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Dialer

zuben el genub

zuben el genub

Extreme Android User
Can anyone suggest a replacement dialer for a rooted (CM) Nexus 4?
For some reason I can't set up a speed dial in the old way, 1 for first person, 2 for 2nd, etc. It wants stupid widget icons on the desktop, and I don't.

Every other phone used to speed dial by single digit

I've looked through the offerings on Play, and there's an awful lot of stuff with dialers that I don't want and would never use. I don't need a picture icon. Any truly plain Jane ones that would associate a single digit with a contact? I don't use widgets or emoji. ASCII is good enough.

There is a section for setting up a dial on the phone, but it has a code, apparently. I never had a code. It's telling me to get a new code from TMO, and even they are unsure of what it wants.
 
I use Dialer One, it has speed dial and you can hide the contact pictures. When I open it I just get a list of contacts and the dial pad. Plain and simple. I've been using it for years and always go back to it after any changes/upgrades that mess up the system dialer more.
It's very customizable and just works well.
 
It's 2014, not 1984. Speed-dial is worthless on smartphones. From the Android dialer you simply:
1) Select the "favorites" star icon (at the top).
2) Select the phone icon of the person that you want to call. The call will be placed. (This assumes that you've already "favorited" those people by clicking on the star next to their name in your contacts book or on gmail, and that you've set one of their phone numbers as the default on your phone.)

That's 2 taps to dial a favorite and no chance to make a mistake because their name is next to the phone icon. It also gives you the easy option to call a favorite person at a different phone number (e.g. home instead of mobile) by tapping their name instead of tapping their phone icon, or to text-message them by tapping the texting icon next to their name.

Another option is to create direct-dial shortcuts on your Android desktop. Just long press a blank part of your screen, select "add shortcut", select "direct dial" and then select the person & number (e.g. John Doe's mobile number). Then you can dial that person by tapping their desktop icon. That's ONE tap (or maybe one swipe and one tap if you choose to put those people on a side desktop screen). Still, seems a lot better than "speed" dialing.

How is it easier or faster (with fewer taps) to memorize and dial speed-dial numbers? At best it seems that you'd have to (1) tap the speed dial numeral and (2) tap the "dial" icon. That's 2 taps.
 
It's not worthless if that's your preference/comfort level. I've been using speed-dial since forever and it's just the way I like to dial.

Not all (hardly any) of my contacts have pictures associated with them so my favorites list would be a bunch of gray blobs. I don't favorite people anyway, I know who they are without needing to star them.

I don't want a bunch of shortcuts on my screens.

I want what I'm comfortable with, not what is en vogue or someone's idea of what I want.

Open dialer - one tap
Long press speed dial number - one tap (or two if it's a double digit)
No more of a process (per tap) than any other way.

Just because it's 2014 doesn't mean everything from 1984 is bad ;)
 
Clementine_3 said:
It's not worthless if that's your preference/comfort level. I've been using speed-dial since forever and it's just the way I like to dial.
Click to expand...
"Worthless" was too strong. A horse-and-buggy isn't worthless but nowadays, most of us drive cars. Though I'm sure that back in the old days, many people resisted transitioning to those newfangled cars. Many people (especially senior citizens) have been doing things one way for so long that they don't realize that there are now better ways to do those things. I was trying to explain the new way of doing things.

Clementine_3 said:
Not all (hardly any) of my contacts have pictures associated with them so my favorites list would be a bunch of gray blobs. I don't favorite people anyway, I know who they are without needing to star them.
Click to expand...
None of my contacts have pictures, but their names are displayed in the "Favorites" section of my stock Android dialer. Adding them as "favorites" (1-click) isn't any harder than adding them as speed-dials (presumably several clicks since you have to assign them speed dial numbers).

Clementine_3 said:
I don't want a bunch of shortcuts on my screens.
Click to expand...
It doesn't have to be on your home screen, but if it bothers you having speed-dial icons on a side screen, fine. That was only one of the 2 options I suggested.

Clementine_3 said:
I want what I'm comfortable with, not what is en vogue or someone's idea of what I want.
Click to expand...
Yeah... I'm sure one-click dialing from a favorites list is just currently "en vogue" and we'll all be going back to speed-dial. Sounds like my 85-year-old dad justifying his flip-phone.

Clementine_3 said:
Open dialer - one tap
Long press speed dial number - one tap (or two if it's a double digit)
No more of a process (per tap) than any other way.
Click to expand...
So even in the best case, speed-dial is the same number of taps (no advantage) but speed-dial has the disadvantages of having to (1) assign the speed dial numbers, (2) memorize the speed dial numbers (3) not be able to see the name before dialing, and (4) have none of the quick-options for other communication modes (like texting).

It seems like the only advantage of speed-dial is not having to learn a better method.

Clementine_3 said:
Just because it's 2014 doesn't mean everything from 1984 is bad ;)
Click to expand...
Absolutely! I haven't retained any high-tech items from 1984, but I still love New Wave music and even the surviving New Wave bands like U2.

... Though back in 1984 there were some people who weren't willing to give New Wave music a chance. Sort of like speed dial. :)
 
@Razzmatazz

I don't do widgets or icons. I have a very nice picture of the potash ponds in Moab and I don't want it cluttered up with junk. Home page is blank - just a clock.

Just hitting 1 or 2 on the dialer is a helluva lot faster than searching and dorking for icons.

The speed dial numbers are for close friends and family. Everyone else can wait until I feel like answering or replying. Businesses have a separate ringtone, and unknowns a third. If I hear the 3rd tone, I don't answer the phone, but look at the number. 99% of the time, it's spam or a phish.
 
@ Clementine:

Thank you, I think that might be a little more than I wanted. Have you ever heard of
Speed Dial, Speed dialer old school and x Dialer? Contacts are OK, I can save and edit in Notepad, I just need quick dial number.

Why does this phone say I have to have a PIN for fixed dialing numbers? Fixed dialing to me means speed dial.
 
I never tried any of those really. When I was looking for a dialer that had speed dial Dialer One was sort of it. Tried it, liked it and still use it.
No clue in the PIN thing.
 
zuben el genub said:
I don't do widgets or icons. I have a very nice picture of the potash ponds in Moab and I don't want it cluttered up with junk. Home page is blank - just a clock.
Click to expand...
Neither of the methods that I suggested require widgets or icons on your home screen. The first method that I suggested doesn't require adding any icons anywhere. I explained how you can accomplish your goal with your built-in dialer by tapping it twice (same as speed-dialing).

zuben el genub said:
Just hitting 1 or 2 on the dialer is a helluva lot faster than searching and dorking for icons.
Click to expand...
The first method that I described doesn't require "searching or dorking for" icons. I don't understand how hitting a "1" or "2" button is easier than hitting a "phone" button next to a name. It makes me think that you don't actually understand what I suggested, because if you tag your speed-dial contacts as "favorites" then (depending on your phone's screen size) up to about 10 favorites will appear in very large font on the favorites section of the dialer without any need to search or scroll. One tap to dial any of them. But if you'd rather tap a numeral, great.
 
Clementine_3 said:
I never tried any of those really. When I was looking for a dialer that had speed dial Dialer One was sort of it. Tried it, liked it and still use it.
No clue in the PIN thing.
Click to expand...

I looked up Dialer one, and it didn't mention much about customizing, so I tried to go to the website on the computer. Pale Moon wouldn't load it, neither would SW Iron. Both said redirecting, and one other link said page not available. Is it abandonware now? It hasn't been updated since last year.
 
What's a fixed dialing number? It needs to be enabled and apparently I need a PIN from TMOUS to use it, and they don't seem to have a clue. There's another section for VOIP and SIP, so it can't be that. Is it a proxy of some kind?

I've seen warnings about 911 calls if you change the dialer. How much truth in that?
 
zuben el genub said:
What's a fixed dialing number? It needs to be enabled and apparently I need a PIN from TMOUS to use it, and they don't seem to have a clue. There's another section for VOIP and SIP, so it can't be that. Is it a proxy of some kind?

I've seen warnings about 911 calls if you change the dialer. How much truth in that?
Click to expand...

Hi, if 'fixed dialing number' is enabled a list of numbers is created and the handset can dial ONLY those numbers (and emergency numbers) - typically set up on a child's phone to ensure only family members can be called, hence the requirement for SIM PIN2. So it's a completely different function to speed dial.
 
Thanks, I found that out. Fixed dialing on our office phones meant you could call your party direct.

I'll read up on DW and keep it under consideration
 
I think I tried EX dialer when I first put CM on the phone. Voice calls didn't work. No volume at all. CM updated, and now phone works.

I spent a couple of hours reading reviews of dialers. It looks like the big 3 are Dialer One, EX, and DW recommended by android bloggers.

What happens if you do install one? Will there be a choice of default, or will you have to disable the built-in dialer a la messaging (so you don't get double text alerts)

I read somewhere that disabling built-in borks 911 calls - is this true? I use GSM, and you can just change phones at will. Some phones will have different dialers so this sounds a little weird. Location would make more sense (using carrier's towers, etc)

Now I'll have to read and decide. Thanks for all the help.
 
I've been reading for a couple of hours and have some questions - Dialer one looks good, but I saw where it automatically syncs your Google contacts. I haven't got any contacts in Google, and won't put them there. I back up to computer. Gmail is a spam catcher used for those who might spam so I don't sync. I use a different email service.

Other dialers want to get pictures and info from social media - I have no social media on the phone, and also don't want it on the phone. (Dialer + and Dialer X)
I don't want them hunting for pictures that simply don't exist.

Can you still use without doing any syncing at all?

DW is a bit of overkill, but it does look good.

Why do they all want pictures? The one for seniors made me laugh - apparently you associated people with animals. Now you have to remember which animal goes with which person.

Thanks
 
I looked at all the settings in Dialer One and found nothing about not using Google contacts. The only other option was using backup assistant. I found that in adding/saving a new contact. Honestly not sure how it work for you. Hmm.
 
Thanks - I spent a lot of time reading reviews of those 3 dialers. One did mention it.
A couple also mentioned that a different dialer will search for pictures from social networks, Picasa was one, and Facebook another. I found postings where people complained about double and triple entries. I don't want the phone wearing out the battery searching for something that is non-existent. Do you automatically sync?

I back up by exporting all the contacts file to the computer. I have a backup for both ringtones and information besides name and number. They should be on the SIM, but SIM says there are none.

The best reviews I found were from Android Police and from 2010/11. Things probably have changed since then, but they were one of the few that mentioned both pros and cons.

I've been burned by software that advertised the same way on computers. System requirements say nothing about have IE installed, you buy the software and find out after the fact that it won't run without IE. I was running a shell for Windows that hid IE entirely.

Yahoo spammers are the reason I won't sync. My addy has been spoofed a couple of times, and since I no longer have any contacts listed, my friends can't be pestered. Some spammers do manage to get contacts in Yahoo.

I also just had a mistaken either Paypal spam or scam in the account I did try G+ with. (Not associated with phone) Not sure if it was mistaken address, or a scam.
Phishbuster say the header was legit. I don't need or want any more. I've banned everything from G+ in Thunderbird with the setup to delete from server when I delete message. I rarely use the web page email, I prefer POP3 or IMAP and a different email app.
 
The dialer that came with CM has a checkbox for autosync. I left it unchecked.
The original one on the Nexus used to add a comment on the bottom of an entry about syncing to keep contact safe (Ignored)
 
I do use Google for my contacts so I guess it does sync, there's not a setting/option to not sync it, it just does. When you add a new contact either on the phone (choice of Google or backup assistant) or on the PC they sync. No way that I see to turn that off.

When I had FB I turned contact sync off in the app and I've done the same for Twitter. I also have D.O. set to only show contacts with phone numbers so I don't see people with just emails or that were just FB friends/Twitter contacts. I'm thinking that turns that part of sync'ng off anyway, but it does sync with Google.
 
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