You might call me a blasphemer but I really like Touch Wiz's dialer MUCH better than Sense dialer...

[Connectz]

I converted my wife to Android from apple and she wanted the Samsung Vibrant. Its her first Android phone so I set everything up for her. While messing with the dialer I couldn't believe how much more intuitive it was over our sense dialer. The favorites are right there at the top without having to press menu>speed dial.

Yes, I know we have a favorites widget and that we can create a screen dedicated to direct dial icons and that if your using launcherpro you can swipe left or right on the launcher and add direct dials there too, but everything you need is just right there in one place. Yeah, they probably took a cue from the iPhone but I really like the way they do it.

I can't stand the whole dial a few letters to find a contact, thats slow imho.

 

[apinkel]

I can't stand the whole dial a few letters to find a contact, thats slow imho.

That's funny... because that's the only way I dial folks these days. If a phone doesn't support dialing by typing the first couple letters of their name I won't buy the phone. I'm just too lazy to setup favorites I guess.

 

[Droidone]

I personally like the dial by number option. I find myself using that way more than the actual contact in the people directory. Dialing by number finds any matching letters in the contact. Just a personal preference.

 

[freeza]

I like dial by numbers too. Favorites is not a good idea for people who have a lot of contacts.

 

[HTCRALEIGHFAN]

i dont like the dial by numbers option


































i love it!!!

 

[Connectz]

I like dial by numbers too. Favorites is not a good idea for people who have a lot of contacts.

I hear you. I have about 200 contacts but keep about 10 in my favorites. I'd like to be able to get right too them but i'm a minimal guy so I don't want to use up screen space for direct dial icons lol... Guess i'll have to make do...

 

[freeza]

I hear you. I have about 200 contacts but keep about 10 in my favorites. I'd like to be able to get right too them but i'm a minimal guy so I don't want to use up screen space for direct dial icons lol... Guess i'll have to make do...

lol

Does speed dial on this phone work like most dumbphones where you can just hold down a number key and it dials them? (i've never set up any sort of favorites or speed dials on the EVO)

 

[Munnarg]

The only thing I don't like is that you can't set a default area code. That way it would recognize my contacts if i just dial 7 digits instead of all 10.

 

[shandroid]

dial by name/number FTW

 

[Drew5150]

The favorites are right there at the top without having to press menu>speed dial.

.

yeah, I agreee I hate our dialer for the same reasons. I have about 170 contacts and I have 3 favorites that I call frequently. I set these favorites up on my old instinct, synced my instinct with outlook and exported my phonebook to gmail. my favorites stuck, I didn't set them up on my evo. the favorite widget is lame, I want my favorite phone numbers to be favorites in my phone book. I have no idea if this idea came from the iphone, not sure its original from it if it really is... anyway

so our problem isn't actually with favorites. its with call history. our phonebook places history on top of everything. wich is kinda stupid as there is a button on the bottom right that will take you to history, kinda redundant. but no quick link to favorites there, without hitting menu.

but our favorites are actually on top of our phonebook just like you wish. they just get over ridden by our history. clear your history and you will see what I mean.

I've tried to download other dialers but they all seem to function the same way. wish there was a way to disable history in the phone book.

the phone book should work with favorites on top and search by numbers for the rest.. like every other phone.

oh well.. just my opinion on this... I hate the history.. lol

 

[meyerweb]

I hate T9 dialing. I've got a smart phone with a full alpha keyboard, for God's sake, why do I want to use a technology developed 10 years ago for 10 key phones? Favorites are fine for a few key people I call a lot, but the phone needs to make it easy to find less called numbers, too.

What I want is a dialer that lets me use the alpha keyboard to narrow the search, not the number keys.

I find it unbelievable that Android doesn't include this. I could do it on my Palm Treo 3 or 4 years ago. Android is a great base, but the UI really sucks. Sense improves on it in many ways, but it's still weak. I wish Android, or the phone manufacturers, would hire people who really understand UX (user experience) to do their UIs. Right now, they all look like they were designed by programmers, who are the last people you should have doing interface design.

 

[ajg23]

but our favorites are actually on top of our phonebook just like you wish. they just get over ridden by our history. clear your history and you will see what I mean.

Check out aTAKEphONE. It's not free but very customizable. It has a setting under Search Preferences called "'Smart' results sorting" that, when turned on, shows frequently called numbers first. Presumably you can turn that off and have what you are looking for!

A

 

[mamiamjo]

I hear you. I have about 200 contacts but keep about 10 in my favorites. I'd like to be able to get right too them but i'm a minimal guy so I don't want to use up screen space for direct dial icons lol... Guess i'll have to make do...

How about a "Starred" folder? That only takes up one space but opens up to your Favorites

 

[emuneee]

I hate T9 dialing. I've got a smart phone with a full alpha keyboard, for God's sake, why do I want to use a technology developed 10 years ago for 10 key phones? Favorites are fine for a few key people I call a lot, but the phone needs to make it easy to find less called numbers, too.

What I want is a dialer that lets me use the alpha keyboard to narrow the search, not the number keys.

I find it unbelievable that Android doesn't include this. I could do it on my Palm Treo 3 or 4 years ago. Android is a great base, but the UI really sucks. Sense improves on it in many ways, but it's still weak. I wish Android, or the phone manufacturers, would hire people who really understand UX (user experience) to do their UIs. Right now, they all look like they were designed by programmers, who are the last people you should have doing interface design.

Well the T9/number keyboard is incredibly easier to use with one hand. You have twelve big buttons instead of 26+ plus buttons to deal with (assuming it was a touchscreen phone, a hard keyboard changes things). Not to mention, normally the number pad is smart enough to search by number and letter depending on what keys you type.

 

[JunBringer]

Only bad thing about the Sense dialer is that the beep when you push the button lasts too long. It beeps longer than the actual press of the button and is kinda annoying.

 

[aburgthing]

Try Gesture Search. I have two widget on my desktop. Google Gesture Search and BattStat. Trace out the first couple letters of anything on your phone (contacts, programs, songs etc.) and it's right there. But I agree, I like TouchWiz's phone interface better than Sense. About the only thing other than the menu drop down that is done better on Touch.

 

[MDbandit]

i mean if you want to call a favorite, then dont open the dialer, just hit the icon in your favorite widget

if you want to call somebody who's not your favorite, then open the dialer

seems to be a since to me

i mean having the favorties in a widget makes your call to your friend a cinch to do real quick and easy

 

[Caloy]

I converted my wife to Android from apple and she wanted the Samsung Vibrant. Its her first Android phone so I set everything up for her. While messing with the dialer I couldn't believe how much more intuitive it was over our sense dialer. The favorites are right there at the top without having to press menu>speed dial.

Yes, I know we have a favorites widget and that we can create a screen dedicated to direct dial icons and that if your using launcherpro you can swipe left or right on the launcher and add direct dials there too, but everything you need is just right there in one place. Yeah, they probably took a cue from the iPhone but I really like the way they do it.

I can't stand the whole dial a few letters to find a contact, thats slow imho.

Try creating a folder in your main home screen filled with direct dial icons of your favorite contacts. It's like pressing a button to pull up the dialer, but in this case you press a folder to pull up your favorite contact to call/messenge etc. Problem solved.

With two presses you call someone.

 

[aburgthing]

Was doing that with folder organizer, but Gesture Search is a quick one shot solution and finds not only favorites but ALL contacts quickly and easily. After getting used to it, unless it's not in your contacts, there is no better alternative IMHO.

 

[Caloy]

I agree, Gesture Search is a great app. I actually use 3 options depending on the situation. For favorites, I go to a folder I filled up with my favorites. For a specific person not inculded in my folder I use Gesture, and while driving I use the voice search to do my calling, texting and navigation.