Question about the dialer

[Tathagata]

Hi, I'm considering purchasing a Moto G 4G, but there is something I need to confirm or deny before I can consider it further.

Can I use the numeric keypad in the dialer to spell out a contact name? For example:

Let's say the contact "John Doe" exists in my current phone. When I open the dialer on my current phone and type "363", my phone will show me any contacts that contain the numbers 3, 6, and 3 in succession at any point, as well as the name "John Doe", as the letters "Doe" are spelled out by the numbers "363".

Does the Moto G function this way?

I was on the phone with a Motorola representative who told me that the Moto X that he was testing on did work that way, but not the Moto G. He didn't have a Moto G 4G though, and so I'm holding out hope that someone here who has it might be able to let me know if I can look up contacts the way I described. If not then my choice of phones got a bit smaller.

 

[JooseyJay]

My moto g is finding names from dialer, like alan from 2526. Just to clarify you mean like t9word texting on older phones sort of, correct?

Edit: I am on the Verizon moto g, I assume its the same

 

[breadnatty08]

If the stock dialer doesn't work for you there are many many third party ones in Google Play that will use t9 (and most are free).

 

[Tathagata]

Yeah, that's exactly what I mean. So it's working on your 3G Moto G? That's great to know. I wonder if the representative just had a glitchy phone. He verified that there were contacts in it. Do you know if it also locates text in the middle of a contact name? For example, finding Adam by typing "326" for "dam"? If so the Moto G is a contender again. Either way, thanks very much for the reply!

 

[Thom]

I don't know. I'm using Pixel Phone Pro and it does exactly what the OP wants.

You could download and try the free version.

My description of this app to others ... "someone finally got the dialer app done right".

... Thom

 

[Tathagata]

Well, I'm kind of more curious about whether or not the native dialer works the way I'm looking for. I'm glad to know it does on the Verizon phone. I just hope it carries over to the T-Mobile version. I suppose I could take the plunge and just return it if it turns out that it doesn't work that way.

By the way, thanks for turning me on to the term "T9 dialing". I had a feeling there must be something like that to describe the functionality I'm talking about.

 

[timmyh318]

It does work. Can confirm also. It works for names and also numbers. If you type in say 239 it will bring up all the names that start with the corresponding letters and also all the numbers that start in 239. It's a native feature of the android dialer now.

 

[Tathagata]

That's great to hear, thank you very much! It almost certainly looks like I'll be going with the 4G G, rather than the X. Just checking out the last bits of detail to compare.