[Q] Making the switch (from Android G2.3.4), have some questions - Windows Phone 7 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hi all,
Thanks in advance for answering some questions I have.
I've watched a ton of vids, done a pretty good amount of research so far, but still have a few unanswered questions about WP7.5. I will be looking at getting a Lumia 800 as that's what my carrier is offering in Canada. I'm sick of Android being flaky due to the fragmented ecosystem and am looking forward to the 'closed' nature of WP7.5 - I just want it to work. Period.
So, on to the Qs:
Can you enable a number row over the QWERTY keys on the keyboard? Alternatively, can you long-press those keys to pop up the numbers, even if they don't show?
Can you go into the settings to force the phone app to start with the dialpad as opposed to the call log/history?
Like in Smart Keyboard on android, does the first suggested word in the suggestions when typing get auto-selected when you hit the spacebar?
Are there alternative apps for StumbleUpon or Feedly available? (I couldn't find them, but I use these 2 apps reasonably often) Suggestions for similar, if no?
Functionality of the phone in Canada vs US? (ie which functions don't work: Local Scout, Bing Vision, Music search, etc etc)
Is there any quick way to change settings without having to pin them all to your home screen?
Can you make the calendar app start with Agenda view?
Thanks, I'll add more if I think of them.
O

>> Can you enable a number row over the QWERTY keys on the keyboard? Alternatively, can you long-press those keys to pop up the numbers, even if they don't show?
There is a Key which shows up all the numbers and other characters but its not like a popup and no long press.
>>Can you go into the settings to force the phone app to start with the dialpad as opposed to the call log/history?
Nope but there are apps which are purely number pads you can use.
>>Like in Smart Keyboard on android, does the first suggested word in the suggestions when typing get auto-selected when you hit the spacebar?
No, You need to tap and select the word.
>>Are there alternative apps for StumbleUpon or Feedly available? (I couldn't find them, but I use these 2 apps reasonably often) Suggestions for similar, if no?
Functionality of the phone in Canada vs US? (ie which functions don't work: Local Scout, Bing Vision, Music search, etc etc)
No Idea on then but what do you use Feedly for ?
>> Is there any quick way to change settings without having to pin them all to your home screen?
You need to use the shortcut apps for that.
>> Can you make the calendar app start with Agenda view?
No

wpxbox said:
>
You need to use the shortcut apps for that.
>> Can you make the calendar app start with Agenda view?
No
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
WRONG!
It remember the last view you were in. if you leave in agenda view, when you go back, that is the view you will see 1st.

@ROCOAFZ Never Knew that so thanks a ton for that.

>>Like in Smart Keyboard on android, does the first suggested word in the suggestions when typing get auto-selected when you hit the spacebar?
No, You need to tap and select the word.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats not true, it does auto select and use it.

Been using WP from sometime but not sure how this works if at all possible.
Like when I type HAV it shows me Have but when I hit spacebar, it does not auto complete but adds a space.
nilsk123 said:
Thats not true, it does auto select and use it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

There are some words that it will auto fill in but they have to be the only possible thing you would be typing in context with the sentence. Most words have to be chosen from bar right above the text. (i like it this way)
No problem on the agenda view. Mine is always in that view so that's what i always see

1: To add to what others have said, you can tap-and-slide to add just a single number or punctuation in one motion. From the standard keyboard, put your finger down on the number/punctuation mode key, slide it to the number or punctuation you want (the keyboard will temporarily switch modes when you touch the key initially), and release. The key your finger was on (in the alternate mode) will be typed, but the keyboard will be in the original mode. Very handy.
Alternatively, you can add some registry values that will create press-and-hold options for the top keys to have numbers. I added a press-and-hold list to my comma key; sometimes it's a lot nicer than switching modes even briefly! (I use a lot of semicolons.)
3: For some reason, nobody has mentioned this yet. If the phone will auto-correct (including auto-complete), then the suggested word/completion will be bold. Pressing the Spacebar when there's a bolded suggestion will use that suggestion automatically.
If none of the suggestions are bold (because what you typed is already a valid word, or because it isn't sure what you meant to type), then you can tap on a suggestion to use it. The phone does have a setting to automatically add a space after you do this.
4: There's an app that comes up when you search for StumbleUpon, based on keyword match (it's not actually a stumbleupon app, but it targets the same kind of user). I haven't tried it (but then, I don't use SU either).
5: Vision and Music Search should both work just fine (they're not locale based at all, so far as I know). Scout... I think it works in Canada? I've never tried (I live close to the border, but not *that* close, and international data costs money so I always have it disabled). I assume Zune Pass and Directions both work as well, and those are the other two locale-sensitive features I can think of that might care.
6: Not really, but how often do you need to mess with settings? There are some apps that let you quickly reach the ones you use most often, or let you quickly reach ones that are normally a few levels deep, but no one-tap toggles yet that I'm aware of.
However, I really don't find it required to enter settings much at all. See a new WiFi network? The phone will prompt you. You'll only save a very small amount of power by leaving WiFi off when not in use; the phone is very good at putting it in a power-saving mode. I almost never need to touch any of the other settings.

Didn't notice the bold... good post ... i'm always learning something new in Windows phone

Related

Quick new appointment app?

Hi I was wondering if anyone knew of an app that basically makes entering new appointments easier/quicker. Not that it's that difficult or slow now. I just think it could be faster. Example:
Launch app and immediately it has a large text box asking for the Subject. Type subject hit next it then shows a large month view of the current month. Select day/date click next it then has a large box to type in or choose the time. Choose time click done. That's it.
The current way is not bad it's just sometimes it's hard to pinpoint the time dropdown and date dropdowns, I'll accidentally click the wrong dates or times a lot. And if I try to use my dpad on the Diamond forget about it. That dpad is horrible.
This of course would be for simple non elaborate appointments. Not recurring or custom ones. Most of the time I'm always trying to enter in a new appt before I forget and usually while I'm in the middle of something.
Thanks in advance for any info. It seems like this wouldn't be too hard to make. basically take all the info entered then inject it into the calendar as a new appt. No?
I use Pocket Informant, it works very good for me. When you tap the time box, a large set of numbers pop up and you just choose the nubers in order, and the date uses a calendar. Not completely finger-friendly, but it is much better than the default, and it's a great app to begin with.
Or, use ThumbCal.
TheChampJT said:
I use Pocket Informant, it works very good for me. When you tap the time box, a large set of numbers pop up and you just choose the nubers in order, and the date uses a calendar. Not completely finger-friendly, but it is much better than the default, and it's a great app to begin with.
Or, use ThumbCal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I'd like to not use a calendar replacement though. Just a lite little app that only runs when I bring it up then ends when finished.
Thread will be moved to Q&A

Tick! A convenient timer!

Hi everybody !
After a year of lurking, i've published my first app !
It's called Tick! and it's a simple timer but i've worked hard on making it easy to launch.
Since there is no wheel selector on the sdk, I've developed one to set the number of minutes wanted. With three clicks, you can launch a timer to remaind you that your pastas or your eggs are ready !
Your comments are welcome !
Since I'm new on the forum, I'm currently not allowed to post external links, so if you want to try it, search for Tick! on the market or SlideMe. I will put images, links and QR-Code as soon as i will be allowed !
RabugenTom
Nice app. Any plans on releasing the source
Any chance for an APK for those of us without data?
Nice
Good Work Buddy works perfectly on Xperia X10i
Thanks for the replies ! I've added the apk posted on the market.
I'm working on an improved version !
Agreed, Great work RabugenTom. Love the custom wheel selection.
Have to admit, though, I'm dying to have multiple timers. I'm not sure off the top of my head how they would fit in with your snazzy countdown timeline, but I'm sure it could be done.
+1 for release of the source
Love the app... Mightve been nice if it worked with 30sec increments as well but that might just be me, and there are other more robust timer apps for when you need that i guess.
One thing I noticed though... If the app is open and showing on the screen (IE - not in the background while working on something else or on one of the home screens), Tapping the app notification (in the notifications pane) will "reopen" the apps interface, and this can be done multiple times.
Basically you end up with multiple instances of the same timer... So if youre looking to go back to whatever was open before - home screen or other - by pressing the back button, youll just close the last instance you "opened" via the notification, taking you back to the previous instance of that same timer, and so on until you reach the first one that was opened when you started the app.
It doesnt seem to affect the functionality of the app in any way that ive seen, but it is rather odd.
Sort of like tapping the notification calls on the wrong "show" function, opening a new window rather than un-hiding the original.
Thanks for the feedbacks !
I'm working on an improved version with pause mode, multiple timers and 30s increments. I will maybe release the source later, after a lot of cleaning !
For the notifications, it's the behavior of android which works by intents. Theses are sort of messages send to applications. Intents depends on something they call Context. This is very powerful since you can launch (or do whatever you want to) an application in different ways, and the behavior of the application can depend on the intent. For example, when you launch an application from the launcher on the home screen, you actually send an intent to the application.
In the Tick! case, when you click on the notification, you send an intent to bring back to foreground (if hidden) or relaunch (if closed) the application GUI (which is different from the counting "engine" which is a background process called Service). The intent sent from the notification is different from the one you used to launch it, thats why it relaunch the GUI because the system thinks it is a different context (which is the case).
You can try it : launch from the launcher, launch a timer, go back to the home screen. Now, the GUI is no more in foreground. If you open the notification bar an click on the notification it will relaunch the GUI as expected, and if you continue to click on it again, it will do nothing (as expected). That's because the second time you launched the app, you did it by sending an intent from the notificiation bar, which is different from the one from the launcher.
Now, i don't find this behavior very annoying, and I don't want to write 100 lines of code to handle differents cases! A trivial solution may exist, but I'm too novice with Android to look at it. If someone knows this easy solution, it will be a pleasure to implement it !
Very nice timer. However I have found two problems:
1. When selecting the notification tone, "Default" plays my ringtone when previewing, but when used for real it plays the default notification sound instead.
2. I used Tick for a five minute countdown several hours ago, and afterwards I exited the program and cleared the notification, but it still prevented my phone from sleeping all these hours, draining the battery severely. I had to use a process killer to get my phone to sleep.
Do you really need to keep the phone from sleeping, even during the countdown? A timer is just an alarm with a countdown, and alarms work even when the phone is sleeping. You just have to update the progress every time the phone wakes up. Right?
Hi,
1-I will look on the notification problem. It is quite strange since it always worked for me. Note that the parameter are set for the notification at the launch of the counter. Every change you make will affect only new countdowns. When you exit the app, it always save the last parameters, even made during a countdown, and restore them at a relaunch. So it is strange, and since i've improved again the counting engine, I hope this will be solved in the coming release.
2-You're right, I've found conditions when the wake-lock is not released at the end of the countdown. It's set now. However, the wake-lock requested is partial and does only concern the CPU, not the screen. I've tested again your version on my unplugged G2 and it behave just well.
The CPU is required to fire an alarm even in sleep mode. Thats because i don't use the alarm service of the device which only check every new minute if there is something to do.
And when it's in sleep mode, only a tiny service is counting. The GUI is stopped and it's memory given back.
May I ask what model of phone you use?
RabugenTom said:
May I ask what model of phone you use?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm using an HTC Desire.
I've just added here (and on the market) the version 1.3 which resolves a lot of issues (for exemple, the service exits as soon as it's no more used, thanks to bugmenever) and adds a pause mode (long click on the button)
RabugenTom said:
Now, i don't find this behavior very annoying, and I don't want to write 100 lines of code to handle differents cases! A trivial solution may exist, but I'm too novice with Android to look at it. If someone knows this easy solution, it will be a pleasure to implement it !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
im fairly certain there is something simple out there to handle this, but as opposed to you being novice with android, i have 0 experience programming for it. and youre right, its not THAT annoying, and certainly not worth most your work time at this point.
Happy to hear about all those plans though! look forward to seeing them in action
keep up the good work!

Ways you think TF could make more use of keyboard

I feel this is unique enough to merit its own thread and I looked at the first 30 pages for anything similar and found nothing.
What do you think would make the dock more worth it? Not necessarily more of a netbook, because if you want a netbook then buy a netbook, but more along the lines of functionality that should be there or is already there but needs improving. This is not really a gripe session, more of a brainstorm and also helping to make suggestions to other people if a solution already exists/comes into existence. But do try to keep it reasonable; keep your expectations realistic of an Android-running device.
I'm mainly talking about Android, since as far as I know, no other OS is stable just yet, but hardware is also a determining factor. Also, since a lot of Android is the apps, I think it would be alright to list an app functionality that would be nice (i.e., a video player, an SSH client, etc.)
And hopefully it would be nice if we followed the format of
What: What it is
Why: Why you believe it is necessary.
I'll start with a few I've noticed (I run Prime 1.6 [I think] currently):
Keyboard should provide all basic functionality
I found it odd that there's a menu button, but no app-switcher key on the keyboard. I find it strange that that core piece of functionality still requires the use of the touch screen.
Word processor should focus on keyboard
Just a bunch of stupid things that make it incredibly annoying to use and would never fly in a desktop processor.
-Ctrl+S should save
-Shift should be able to select
-Bullet indenting is horrid; should use tab
Dock-friendly SSH client is desperately needed
(Hear me out. I don't expect a full IDE at all, but a simple SSH client really is not too much to ask. Again, it works perfectly, just not at all designed for the dock.)
ConnectBot is ok, but it just fails if you have a full keyboard and want to use it as a simple SSH client. Shift acts as capslock, there is no way to do many shortcuts such as Ctrl+O (save in GNU Nano), and many characters like * can't be typed directly into the console.
That's what I've noticed so far. Hopefully you guys will think this is a good idea and chip in your opinions.
-notbryant.
I want to jump around in a document if possible.
I use the regular arrow keys way more than I do in Windows.
Also I'd like to see more Ctrl+combinations available.
notbryant said:
I feel this is unique enough to merit its own thread and I looked at the first 30 pages for anything similar and found nothing.
What do you think would make the dock more worth it? Not necessarily more of a netbook, because if you want a netbook then buy a netbook, but more along the lines of functionality that should be there or is already there but needs improving. This is not really a gripe session, more of a brainstorm and also helping to make suggestions to other people if a solution already exists/comes into existence. But do try to keep it reasonable; keep your expectations realistic of an Android-running device.
I'm mainly talking about Android, since as far as I know, no other OS is stable just yet, but hardware is also a determining factor. Also, since a lot of Android is the apps, I think it would be alright to list an app functionality that would be nice (i.e., a video player, an SSH client, etc.)
And hopefully it would be nice if we followed the format of
What: What it is
Why: Why you believe it is necessary.
I'll start with a few I've noticed (I run Prime 1.6 [I think] currently):
Keyboard should provide all basic functionality
I found it odd that there's a menu button, but no app-switcher key on the keyboard. I find it strange that that core piece of functionality still requires the use of the touch screen.
Word processor should focus on keyboard
Just a bunch of stupid things that make it incredibly annoying to use and would never fly in a desktop processor.
-Ctrl+S should save
-Shift should be able to select
-Bullet indenting is horrid; should use tab
Dock-friendly SSH client is desperately needed
(Hear me out. I don't expect a full IDE at all, but a simple SSH client really is not too much to ask. Again, it works perfectly, just not at all designed for the dock.)
ConnectBot is ok, but it just fails if you have a full keyboard and want to use it as a simple SSH client. Shift acts as capslock, there is no way to do many shortcuts such as Ctrl+O (save in GNU Nano), and many characters like * can't be typed directly into the console.
That's what I've noticed so far. Hopefully you guys will think this is a good idea and chip in your opinions.
-notbryant.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Alt+Tab works as an app switcher in the newer firmwares. They also added Shift+Arrow Keys to highlight text easier. This pretty much made the keyboard usable for me.
The more Windows shortcuts they implement the happier I will be.
Required dock features:
What: Crap load more battery. 11000mAh minimum.
Why: Useful
What: Programmable Hot Keys, menu hooks for any application.
Why: Speed. Touch is faster than mouse, hot keys would be faster than menu.
What: Hardware NIC port
Why: Sometimes wired wins over wireless.
What: Screen Orientation Controls (options - see Orientation Control app)
Why: Dock screws with orientation. Unscrew it.
What: Barrel charging vs ASUS 40 pin cable nightmare
Why: Fu*k proprietary charging.
I could think of more, but this is a start.
I'd love it if ctrl-w or ctrl-t in the Browser didn't sometimes "double-tap" and close (or open) two tabs at once. Maybe they should fix the dock keyboard problems before adding any more shortcuts. Though I would fully support and use more of the "standard" keyboard shortcuts if they implemented them.
Also, it would be nice if the apps that "lock" into portrait mode (I'm looking at YOU, ESPN, among others) could be "unlocked" when it's docked.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using xda premium
Bjd223 said:
Alt+Tab works as an app switcher in the newer firmwares. They also added Shift+Arrow Keys to highlight text easier. This pretty much made the keyboard usable for me.
The more Windows shortcuts they implement the happier I will be.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did not know that, thanks for the info. Does it work the same way as the app switcher button on the screen? Also, isn't the only Alt key on the right of the spacebar? Maybe I'm just being picky, but I use my Thumb+Ring Finger for my traditional keyboard.
As for the Shift+Arrow keys, I just used it the other day in class running Prime 1.6 and Shift+Arrow didn't work for me in Polaris.
@Bob Smith42
I would like some hotkeys; There were 2 on my Eee netbook and I found those pretty useful, and on Android it would be more so. They should have done that instead of the Camera, Browser, and Settings buttons.
Wired seems a bit beyond the scope of an Android powered device, IMO.
I concur about proprietary charging.
notbryant said:
I did not know that, thanks for the info. Does it work the same way as the app switcher button on the screen? Also, isn't the only Alt key on the right of the spacebar? Maybe I'm just being picky, but I use my Thumb+Ring Finger for my traditional keyboard.
As for the Shift+Arrow keys, I just used it the other day in class running Prime 1.6 and Shift+Arrow didn't work for me in Polaris.
@Bob Smith42
I would like some hotkeys; There were 2 on my Eee netbook and I found those pretty useful, and on Android it would be more so. They should have done that instead of the Camera, Browser, and Settings buttons.
Wired seems a bit beyond the scope of an Android powered device, IMO.
I concur about proprietary charging.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah you have to use the right Alt which sucks for a little while til you get used to it. If the Alt and search keys were switched it would be better. If you root I think someone could easily remap the search key to alt also, but I am not 100% on this.
I am not sure if the shift+arrow keys thing is an OS thing or an application dependant thing. I do it in the email app primarily and never really tried it anywhere else yet.
For those wanting a wired ethernet port; one of the guys around here got a USB to ethernet adapter to work, but some applications don't use it correctly but I think someone will work it out. Not sure if you need root for it though.
The first thing we would need is the hotkeys for our devices, and other ways to use the keyboard. then we could worry about added functionality. does anybody know where one of tose lists could be found
found one that is being worked on
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1071739
What: Language switching (Alt+LShift)
Why: For those of us who are multi-lingual switching between languages also affects dictionary and spell check features in applications. Being able to do that with a keyboard switch rather than tapping ths screen and selecting from a menu would be more efficient.
Ability to swap functionality around a bit.
I'd love to be able to set the '<-' back button to ESCAPE (without using the root tricks to remap). Perhaps FUNCTION-'<-' is escape (or remapped to back)
More controllable key bindings
That whole top line of shortcuts should be more configurable. When using VNC/RDP, they'd be more use to me as standard windows function keys. Ability to quickly select them would be great.
The rest? Not too fussed, works great for everything else.
Asus were /really/ smart doing what they did. Hopefully they keep this standard (or even license the connector out).
Docking station variations
I'd still like to see variations of the keyboard. I might buy 2 with different functionality. Need the standard keyboard? Chuck the TF in and go. Doing a lot of remote work today? Drop it into the 'windows key compatibility' dock and use that.
Bigger/Heavier dock with bigger (and I mean monstrous!) keyboard.
One with RFID reader in/biometric scanners. (ok, getting niche here, but you're after what WE want!)
Keyboard dock that's another screen. TF drops into it, gets the extra battery life, but there's another display there, like the new Sony one appears to work. More screen real estate, on-screen keyboard if needed.
Game-board. stub joysticks, arcade quality fire buttons, nice trackpad area in middle. Would make an awesome portable MAME device.
Heck, can see a market for JUST a battery pack, no keys, trackpad, just a battery pack for the tablet screen.
Highend dock
Larger battery,
another few USB ports, maybe even a firewire port,
CD/DVD (if they get a linux kernal with the support compiled in).
Backlit keyboard
Turn it into a full on netbook. 250ish bucks.
Can't get over how cool a concept the docking is, sure there's a market for more flexibility. They just /really/ need to license it. Could be a long term money earner for them if there's others paying to make these things.
Oh, and whilst going off the point, might as well really go for it;
A new keyboard dock with (or a slot for) a HUGE HD(well, SSD preferred, power considerations really). Take the TF around, take some pics, small vids, drop into the dock, do some simple video work with a 200gb SSD to save to.
(and/or use that huge HD for some serious film/music/mame roms storage)
Something very important to me that I would like to see implemented is better text selection.
The cursors selection is good for touch screen, but it kinda defeats the point of having a touch pad.
I'd like to be able to select text with the touch pad cursor, just like you do on a regular PC with drag and drop...
It's really something mandatory for me as I copy paste very often between browsers, terminals and so on ..
Also a way to deactivate page scrolling with the touch pad, for example it's currently impossible to do a drag and drop of something on the screen , without triggering the scrolling of the page.
(usefull for cropping pictures in a web browser and such for example, or any other operation that requires drag and drop)
Alt+tab works ok in the latests firmwares, but it only works while being on the home screen, which is kinda a pain.
It's usefull to switch between applications, but it doesn't work that way.
Portrait
It would really smart if you had two connector sides on the tablet so you could choose between landscape (the present) or portrait mode if you want to use the Transformer for more serious writing assignments.
@Bjd223
I think things like shift-arrows are application dependent, which is why it's that much more of a disappointment that Polaris doesn't have it since it is supposed to be centered around manipulating text.
@Jyveafk
You should really try to use the format that I suggested; your post looks like a wall of text.
@Kumabjorn
If you really wanted that, a bluetooth keyboad might be more up your alley.
notbryant said:
@Bjd223
@Kumabjorn
If you really wanted that, a bluetooth keyboad might be more up your alley.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I actually have a BT keyboard as well, just not any stand for the Eee Pad yet. It would just be nice to carry it around as one unit and then take it out of the dock and reinsert it in portrait mode. This is after all a wish list, and I'm sure people from ASUS lurk around here.
Kumabjorn said:
What: Language switching (Alt+LShift)
Why: For those of us who are multi-lingual switching between languages also affects dictionary and spell check features in applications.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It seems to be there for Russian, only the shortcut is Ctrl+Space.
The way this works is quite tricky, though. First, you need to use the keyboard icon in notification area to switch to the keyboard to "ASUS Russian" (if needed, adding it as an option in Input Settings). After that, Ctrl+Space can be used to switch between that and English. I don't know if that is there for all non-English layouts, or only non-Latin ones, though.
Also, Ctrl+Shift will pop up the usual keyboard selector menu, which can then be navigated using arrow keys. Still too verbose, but at least you don't have to take your hands off the keys to tap the screen.
I don't ask for much, just a...
backlit keyboard...
Kumabjorn said:
It would really smart if you had two connector sides on the tablet so you could choose between landscape (the present) or portrait mode if you want to use the Transformer for more serious writing assignments.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm, interesting. I think having a 'universal' connector, for keyboards and other things is viable, and if 'other' things to plug in, having a base/side port to 'plug' to could work well. For keyboards (and the rotating around view IS great for writing), and... other devices we've not thought of yet.
Here http://code.google.com/p/connectbot/issues/detail?id=459 you can find a patched version of connectbot ssh app with correct support for dock keys (control, tab etc).
I like it very much..
Kumabjorn said:
What: Language switching (Alt+LShift)
Why: For those of us who are multi-lingual switching between languages also affects dictionary and spell check features in applications. Being able to do that with a keyboard switch rather than tapping ths screen and selecting from a menu would be more efficient.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Spell check? MY transformer doesn't seem to do any spell checking at all when docked. Am I missing a setting? If not I vote for some type of spell check.

Vote: Microsoft made tabbed browsing more difficult with mango. Do you agree?

Microsoft has a powerful browser in MANGO. Its ability to load multiple pages in the background is very effective to those who visit many different sites. This definitely reduces overall waiting time. Microsoft, however, has chosen to remove the easy accessed “tabs” and “favorites” icon and bury it under the menu, thus making tabbed browsing two taps more difficult, and to some, more annoying. Many mango users have been irritated with this change, myself included.
The reason for this removal is that Microsoft has collected sufficient data to conclude that most users don’t use the “tab” and ‘favorites” feature often.
Do you think Microsoft made the right choice to bury the “tab” and “favorites” icons into Mango’s menu to provide a more “full-page-experience?” Would you have sacrificed easy tab browsing? What would you done differently? How can Microsoft push innovation for mobile browsing to the Next Level? Your thoughts are welcomed.
Obviously not, but Microsoft is not known for making good choices these days.
I dont mind the change. The only thing i would like to see is the address bar disappear after a minute or so to provide a larger viewing screen.
DJRedLine said:
I dont mind the change. The only thing i would like to see is the address bar disappear after a minute or so to provide a larger viewing screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree. They obviously deprioritized tabbed browsing but it's not that big of a deal. Fullscreen after a timeout would be a welcome addition.
The "Favorites" buttons were a waste of space.
I wonder what type of data they collected.
They should at least add a setting that gives users a choice on whether to bury it or leave it show.
Hopefully, they'll set things right in the future minor updates.
I personally don't miss these icons as I never used them. But I agree with the point, that the adress bar could disappear after a while, the question might be: How can we get the adress bar back, when we need it again
I dont particularly like it off the bat but I'll get used to it I'm sure.
i would like a "half button" like the paste button on the keyboard. when swiping the address bar this could reveal the button (again, exactly like the paste button) allowing access to the old tab interface.
I really miss quick tab access and the folders button in Outlook. Seems to me gesture based access to tabs would have been a better solution for tab access than deprecating tabs into the menu. They have their data from testing, but it doesn't make it any more palatable.
It's really all about how you use it, isn't it? In general, I like the fact that the majority of the chrome was moved to the bottom of the screen, but otherwise I'm finding that (personally) I have more clicks to get to what I need.
For instance, I don't tend to enter NEW urls very often (almost never), nor do I refresh the page I'm on very often. Now those controls are front and center, and I hardly ever use them. I would also like to see the URL box disappear after a short time. No need to see it so prominently. Also, when you flip up the bottom of the screen for more options, why does the top of the screen (time, cell reception, etc.) come down as well? Seems unnecessary.
Otherwise, I tend to open my browser, look through about 8 sites that I have in my "favorites", and then close it up. Now I have to perform an extra "flip up" action for each favorited site I visit. Annoying, but not the end of the world.
Certainly interesting changes to make.
I hate Microsoft's removal of the "tab" and "favorites" icon in the browser!
IMO the new solution is much better at least where tabbed browsing is concerned ..... try fast app switching while two or more apps are open .....you'll see what i mean.
in regards to favorites the solution is not as good as before but since i rarely use that feature.... and after all i could pin a website i frequently use to my home scree....
AdryJay said:
I hate Microsoft's removal of the "tab" and "favorites" icon in the browser!
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Click to collapse
I agree. I normally navigate from site to site using the bookmarks I keep saved. In WP7, without quick and simple access to the bookmarks, it makes things less desirable.
funnystar said:
I personally don't miss these icons as I never used them. But I agree with the point, that the adress bar could disappear after a while, the question might be: How can we get the adress bar back, when we need it again
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Click to collapse
Maybe swiping from the top of the screen like in W8.
Sent from my Samsung Focus using XDA Windows Phone 7 App
Can't answer the pollthe way it is worded. I do agree that it is more difficult but I would not say I hardly use tabs anyway. I used them all the time. I also use favorites a lot and only rarely type in address bar.
It isn't a huge problem but it's a step back.
I did use tabbed browsing but only because whenever I opend a link, I would have a new tab open and thus I had to close tabs. I was not browsing different pages at the same time very often, but from time to time.
I like it the way it is now, because otherwise the "Tabs" button would have taken up space I need.
Now it is two taps away instead of one tap and I don't think that is so much of a deal. If you look at the usage stats they shared its obvious this was the right decision.

[Q] Swype autocorrect issues

Hello,
Apologies if this is the wrong place to post.
I am currently running leaked 4.1.1 (VRBLK1) on vzw gs3. I use Swype as my keyboard, and have noticed two very frustrating and related issues. I do not know if this is related in any way to the phone, or simply a swype issue.
1. Can't disable autocorrect.
2. When searching for a contact (phonebook, fb, etc.) I'll typy in the first couple of letters of the name and the list will shorten to the likely candidates. However, tapping on the name will not work properly, as the autocorrect feature interprets that as selecting the "correct" word, so instead I get a search for that word. For example, in FB, I type in Tzi, and while this is not in the dictionary, I get suggested Tzu. I click on the contact that starts with Tzi, and instead am given a list of users starting with Tzu.
Does not seem to happen on Samsung keyboard.
Thanks
I'm using Swype Beta 1.4
Settings -> Language and Input -> Swype Beta Setting -> Preferences -> Auto-Correct
Also, when typing a word that is not picked up by the predictive software, after you finish typing what you want (like Tzi in your example), do not click space. That will default to the first auto-correct/predictive option (which seems to be Tzu). Rather, click the word you typed (in this case Tzi) that appears in the predictive bar, first slot.
Thanks for the response.
I didn't realize that I wasn't on the latest version because the update option doesn't show anything. Apparently i had to download a new installer for the next version. Got my autocorrect option back, and it seemed to fix the problem I was having as well. Just for clarification, I wanted to be able to just type the first 2-3 letters and then pick the name from the resulting contact list, not actually save those letters as their own word. For example, If the name I'm looking for is frederick, typing fr would bring up the list containg fred, frederick, Freddy, etc. However, subsequently tapping on Frederick's name would change the text I had entered to whatever the autocorrect thinks it should be (let's say "re") and then i would get a list of names starting with that!
Anyway, seems to be a moot point for now, at least until the new dictionary starts getting populated, then we'll see.

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