kitkat dialer a bit meh

[davoid]

Is it just me or does anyone else think the new dialer has made somewhat of a step backwards in ease of use and style?

With the previous dialer I would just tap my phone icon, and would be confronted with the numerical dialer. Now I get a mishmash screen on which I have to tap again if I want to either dial a number or make a search.

Before I could just start dialing or I could spell out a contact's name on the dial pad which would bring up an auto-complete list of contacts.

Also I liked the previous dark theme, not this nasty white thing.

I want the old dialer back.

Or a better alternative...

 

[Clementine_3]

I don't like the KitKat dialer at all. Yuck.

I haven't used a stock dialer in a long while (but really, KK is awful), I use Dialer One instead. It has speed dial, searches well and is customizable...it's been my 'go to' dialer since, well, forever.

There are tons of others out there but that works for me.

 

[Thom]

I don't know how pervasive this problem is. I have seen reference to it on a few devices.

The dialer that came with Kit Kat on my Droid Maxx seems close to identical to the Jelly Bean dialer. I have no way to relate to your issue.

It is curious that the Droid Maxx is manufactured by a Google company.

... Thom

 

[John Bean]

I have a Nexus 4 - about as "standard" Android as you can get - and I agree with the OP about the backwards change to the dialler when it got updated in KK.

The JB dialler opened as expected with a keypad displayed, the KK dialler does not; you need to tap an icon at the bottom of the screen to get a keypad.

Your Droid sounds different Thom; must be a modified KK despite Google's ownership. My guess is it also has lots of other non-standard stuff in there too.

 

[John Bean]

I use Dialer One

Thanks for that, it's a huge improvement over the KK dialler

 

[davoid]

I have no way to relate to your issue.

Well it looks like this Thom:

When you open the dialer, this is what you get.

I don't like it one bit.

As you can see, I would either have to tap on the dialpad symbol at the bottom to bring up the dialpad, or tap in the search bar at the top to search for a contact.

On the old dialer I could just use the numerical dialpad for both, and without an extra press.

And it was dark.

 

[Clementine_3]

The dialer that came with Kit Kat on my Droid Maxx seems close to identical to the Jelly Bean dialer. I have no way to relate to your issue.

It is curious that the Droid Maxx is manufactured by a Google company.

... Thom

Thom, since your Maxx is the Verizon Droid branded phone it has a few different things on it. Verizon has added/disabled/changed what a more vanilla/stock KitKat offers. I'm guessing the dialer is one such thing. In a way you're lucky in that particular instance, the KitKat dialer really is bad

 

[Thom]

Thom, since your Maxx is the Verizon Droid branded phone it has a few different things on it. Verizon has added/disabled/changed what a more vanilla/stock KitKat offers. I'm guessing the dialer is one such thing. In a way you're lucky in that particular instance, the KitKat dialer really is bad

I have to disagree. It's not that "in a way" I'm lucky. I am blessed. The Droid Maxx is the BEST phone I have ever used (I don't care about cameras in phones).

The only point I was trying to interject is that "Kit Kat dialer" is somewhat ambiguous since not all phones running Kit Kat have what you are talking about.

... Thom

 

[Clementine_3]

The only point I was trying to interject is that "Kit Kat dialer" is somewhat ambiguous since not all phones running Kit Kat have what you are talking about.

... Thom

Right. Not all phones running KitKat have it because not all phones running KitKat are running vanilla KitKat.

There is only one real/pure/vanilla/stock KitKat dialer. If your carrier/manufacturer has decided not utilize it then, even though your phone has KitKat, it's not the KitKat dialer.

I've read nothing but good things about the Maxx, wasn't knocking your phone. I was simply saying that you may be running KitKat but not all of KitKat. Verizon decided what parts of it they wanted and didn't and the dialer was one of those decisions.

 

[funkylogik]

I prefer the jellybean one. Nice n simple. I dont make many calls though so it doesnt bother me.
How would someone go about installing the JB one? Just delete the kk one and install the jb one in system/app?

 

[davoid]

I prefer the jellybean one. Nice n simple. I dont make many calls though so it doesnt bother me.
How would someone go about installing the JB one? Just delete the kk one and install the jb one in system/app?

Totally agree. I don't make that many calls either. But when I open the dialer, it puts me off making a call and I usually just close it again lol.

I was thinking the same thing about porting the JB dialer. I found a couple of short threads on xda asking that very thing and nobody seems to have taken it up as being urgent. I suppose it isn't but I'm surprised more people don't prefer the JB one. It's so much more intuitive it seems to me. Although I concede that it's not as 'smart' as the newer dialer.

It's supposed to be intuitive in a sense that it will use data to download information about the caller - even if you don't have them in your contacts - it can do a number search and report back who they are.

I'll give it to the new dialer that this is a neat feature.

But the interface isn't an improvement.

 

[funkylogik]

Does the caller id thing and the other smart stuff even work outside the US mate? Mine shows contacts for people in my g+ circles but thats about it