stock Google now because its faster and easier to tell if you have reception.
As a Pedestrian :
This is a massive sticking point, you can glance at your watch to see the time ( and there should be a better option for the Date for all watch faces ) and the weather and that's about acceptable in society.
Talking to your watch to send an SMS e.c.t get you some funny looks and personal space, also you don't want the general public to know / hear about whats for dinner and your plans for the working week(end).
This can all be done from your phone and you won't look like you got beamed down by a passing space ship.
However Turn by Turn Navigation on your watch is great ! no longer glued to your phone screen burning up battery time trying to do a 15min walk you have never done before, AW handles this perfectly turn by turn !
Searching :
Google Android Wear , asking your watch to give you the 5 day forecast for your next holiday destination next week is a no go, your presented with a unreadable card crammed with search results and a swipe option to open it on your phone !? this bemuses me the whole point was to show us fast easy information.
This kind of task is better done on your phone and so are many other common searches like show me the nearest cash machine / Mc Donalds / Navagate to " Cinema e.c.t " this totally renders AW useless !
Asking for weather and time in other places or in your current region is fine as it seems to do these automatically as long as location reporting is activated on your handset.
Asking for anything beyond this well you may as well have used your phone or asked a passer by.
Alarms / Notes / Fitness Tracking :
These Functions work as advertised and as you'd expect on your phone and some even work offline ( Alarms / reminders / notes ), provided your hardware supports fitness tracking you can grab data using 3rd party apps or the soon to be released google FIT, however lots of phones already do this via a pedometer and there for this function is rendered useless because you end up with two sets of data that are quite different from each other ( I have logged 15,000 steps on my watch to find around 8,000 on my handset.
Phone Tasks :
Calling ( apart from the niggles described in the Driving section ) well here is a mess, accepting / declining a call is partly pointless accepting a call forces you to grab your phone and answer, so this option should be removed so you can only decline or view whos calling, I can hear my phone ringing from my pocket so i'll take it out to look if I can.
There is no option to answer a call and force it to be taken via speaker phone so if your doing a two handed task with your phone near by and some one calls you still have to stop, otherwise in situations like driving the accept call function is fine provided you can pass the phone to a passanger or are hooked up via BT audio.
Final Thoughts :
It works great In car provided you have signal and can shout at your wrist simple names and messages, and you don't already have a in car phone cradle set up where you have voice activation enabled - All of this will be super seeded by android auto so having AW for this reason alone is totally negated and you may aswell wait for Android Auto or carry on with your BT set up.
As of above the rest of AW is pretty useless because using AW is best in a car or doing two handed things where you can't stop and answer the phone, basic function is great and it looks nice but well though out functions are lacking and the actual deployment scenarios where its is applicable are far and few between for several reason stated.
Personally its a gimmick, and even for the G Watch's cheap price its still not worth it and i can't see it ever being.
Google's own voice actions on phones far surpasses AW's usefulness.
Possibly in developing markets I can see it being worth an investment for under $80 to pair with an android one device.
With my BT car stereo / Nexus 5 / Nexus 7 / PC computer its a nice luxury but thats about it, it doe snot let me achieve day to day tasks any faster than just having my phone around its just an annoyance.

I have a G watch and today it is pretty useless. I preferred my old Sony Smartwatch 2, it had better apps, I was able to check twitter, facebook, Whatsapp, call registry, whole sms emails in my phone. With android wear, by now I cannot.

I find it troubling that it has as much power under the hood as a low end smartphone but can't do nearly as much. If I was extremely busy and had bad memory I would use it more but for now it is just a fancy watch to me. I want to be able to actually open an app like Google music. Scroll through albums/tracks/etc. like I do the Google now cards. Use it as a remote for chromecast instead of pulling out my phone. I dunno. I can think of lots of cool things it COULD do but doesn't or won't ever do. Hopefully it is like chromecast and gets some updates and more features in the future. My Sony smartwatch 2 also had more function than the new aw.
Edit: I have read that the new sw3 will allow you to sync music to it and use it seperately from the phone as a music player. I will probably switch to that device simply for that feature alone. G watch is currently in its cradle collecting dust.
---------- Post added at 03:28 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:21 PM ----------
One more thing. This is silly, I'm sure its some kind of disorder, but I don't like to talk much. I prefer text or email when people contact me or I contact someone else. I don't like to use the voice commands in Google now or on wear. I just don't like to talk much at all unless I am in a real conversation with real people in person. That makes it hard for me to utilize this tech in its current state. If they just add more touch functionality I would be grateful.

I find that accepting calls is actually very helpful when walking or riding a bike.
I usually have a headset on, a quick glance at my watch shows me who's calling and I can decide whether it's appropriate to take the call while in traffic, noisier surroundings etc.
Having the option to accept calls with speakerphone would be nice though.
From my experience the main use case for Wear watches is quick access to notifications w/out reaching into one's pocket. As of now it's only a small usability improvement but the platform has more potential.

Thanks for the overview of your experience. I tend to agree with most of your observations. I have had the Sony, Galaxy Gear, Qualcomm Toq, and now the LG. All have their pros/cons. Everyone wants something different/specific out of their smart device. I am enjoying the AW experience but miss several capabilities I had with the other platforms. I want some ability to look at history of email/messages/etc.. that I lose after I swipe a card. Battery life is manageable but needs to improve if they expect the masses to embrace (Toq with low energy Mirsol screen 5 days continuous use).
I question who Google uses to test their software. They need to use others from outside their company to beta test this. Get a wide variety of testers (XDA Developers/College kids/Business professionals) to slap on a beta watch/software and listen to what they say. I know the Google developers have a vision of how they want the software, but quite frankly the Google Now experience is not my favorite.
AW 2.0 is due out soon. I don't expect a radical departure from the current approach. I do hope that the development kit will open up more so 3rd party developers can put in some of the capabilities myself and others like.
I am still a smartwatch geek and genuinely enjoy my AW watch. I think by next year we will have hardware and software that can accommodate the vast variety of different things we all want out of our devices.

I would use the navigation on my AW watch a lot more if when google maps navigation started up on the phone it could have an option to not unlock the screen. My phone is always in my pocket and screen always pointing inward to protect the screen if I walk into a table. If I set AW navigation, the phone screen will wake up and my phone often will register screen swipes through my pocket material next to my leg and do random things.
I feel that kicking off AW navigation, then having to take out the phone and switch off the screen and put back in my pocket makes the AW part a bit redundant.
Likewise with making calls if I am using a Bluetooth speaker or headset with phone in pocket.
I would much prefer Waze had android wear function than google maps anyway.
Also i find of I go to do a Google command on my watch about a third of the time the dumb options list with 'drink a glass of water' comes up and the watch stops listening. Then if I have my hands full I end up having to swipe the screen downwards with my damn nose to resolve the situation. I use mini launcher & would love a way to stop the stock app drawer from coming up at all.
That said I do have a really busy work life and find the reminder feature really useful & I use it for everything.
However, the alarm function which I thought would be useful is rendered pointless by it's insistence to only set any alarm to go off every day at that time, rather than a one off. The few times I have used it I end up at the same time the next day having to go into the menu & deleting the alarm once it has gone off pointlessly the next day as well.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Free mobile app

I can't help but agree with all the points the OP makes, my G Watch is currently gathering dust and awaiting the new update but I am not expecting much. Just like ruben46 I found my old Sony SW2 to be a much more useful device despite the superior hardware of the G Watch.

good thread.
i mostly agree with what's been posted, but much like when Quicktime 1.0 came out (160x120 video playing at 3-5 fps) AW has alot of growing up to do.
i'm a little depressed with the lack of activity in the watch & AW forums on here..there's not the kind of volume forums like the N4 and N5 enjoy..but that's to be expected with less than a dozen watches on the market that nobody is rushing out to purchase.
i'm excited about 2.0 and also the refresh (when it happens).
one thing not mentioned on here is the 'tinycam' webcam app. i have a webcam purchased for baby watching and when i get it set up, i think the webcam app could be useful anytime we're downstairs or something to get a notification if the baby is moving. same for using it as a security device.
i should point out i also bought a pebble for my brother but not sure if he really took advantage of it..i sure had fun setting it up for him.
so yeah..AW is very 'meh' so far but i think once the devs start digging in it will start to ramp up with new possibilities.
i'm holding onto the G and we'll see how it goes.

Android Wear, what I love and Hate

Ok as some of the members of this forum may know I got off to a shaky start with my Android wear watch (a Sony SW3).
I've now had it about four weeks and have over come the major problems I initially had, so I thought I would start a tread highlighting the things I love and the things I hate so others can assess if a smart watch is for them.
Firstly, what I love:
- Reading messages from Text, Email, Whatsapp and Messenger
It's so simply to just quickly look at my wrist see if I'm interested, if not I delete, if I am, may read further on the watch or if the message is to long, find my phone and continue there.
- Voice control
A really unexpected plus for me. I thought 'OK Google' was a bit of a gimmick at first, but how wrong could I have been. It's fantastic (OK, I feel a bit of a nerd saying OK Google to get it started, but that's a tiny problem). Driving and going to be late, OK google, Send text message to XXXX, then speak your message eg ' Sorry running late will be with you in 30 minutes. The translation is actually pretty accurate and it's done, you don't have to take your eyes off the road!
- It's an accurate watch, not sure where it gets it's time from but I guess it comes from the phone which in turn gets the time from the network which means no more setting, not running fast or slow. Not sure how it works when you change time zone though but I'll find that out soon enough.
- It's waterproof. Don;t forget to turn the touch screen off, but I've now been swimming with it, I regularly shower with it. Not a hint of a problem.
- Control you music system. I use Sonos around my home and I can turn the volume up and down, change track. Ok it's limited but it still an unexpected benefit.
- Control Bluetooth music with Spotify. Really a feature best used in the car. There's an app that will fire up Spotify on your phone which in turn will use the blue tooth audio to connect to your car. No more digging around to find you phone, unlock it, fire up spotify, find your play list etc etc etc.
- Incoming calls. Nice feature as I can decide if I want to take the call without having to find my phone to see who's calling.
What I hate (ok hate is a bit strong, but)
- The UI I think is not properly thought through You have al these options, tilt to wake, tilt to scroll through cards. Clumsy at best and a battery drain at worst (tilt to wake particularly) Even the touch screen to wake is not that cleaver as it can be operated but a lot of things touching the screen not just me, eg a sleeve, particularly one that is damp
- Voice control Ok I know I've said above that voice control is fantastic but it has one major down side, it needs internet connectivity. If it doesn't have it, it just doesn't work! Wish it would use the processing power of my phone to process voice.
- Wifi, ok I accept this is probably a bug, but wifi doesn't currently work properly, for some reason it will drain all the all the battery for no apparent reason and it does it very fast. I've now turned it off and only turn it on on the occasions because it's great to have full functionality
- Screen, the screen is fine, but that's damming it with faint praise. I would really like to see a higher quality screen and a little bit bigger would be nice.
- Incoming calls. When rejecting a call, it would be good to be offered a 'rejection message' that is sent via text giving a reason for the rejection.

When rejecting calls you can slide up instead of left por right swipe ano it will show up predefined messages that it will automaticly send to The caller.
::enviado do meu oneplus one via tapatalk::

My complaints (1 month usage) is the app tray feels bloated. Not every app needs to be displayed. Not every app has options set through the watch. Also the layout feels cramped to me. I would prefer some options (icons only, 1x2, list mode, 1x1 mode, text/no text, recent shortcuts at top on/off, etc.)
2. Embedded speaker for taking quick calls without digging for your phone last minute. 1 problem a watch introduces is that your phone starts to be left behind. I now leave my phone on the counter while I buzz around my home. Phone rings, its a mad dash down stairs to find my phone.
3. Some sort of keyboard. I'll take the old school T9 input. Just let me type a few things.

player911 said:
My complaints (1 month usage) is the app tray feels bloated. Not every app needs to be displayed. Not every app has options set through the watch. Also the layout feels cramped to me. I would prefer some options (icons only, 1x2, list mode, 1x1 mode, text/no text, recent shortcuts at top on/off, etc.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Download wear mini launcher from the playstore. It's a brilliant replacement that let's you customise the watch to how you want it.

I totally agree with you. I also use Android wear for
Reading messages from Text, Email, Whatsapp and Messenger
Voice control

Agree with some points according to my experience with my old android wear.
Hope my new one will work better.

My most of my complaints are solved with the Asus ZenWatch2. It is a solid upgrade to the LG G Watch. Once Marshmallow drops, we'll get a new app tray and speaker support (Zenwatch2 and Huawei) for calls.
I tried the alt launchers and it doesnt replace the stock launcher but runs over top of it. So it just adds to the chaos. However after the nostalgia wore off, I dont really use apps thus dont need to go into the app drawer.

Keyboard: try FlickKey
player911 said:
3. Some sort of keyboard. I'll take the old school T9 input. Just let me type a few things.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try FlickKey Keyboard for Wear. It adds a keyboard to any app that wants to call it. Right now, that is limited to Wear Messenger, Coffee for Wear, and K-9 for Wear - you need one of those messaging apps to be able to use it. BTE, FlickKey is not a T9 style keyboard - it works better than that.

I have tried various keyboards. What I was referring to was an option, by default, in Android wear to have a keyboard input. I don't use any of those apps, thus having a keyboard right now would be irrelevant.

What apps would you like to use a keyboard with?
player911 said:
I have tried various keyboards. What I was referring to was an option, by default, in Android wear to have a keyboard input. I don't use any of those apps, thus having a keyboard right now would be irrelevant.
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Click to collapse
I certainly agree that users should be able to decide for themselves if they want to use a keyboard or not, and which one they want on their smartwatch. What apps would you like to use a keyboard with? FlickKey can be added to any app with just about 15 lines of code. So message the dev who makes the app you want FlickKey in and let them know they can easily add it for free.

I find Android Wear to be very useful - when it works. Performance on my original 360 hasn't been very consistent either but I'm sure the S400 watches fare much better. Seriously though - every Android OEM needs to switch to AMOLED as soon as possible since it's much more suitable for smartwatch use.

I have installed AW on a Samsung Gear 2 (ported to the watch by @biktor_gj) and it runs really great !
Much much better than the default Tizen where it comes with normally.
Since I am using AW, I'm really hooked on it.
I love to be able to navigate with my watch and/or get notifications (from Google Maps) about any traffic jams or hold ups on my route.
I love to be able to use my voice to respond to whatsapp messages or even use my voice to make a new message without even holding my phone.
Really looking forward to the upcoming version (Marshmellow?), which suppose to have speaker support, because the Gear 2 has a build-in speaker.
So that means I can make calls too again from my watch (which is now only possible in Tizen, but not AW).

Hangouts and Messenger and Email (I know there are email clients that support wear and flickkey). I doubt Hangouts or Messanger will get it support.

Question Frustrated with Google dialer

I don't know about you guys, but the Google dialer is one of the worst human factors designs with the latest iteration.
A right-handed person typically puts the phone up to the right side of their face and the cheek, even with the sensor to turn off the screen on, hits the mute button to mute the phone.
This is extremely frustrating. What does everyone else think about the dialer? What do you guys use? Workarounds?

simple workaround, don't touch the phone to your face

rester555 said:
I don't know about you guys, but the Google dialer is one of the worst human factors designs with the latest iteration.
A right-handed person typically puts the phone up to the right side of their face and the cheek, even with the sensor to turn off the screen on, hits the mute button to mute the phone.
This is extremely frustrating. What does everyone else think about the dialer? What do you guys use? Workarounds?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't use the Google Dialer, have in the past, but found this dialer months ago and even paid for the ad-free version. Lots of features in the settings.
[App][4.0+] True Phone - Best Dialer & Contact manager replacement
[App][4.0+] True Phone Dialer & Contacts & Call Recorder True Phone has arrived to replace your stock dialer and contact manager and bring your dialing experience to the next level! It's the only one dialer app with full contact management...
forum.xda-developers.com

spookytay said:
simple workaround, don't touch the phone to your face
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll take it under advisement. But my face looks like this... View attachment 5773213

It's not just the dialer but also contacts inside the dialer is not of the best design imho. Coming from a Samsung Note 20 Ultra I thought I would love the original Android feel but I do miss some of the improvements Samsung made from an ergonomic point of view. I do like the aesthetics of the p7p very much.

I have never had an issue with this. It doesn't matter which side of my face I put the phone up to, the proximity sensor stops me from hitting any buttons.
Also, I thought most right-handed people put their phone to the left side of their face like I do so they have their right hand free to do other things lol. I even put my phone in my left pocket.
I do agree about the contacts in the dialer though. Never been a fan of it. At least Google has smart dialing for contacts in the dialer though so I never have to actually use the contacts section.

EtherealRemnant said:
I have never had an issue with this. It doesn't matter which side of my face I put the phone up to, the proximity sensor stops me from hitting any buttons.
Also, I thought most right-handed people put their phone to the left side of their face like I do so they have their right hand free to do other things lol. I even put my phone in my left pocket.
I do agree about the contacts in the dialer though. Never been a fan of it. At least Google has smart dialing for contacts in the dialer though so I never have to actually use the contacts section.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
An interesting phenomena.. How many people use which hand when calling. But yes, I should probably not put the phone to my face, also when I squash the phone into my neck and shoulder when I have to use both hands, the mic get's smooshed and people can't hear me. I just have a terrible face

rester555 said:
An interesting phenomena.. How many people use which hand when calling. But yes, I should probably not put the phone to my face, also when I squash the phone into my neck and shoulder when I have to use both hands, the mic get's smooshed and people can't hear me. I just have a terrible face
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Honestly sounds more like you have a terrible proximity sensor. Mine is so sensitive that it drives me nuts sometimes. Like the other day I was on a call and put it on speaker so I could answer some text messages and trying to swipe down the notification panel with my index finger was just turning the screen off so I had to actually angle it down and to the left to get the drawer open.

I'm right handed and I use my left hand to make a phone call...

+1 on the the right handed people holding phone in left to dial with the right hand.

I'm righthanded and use my right hand to hold and dial the phone.

Lughnasadh said:
I'm righthanded and use my right hand to hold and dial the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Welcome to the club brother. It feels so weird in my left hand to make a call.

I am predominantly left handed in that i write and throw left handed but use both hands and either ear to make calls, thanks to the world being right handed i am comfy using either hand for most things and i havent noticed a problem when on a call and i swap sides regularly thought a call.

The other features i miss in pixel after coming from OnePlus -
- allow to dial a number from second sim card. I know I can switch the sim after dialing a number but that is a bit frustrating if you don't want to share both your numbers and dialled the number by mistake from the sim you intend not to
- i miss the native video call from my native network provider which was so easy and independent of any additional app. I wish Google could bring it back and not force to use duo for video calls.

don_pablo007 said:
allow to dial a number from second sim card. I know I can switch the sim after dialing a number but that is a bit frustrating if you don't want to share both your numbers and dialled the number by mistake from the sim you intend not to
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I mean you can do this but it's going to prompt you before every call to choose what SIM to use.

Here is my case
Im right handed but use my phone mostly by my left hand single hand. Actually it feels un natrual for me to use my right hand and the phone.
As for the dialer, my god its so lacking. Im also a "true phone" user for many many years. But here are some things im facing.
1. If i use true phone then i loose on call screening feature that the stock dialer offers.
2. Ability to select which sim to use when dialing
3. Ability to use same sim to call back. Lets say if i receive a call on sim 1, when i dial back to should automatically use that same sim to call back.
On my oneplus 7 pro i ran both that stock dialer and "true phone" side by side which doubled up the features for me. Currently if i set the stock dialer as default dialer then "true phone" doesnt open and vice versa.
Also maybe its a bug in "true phone" but lets say if its set as the default dialer, when i want to do call forwarding, the true phone only takes me to the system forwarding menu but i cant know which sim it is since im running 2 sims.
And finally the t9 search, " true phone" is miles ahead.
What a dilemma

rester555 said:
I don't know about you guys, but the Google dialer is one of the worst human factors designs with the latest iteration.
A right-handed person typically puts the phone up to the right side of their face and the cheek, even with the sensor to turn off the screen on, hits the mute button to mute the phone.
This is extremely frustrating. What does everyone else think about the dialer? What do you guys use? Workarounds?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the same issue. looking for a salution

Besides the design flaws, the dialer stopped working mostly since the December update. Most annoying is that it no longer shows when a call comes in. And it's still a phone right? So this is one of the things, if not the first, that should just work!
Clearing cache and data doesn't help. Will be downgrading the phone app to the November version.

Huh ? I use it on my right cheek as well, never accidentally mute the call tho. Although i always awarely give gap between cheek and screen, because i have oily skin, and hate the need to wipe my screen after each call.

Google contacted me after I made some serious complaints about the dialer and other bugs. Said 'they will be working on this, thanks'. I installed Simple Dialer from Simple Mobile Tools, paid .79 cents to give it normal colors and my phone now works like a phone...