Help Things that drive me nuts about the Acclaim - Any way around them?

[Eric1214]

First off, let me state that I overall love my Acclaim. However, there are a couple of issues that drive me crazy and I am wondering if anyone else here has run into similar issues and knew a way around them. The last two I have found apps for that fit the bill.

1. No talk/end call buttons! I find it very frustrating that the ONLY way to hang up a phone call is to slide the end call on screen button from the right to the left. If I accidentally call someone (or get someones voice mail and don't want to leave a message) I want a very quick way to hang up - like just pressing a button on the phone. Call me old school, but I really hate not having a button for this. I have thought about writing an app to do this (if this is even possible) but haven't looked into that yet.

2. Notification sound plays when plugging the phone into the charger. Every time I plug my phone into the charger, it plays the notification sound at whatever the notification volume level is. Since I typically plug the phone in when I go to bed, it can be annoying as it sometimes manages to wake my sleeping wife up. Of course I can put the phone in silent before charging it and then take it off silent but this is a pain. Wish there was a phone setting to just simply disable this.

3. Notification sound plays when network signal is lost. This one isn't quite as big of a deal but the phone always plays the notification sound when it loses its signal. When driving in an area with spotty coverage, the phone will constantly sound because of going in/out of coverage areas. Would be nice to have a setting to have the phone not play any sound when network coverage is lost. After all, you can see this simply by looking at your notification bar.

4. No speed dial built into the dialer. Every single phone that I have had for the past 8+ years or so has had speed dial (ex. hit 2 then talk and it calls a specific number). I was able to find an app on the market (Speed Dial Old School) that essientally does this but it would be nice if this was built into the phone (and gave a preview of the number to dial somewhere before hitting talk).

5. Default e-mail app cannot move e-mail folders from one folder to another. I thankfully found K-9 Mail on the market and it is very impressive. I have been using that app instead of the stock e-mail app.


Thanks in advance for any tips/advice.

 

[ldyinred]

I agree with you 100%, Eric.

1. No talk/end call buttons! I find it very frustrating that the ONLY way to hang up a phone call is to slide the end call on screen button from the right to the left. If I accidentally call someone (or get someones voice mail and don't want to leave a message) I want a very quick way to hang up - like just pressing a button on the phone. Call me old school, but I really hate not having a button for this. I have thought about writing an app to do this (if this is even possible) but haven't looked into that yet.

And whatever you do, don't navigate away from the call screen or you'll never be able to get back to the end call slide!


And may I add a few of my own?

1- Apps that are pre-installed that you cannot delete. And that you have to pay to use. Seems to me if you have to pay to use them, you should have the option to delete them from your phone.

2 - Same apps that you can't turn off and suck the life out of your battery. I've downloaded Advanced Task Killer and it helps.

 

[suXor]

And whatever you do, don't navigate away from the call screen or you'll never be able to get back to the end call slide!

Not true. Any Android device places the active call int eh notification bar so you can get back to it from anywhere in the device. When you leave the call screen, you can just pull down the notification bar to access the call.

 

[suXor]

4. No speed dial built into the dialer. Every single phone that I have had for the past 8+ years or so has had speed dial (ex. hit 2 then talk and it calls a specific number). I was able to find an app on the market (Speed Dial Old School) that essientally does this but it would be nice if this was built into the phone (and gave a preview of the number to dial somewhere before hitting talk).

Have you considered using the more advanced method of creating a shortcut to call a person on your idle screen? It's an alternative.

5. Default e-mail app cannot move e-mail folders from one folder to another. I thankfully found K-9 Mail on the market and it is very impressive. I have been using that app instead of the stock e-mail app.

This is a limitation of the Android email application. Some OEMs provide their own solution instead, but most provide nothing more a different look and feel. I take it you are referring to OWA/Exchange email and not POP3?

 

[Eric1214]

Kcipsirhc, thanks for the comments. Have some more comments below.

Have you considered using the more advanced method of creating a shortcut to call a person on your idle screen? It's an alternative.

I did play around with having shortcuts on my main screen, but it just got too cluttered. Actually, when it comes to the main screen, I really like things very simple. I use LauncherPro and have my number of screens set to 1 with 6 icons on my main screen in addition to 5 in the bottom "dock bar". When you say Idle screen, are you referring to the screen that appears when you lock the phone and have to slide to unlock? If so, I wasn't actually aware you could add icons to this. Or did you just mean the main screen (or the desktop I guess in the windows world)? I guess I am just used to being able to just go to the dialer and hit a one digit number and then talk to call my most frequent contacts (similar to how 1 always calls voicemail). Luckily I did find a very nice app that does this, I guess I was just more shocked than anything that the default dialer did not support this.

This is a limitation of the Android email application. Some OEMs provide their own solution instead, but most provide nothing more a different look and feel. I take it you are referring to OWA/Exchange email and not POP3?

I am referring to an IMAP account. K9 Mail does this (along with some additional features) and is probably the best free app that I have ever used. If anyone has never used it, I highly recommend it to at least try out. Before I found k9 mail, I did find the bug listed on Googles website and people have been complaining about it for a long, long time (Issue 1128 - android - Email app should allow moving messages between folders - Project Hosting on Google Code). This is really a very basic feature of any email client that supports IMAP and honestly I think it is pretty sad that the stock email app does not do this. Regardless K9 mail does this for me and much more so I am just happy that we have the market and some seriously smart developers out there. Now if I can just get a developer to write a app to make the Acclaim use one of it's buttons as an end call button!

 

[cjpederson]

I did play around with having shortcuts on my main screen, but it just got too cluttered. Actually, when it comes to the main screen, I really like things very simple. I use LauncherPro and have my number of screens set to 1 with 6 icons on my main screen in addition to 5 in the bottom "dock bar". When you say Idle screen, are you referring to the screen that appears when you lock the phone and have to slide to unlock? If so, I wasn't actually aware you could add icons to this. Or did you just mean the main screen (or the desktop I guess in the windows world)? I guess I am just used to being able to just go to the dialer and hit a one digit number and then talk to call my most frequent contacts (similar to how 1 always calls voicemail). Luckily I did find a very nice app that does this, I guess I was just more shocked than anything that the default dialer did not support this.

Do you currently use the Favorites (starred) option for contacts? What I did is marked my frequently-called people as favorites. In the dialer, you can go to the Favorites tab and it will just list them. Just another option for you...

 

[ali79shine]

Do you currently use the Favorites (starred) option for contacts? What I did is marked my frequently-called people as favorites. In the dialer, you can go to the Favorites tab and it will just list them. Just another option for you...

You must still then go into the dialer, toggle over to the favorites, scroll down to your favorite then actually hit call. GRR GRR

So can you NOT set up speed dial at all on this phone?? #1 is voicemail, I'd love to make #2-Husband #3-Mom, etc.

I WANT A TALK/END BUTTON SO FREAKIN BAD!!!!!!!!!! The HTC Desire has one and also has the function that if you dial mom on your kepad it actually brings up the contact for you to just call, I WANT THAT FUNCTION back as well


I SHOULD HAVE KEPT MY BLACKBERRY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! UGH!

 

[Deleted User]

So can you NOT set up speed dial at all on this phone?? #1 is voicemail, I'd love to make #2-Husband #3-Mom, etc.

You can make shortcuts to these people on any of your home screens. Voicemail is just yourself; if you haven't got one, make a contact, call it Voicemail, and put your number in. Then make a shortcut to that. If you want, you can give it an icon of a cassette tape or something.

If 3 home screens aren't enough, hit up the Market and get LauncherPro and HomeSwitcher. The former replaces your main interface (and does not require root). The latter lets you choose it. LP lets you have up to 7 home screens. They are all also blank, so you get to build from scratch (which is nice). You don't start with 7 though, you start with 3, but you can go up to 7 (or down to 1). It also includes a dock which puts four icons, two on either side of the app tray button. Acclaim+LP >>> Acclaim.

 

[ali79shine]

You can make shortcuts to these people on any of your home screens. Voicemail is just yourself; if you haven't got one, make a contact, call it Voicemail, and put your number in. Then make a shortcut to that. If you want, you can give it an icon of a cassette tape or something.

If 3 home screens aren't enough, hit up the Market and get LauncherPro and HomeSwitcher. The former replaces your main interface (and does not require root). The latter lets you choose it. LP lets you have up to 7 home screens. They are all also blank, so you get to build from scratch (which is nice). You don't start with 7 though, you start with 3, but you can go up to 7 (or down to 1). It also includes a dock which puts four icons, two on either side of the app tray button. Acclaim+LP >>> Acclaim.

Thanks DR, I did not know that. Now if someone can fix the fact that there is NO End key.

 

[ali79shine]

Dark Reality- What else do you have for me?? What else should I know about this phone? Also does your phone shut off randomly? This is my second Acclaim because of that reason.

 

[Eric1214]

Thanks Dark Reality. I have actually implemented something similar to that in addition to having the Speed Dial Old School App.

Ali, I am looking into writing an app to see if it is possible to make one of the existing buttons act as an "end" button during a call. I am pretty busy right now with work so I don't know how much time I will have to look at this, but if I am able to come up with anything I will post a thread here.

 

[ali79shine]

Thanks Dark Reality. I have actually implemented something similar to that in addition to having the Speed Dial Old School App.

Ali, I am looking into writing an app to see if it is possible to make one of the existing buttons act as an "end" button during a call. I am pretty busy right now with work so I don't know how much time I will have to look at this, but if I am able to come up with anything I will post a thread here.

Dark- I am LOVING the LP!!! Thank you for that!

Eric- That would be AWESOME! Thank you!

 

[Deleted User]

Dark Reality- What else do you have for me?? What else should I know about this phone? Also does your phone shut off randomly? This is my second Acclaim because of that reason.

Too much for one post. There is just too much about Android to post about, that's why they have a whole forum for it! If you want a clever game to pass the time, I can recommend Alchemy. ;-)

My phone has shut off randomly as you all describe twice, within the first week I had it. It has not done it since. Both times, I laid it face down -- I have not done that since, but due to the build of the Acclaim, there's no good reason not to just lay it on its back. It does have a light/dark sensor in the upper left corner -- if you have a handsfree device of any kind, while on a call, run your hand over it and watch the screen fade in and out. Maybe it sensing dark for so long... but then again, it doesn't die at night.

Eric1214, WRT your app, Search is probably your best bet, but then again, due to the way the Acclaim is built, people will hit it accidentally, and then they will be mad at you. Map it to the trackpad button, just because you have to deliberately push it. Sorry guys, I don't mind the lack of an End button, though I don't like the "slide".

Anyone who can afford a Desire should probably just get that one. My wife and I couldn't. And we love our Acclaims. Sorry to hear y'all aren't having such good luck.

 

[rasmith3530]

1. You don't want a "Call End" soft button on this phone. What happens when your cheek touches it moments before the sensors disable the touch screen? Be careful what you ask for, you just might get it!

2. You're sliding a virtual button over, not having to dig a grave! A small price to pay to have a peacefully sleeping wife! ;-)

3. You are aware that you can set separate volumes for Ringtones and Notifications, no? Lower the volume, or temporarily mute it by moving the slider all the way.

4. You found an application to resolve your problem but still want to complain about it anyway? Android is like a blank canvas, and you fill in the colors by installing applications from the Market. That is the beauty of Android.

5. See #4 above.

Tips? Google is your friend! Wishing you luck.

 

[tjlong]

I am new to the Android world and so far, I'm still learning but have come to love it. A question though, I have set my ringtone for incoming calls from an app that I have downloaded. I love the ringtone but, when someone is calling me, I get the name of the caller and the saying "is calling". My ringtone does not ring. Is there a setting that I'm missing? Is that standard on the Android? I'm at a loss. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[cjpederson]

I am new to the Android world and so far, I'm still learning but have come to love it. A question though, I have set my ringtone for incoming calls from an app that I have downloaded. I love the ringtone but, when someone is calling me, I get the name of the caller and the saying "is calling". My ringtone does not ring. Is there a setting that I'm missing? Is that standard on the Android? I'm at a loss. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Go to Settings > Text-to-speech. There's a setting there for "Speak incoming caller ID". Uncheck that.

 

[Eric1214]

1. You don't want a "Call End" soft button on this phone. What happens when your cheek touches it moments before the sensors disable the touch screen? Be careful what you ask for, you just might get it!

I can honestly say that I have never accidentally hit any of the soft buttons on the phone with my cheek. Maybe it is the way I hold the phone but it has never happened to me. I am careful what I ask for, and would love to have it. I don't worry about issues that will never happen.

2. You're sliding a virtual button over, not having to dig a grave! A small price to pay to have a peacefully sleeping wife! ;-)

Umm, ok. So everytime I want to plug my phone in (once a night essentially) I have to set the phone to silent, plug it in and then turn the sound back on (because I don't want to miss a call in case there is an emergency during the night)? Sure, this is very user friendly. If anyone thought that this is a good idea without having an option for it then they need to actually start using the phone in real life and not in a test lab. I agree that the default should be the way that it is, but there really should be an option to disable it.

3. You are aware that you can set separate volumes for Ringtones and Notifications, no? Lower the volume, or temporarily mute it by moving the slider all the way.

Yes, I am aware of this and like most people I have them both at max level. I don't want to lower my notification volume. So essentially, if i am driving in an area with spotty service, I need to mute the notification volume while driving (or pull over) and then set it back to full volume while driving (or pull over). Thanks, great suggestion. Seriously.

4. You found an application to resolve your problem but still want to complain about it anyway? Android is like a blank canvas, and you fill in the colors by installing applications from the Market. That is the beauty of Android.

5. See #4 above.

For #4, yes because this is a BASIC fundamental feature that should be on any email client. Can you honestly say that you can use the default e-mail app on the Acclaim? I would find it hard to believe that there is anyone that can truly utilize it except maybe for those that don't e-mail on a daily basis. To be blunt, it is garbage.

So you are saying that because there is an app out there that does the jobs (one of which I think I had to pay for, can't remember) that I shouldn't complain about it? I'm sorry but that is complete crap. If what is on the Acclaim to begin with is lacking, then users need to complain about it. I am not saying it has to have all the bells and whistles stock, but not have key fundamental features (my first cell phone I bought in 2001 had single digit speed dial) is pathetic.

As I said in my original post, overall I love the Acclaim (it is my first "smartphone"). But sometimes when using it, i just sit back and think WTF was Samsung thinking.


<sarcasm>
Thanks for the post Rob, it was very helpful.
</sarcasm>

 

[Marauders18u]

I was hoping for a easy to use address book app. I have the list of people on my contacts list that I use all the time but no way to add addresses. The address books I have seen for the android did not have a place for phone numbers. Those numbers that are for the doctor, friends that I don't call often etc. General numbers that are normally located in a real address book. I have found social address books that sync to twitter, facebook etc but don't want that. Just looking for an address that would allow the addition of name, address and phone number - no photo's, twitter or anything else.
Also, I found it a real pain not to have a turn off the phone button also.
Finally, after two hours of working with the U S Cellular people ( My contacts backup) would stop at 44 % and not upload to US Cellular server. At inital launch it downloaded all the FB contacts and gmails etc.
To fix I had to delete all the contacts on my phone then go to the server and delete all those numbers and then re-enter them on the server. It worked. Every one at the cell phone place had seen other phones do that but no one -including tech support knew how to fix. I found it out on my own.

 

[Marauders18u]

I was hoping for a easy to use address book app. I have the list of people on my contacts list that I use all the time but no way to add addresses. The address books I have seen for the android did not have a place for phone numbers. Those numbers that are for the doctor, friends that I don't call often etc. General numbers that are normally located in a real address book. I have found social address books that sync to twitter, facebook etc but don't want that. Just looking for an address that would allow the addition of name, address and phone number - no photo's, twitter or anything else.
Also, I found it a real pain not to have a turn off the phone button also.
Finally, after two hours of working with the U S Cellular people ( My contacts backup) would stop at 44 % and not upload to US Cellular server. At inital launch it downloaded all the FB contacts and gmails etc.
To fix I had to delete all the contacts on my phone then go to the server and delete all those numbers and then re-enter them on the server. It worked. Every one at the cell phone place had seen other phones do that but no one -including tech support knew how to fix. I found it out on my own.

 

[rasmith3530]

I can honestly say that I have never accidentally hit any of the soft buttons on the phone with my cheek. Maybe it is the way I hold the phone but it has never happened to me. I am careful what I ask for, and would love to have it. I don't worry about issues that will never happen.

You haven't hit them because you have the protection provided by the slider button!

Umm, ok. So everytime I want to plug my phone in (once a night essentially) I have to set the phone to silent, plug it in and then turn the sound back on (because I don't want to miss a call in case there is an emergency during the night)? Sure, this is very user friendly. If anyone thought that this is a good idea without having an option for it then they need to actually start using the phone in real life and not in a test lab. I agree that the default should be the way that it is, but there really should be an option to disable it.

Why would you have to set the phone to silent and then turn the sound back on once it was plugged in? Just turn notifications off at night. You can do that and still leave your call ringer on so you won't miss that emergency call.

Yes, I am aware of this and like most people I have them both at max level. I don't want to lower my notification volume. So essentially, if i am driving in an area with spotty service, I need to mute the notification volume while driving (or pull over) and then set it back to full volume while driving (or pull over). Thanks, great suggestion. Seriously.

So, you state that you don't want notifications blasting, but you have your notification volume turned all the way up? That doesn't make sense.

For #4, yes because this is a BASIC fundamental feature that should be on any email client. Can you honestly say that you can use the default e-mail app on the Acclaim? I would find it hard to believe that there is anyone that can truly utilize it except maybe for those that don't e-mail on a daily basis. To be blunt, it is garbage.

I use the default email client on my Acclaim every day, for my corporate Exchange mail account, so in answer to your question, YES! Of course, I have been using smartphones for several years now, on several different platforms, and have become accustomed to their individual idiosyncrasies.

So you are saying that because there is an app out there that does the jobs (one of which I think I had to pay for, can't remember) that I shouldn't complain about it? I'm sorry but that is complete crap. If what is on the Acclaim to begin with is lacking, then users need to complain about it. I am not saying it has to have all the bells and whistles stock, but not have key fundamental features (my first cell phone I bought in 2001 had single digit speed dial) is pathetic.

I view Android as a platform that allows you, the owner, to set the phone up in the way that you want, for the most part. Yes, this allows you to add features and functions that don't exist in the base install. That is the beauty of Android. BTW, my first mobile phone, back in 1997, didn't have any form of speed dial, voice or otherwise.

As I said in my original post, overall I love the Acclaim (it is my first "smartphone"). But sometimes when using it, i just sit back and think WTF was Samsung thinking.

Samsung didn't design Android, and most of your complaints seem to be regarding the phone's Android software platform. It is a quite capable phone, but it does require a learning curve, that is for sure. This is true even if you are coming from another smartphone platform, but more so in the case where you are coming from the world of feature phones.

<sarcasm>
Thanks for the post Rob, it was very helpful.
</sarcasm>

Sarcastically, you are most welcome! ;-)

Have a great day!

 

[Eric1214]

You haven't hit them because you have the protection provided by the slider button!

Maybe it is just me, but I fail to see your point. Regardless, I am in the process of writing an app to try to accomplish this. Whether I finish the app, well that is another story. But if I am able to finish it, then I guess we will be able to see how it all turns out.

Why would you have to set the phone to silent and then turn the sound back on once it was plugged in? Just turn notifications off at night. You can do that and still leave your call ringer on so you won't miss that emergency call.

OK, you are missing my point Rob. If my phone goes off in the night from a phone call, text message or e-mail (if I had e-mail setup that way - which I don't) than I want to know about it. In the year 2010, many people use text messaging if they are in a hurry and need to convey a quick message. An emergency could certainly fall under this situation. So I don't want to turn notifications off at night.

So, you state that you don't want notifications blasting, but you have your notification volume turned all the way up? That doesn't make sense.

Once again, you are missing my point. I want the notification volume all the way up because if I get a message, I want to know about it. What I am saying is that there should be an option for the phone to NOT play the notification sound for a lost network signal. As simple as that. I agree the default should be the way it is, but there really needs to be an option that says when I lose a network signal, don't play a notification sound. If you have ever driven in an area with spotty coverage it can be very annonying when the phone constantly plays a notification sound. I guess it wouldn't be quite as bad if you could configure it to play a different sound so you would know without looking at your phone that it lost the network signal and isn't simply a real text message. But it makes more sense (and probably would be easier to implement) to just have an option to not play a notification for a lost network signal.

I use the default email client on my Acclaim every day, for my corporate Exchange mail account, so in answer to your question, YES! Of course, I have been using smartphones for several years now, on several different platforms, and have become accustomed to their individual idiosyncrasies.

OK, this was probably my fault for not being more specific. The issue is not with Exchange mail accounts. The issue is only for IMAP or IMAPS e-mail servers. With the stock mail app, you simply cannot move emails between folders on those server types. This is really a simple fundamental feature of any email client (as can be seen from the posts on the original link I posted for the bug report). Ask yourself this question: in your daily use of the stock email app for your corporate Exchange mail account, do you ever move e-mail messages between folders? If the answer to that question is yes, than the stock e-mail app would be very disappointing to you if used on a IMAP server. If the answer to that question is no, then you either have a VERY large inbox (or you never retain any old e-mails).

Also, please don't confuse idiosyncrasies with missing fundamental features. There is a huge difference and I hope that you can see that.

I view Android as a platform that allows you, the owner, to set the phone up in the way that you want, for the most part. Yes, this allows you to add features and functions that don't exist in the base install. That is the beauty of Android. BTW, my first mobile phone, back in 1997, didn't have any form of speed dial, voice or otherwise.

OK, well since we got past the Y2K bug, I think it is safe to say that we are in the world of single digit speed dial.

Samsung didn't design Android, and most of your complaints seem to be regarding the phone's Android software platform. It is a quite capable phone, but it does require a learning curve, that is for sure. This is true even if you are coming from another smartphone platform, but more so in the case where you are coming from the world of feature phones.


Sarcastically, you are most welcome! ;-)

Have a great day!

[/QUOTE]

This is true and a good point for the email/folder issue. This is really an Android issue and not Samsung specific. However, your statement is invalid for all of the other issues. A friend of mine has a Motorola Android 2.1 phone (not with U.S. Cellular - I think with Verizon) and his phone has an end call button, has single digit speed dial and doesn't blast a sound everytime you plug it in (not sure about the network signal sound). So please explain further how these are Android specific issues and not Samsung?

 

[rasmith3530]

Maybe it is just me, but I fail to see your point. Regardless, I am in the process of writing an app to try to accomplish this. Whether I finish the app, well that is another story. But if I am able to finish it, then I guess we will be able to see how it all turns out.

I wish you luck with that Eric. I'd love to see your results. Hey, if you can build a better mousetrap, go for it! Yes, finishing what we start, I understand completely.

OK, you are missing my point Rob. If my phone goes off in the night from a phone call, text message or e-mail (if I had e-mail setup that way - which I don't) than I want to know about it. In the year 2010, many people use text messaging if they are in a hurry and need to convey a quick message. An emergency could certainly fall under this situation. So I don't want to turn notifications off at night.

Once again, you are missing my point. I want the notification volume all the way up because if I get a message, I want to know about it. What I am saying is that there should be an option for the phone to NOT play the notification sound for a lost network signal. As simple as that. I agree the default should be the way it is, but there really needs to be an option that says when I lose a network signal, don't play a notification sound. If you have ever driven in an area with spotty coverage it can be very annonying when the phone constantly plays a notification sound. I guess it wouldn't be quite as bad if you could configure it to play a different sound so you would know without looking at your phone that it lost the network signal and isn't simply a real text message. But it makes more sense (and probably would be easier to implement) to just have an option to not play a notification for a lost network signal.

Hmm, so now, let me see. You want to be sure that you are made aware of any form of communication that comes into your phone during the night (call, SMS, and email), and you want it loud, so that you will for sure get it. OK, so receiving notification of calls or messages appears to be extremely important. I get it!

Of course, if some issue causes a loss of network signal and therefore prevents you from receiving those calls or messages, you DO NOT want to be made aware of that. This makes perfect sense to me. NOT!

I cannot understand why you would want the ability to turn off these notifications. I'm no longer on overnight call, but I used to be, and twice during a six year period, some network or device issue prevented me from responding to a site outage for a Fortune 100 client. We missed level of service those two times and that was big dough. I want to know if my phone loses network signal! I want it to be LOUD!!!

OK, this was probably my fault for not being more specific. The issue is not with Exchange mail accounts. The issue is only for IMAP or IMAPS e-mail servers. With the stock mail app, you simply cannot move emails between folders on those server types. This is really a simple fundamental feature of any email client (as can be seen from the posts on the original link I posted for the bug report). Ask yourself this question: in your daily use of the stock email app for your corporate Exchange mail account, do you ever move e-mail messages between folders? If the answer to that question is yes, than the stock e-mail app would be very disappointing to you if used on a IMAP server. If the answer to that question is no, then you either have a VERY large inbox (or you never retain any old e-mails).

Also, please don't confuse idiosyncrasies with missing fundamental features. There is a huge difference and I hope that you can see that.

OK, well since we got past the Y2K bug, I think it is safe to say that we are in the world of single digit speed dial.

OK, I understand where you are coming from here. My old HTC PPC6800 had the ability to view and transfer mail between folders, that is, once I had installed a custom Bootloader, Radio and ROM to take it from WinMo 6.0 to WinMo 6.1. As for my BlackBerry 8330 Curve and my BlackBerry 9630 Tour (with BB OS 5 installed), they were unable to do this with the native email app, and BlackBerry is regarded as the best platform out there when it comes to handling email!

With my Acclaim, I have three accounts set up. Of course, I have my GMAIL account, required to do many things with the phone. This is set up through the phone's GMAIL client, and it gives me most of the features the web-based desktop version enjoys. Its Inbox currently holds approximately 1,600 messages. I also have an AT&T/Yahoo account. I've had this account for almost a decade. There are currently 11,315 messages in my Inbox (yeah, I'm an email packrat). There are over 10,000 messages combined in the other twenty folders I have created. Using the Yahoo Mail application available in the Android Market, I am able to view those other folders and move mail from my Inbox into them, with no problem at all. My corporate Exchange mail account is set up using the Android email application of which you speak. On this account, I am able to transfer mail from my Inbox to one of several folders created off my Inbox. I am not able to view all the messages, only the past three days, per my account settings on the phone. I am unable of course, to view those messages that I move to the PST files that reside on my shared network drive at work.

So, in answer to your reply above, I have quite a bit of mail that I manage daily, and I have the ability to move it as needed within the various accounts on my phone. Oh yes, on all three accounts described above, I am able to mark messages for follow-up. Get a better email provider! ;-)

What's up re the Y2K Bug? We've passed single digit speed dial (that's for dumb phones) and have now entered the era of voice dialing, a feature your phone includes I might add. Put that 'lil microphone right smack dab in the middle of your main screen!

This is true and a good point for the email/folder issue. This is really an Android issue and not Samsung specific. However, your statement is invalid for all of the other issues. A friend of mine has a Motorola Android 2.1 phone (not with U.S. Cellular - I think with Verizon) and his phone has an end call button, has single digit speed dial and doesn't blast a sound everytime you plug it in (not sure about the network signal sound). So please explain further how these are Android specific issues and not Samsung?

Yes Eric, one difference with Android is that it is adaptable to all sorts of different hardware, including Tablets and devices like Barnes & Noble's Nook Ebook reader. You mentioned above that you were going to create an application to replace the slider button. I'm assuming that you haven't taken the first steps to doing so, because if you had, you would know that the Android emulator in the SDK (since at least 1.6 that I am aware of) uses EXACTLY those slider buttons to access the device! Can you lose them and replace with a hardware button? Why certainly. Is it more costly to do so? Definitely! It also adds a potential fail point. BTW, on the other current Android-powered phone developed for US Cellular, the HTC Desire, the Sense interface replaces the sideways sliding button used to unlock the phone for one that is swiped downward. HTC has built more Android-powered phones than the other manufacturers combined, including the original Google Developer handsets.

 

[Eric1214]

Of course, if some issue causes a loss of network signal and therefore prevents you from receiving those calls or messages, you DO NOT want to be made aware of that. This makes perfect sense to me. NOT!

Rob, what I am saying is that there should be a way to disable to. If I am going to be driving in an area with spotty coverage, then it would be easy enough to just disable the notify when the network signal is lost. Then later on, once I am in an area with full service (like home for example) I can re-enable that setting back to the default. I am not saying the Acclaim default setting as delivered needs changed, I am saying that the OPTION should be there. I understand what you are saying (and I agree also), it is simply not having the option to tweak it via some phone setting that is missing. I realize you can change the notifications volume manually.

So, in answer to your reply above, I have quite a bit of mail that I manage daily, and I have the ability to move it as needed within the various accounts on my phone. Oh yes, on all three accounts described above, I am able to mark messages for follow-up. Get a better email provider! ;-)

What's up re the Y2K Bug? We've passed single digit speed dial (that's for dumb phones) and have now entered the era of voice dialing, a feature your phone includes I might add. Put that 'lil microphone right smack dab in the middle of your main screen!

RE the email, yeah I had a feeling you would say that. Hey, I will be the first to admit, IMAP servers are not the most popular e-mail server type and most people either use Web based e-mail or Exchange servers. However, small businesses don't always have this luxury due to cost restrictions or infrastructure restrictions. The fact is IMAP servers are still well alive in the small business world and the stock e-mail app is garbage for "real world" use on IMAP servers. So I appreciate the comment to get a better e-mail provider, but that isn't really possible at the current time.

RE the Y2K bug, I was just making a comment to your comment regarding your first phone in '97 didn't have speed dial. Just making a joke. I have not yet played around with the voice setup, but will soon. But having such a simple (and standard) feature not built in (even if slightly outdated) is disappointing to me.

Yes Eric, one difference with Android is that it is adaptable to all sorts of different hardware, including Tablets and devices like Barnes & Noble's Nook Ebook reader. You mentioned above that you were going to create an application to replace the slider button. I'm assuming that you haven't taken the first steps to doing so, because if you had, you would know that the Android emulator in the SDK (since at least 1.6 that I am aware of) uses EXACTLY those slider buttons to access the device! Can you lose them and replace with a hardware button? Why certainly. Is it more costly to do so? Definitely! It also adds a potential fail point. BTW, on the other current Android-powered phone developed for US Cellular, the HTC Desire, the Sense interface replaces the sideways sliding button used to unlock the phone for one that is swiped downward. HTC has built more Android-powered phones than the other manufacturers combined, including the original Google Developer handsets.

Yeah, I looked at the Desire actually and it seemed nice but not having a "real" keyboard was a deal breaker. I just don't trust the on-screen keyboards and need the feel of a real keyboard in my hands. I guess old habits die hard.

 

[rasmith3530]

Rob, what I am saying is that there should be a way to disable to. If I am going to be driving in an area with spotty coverage, then it would be easy enough to just disable the notify when the network signal is lost. Then later on, once I am in an area with full service (like home for example) I can re-enable that setting back to the default. I am not saying the Acclaim default setting as delivered needs changed, I am saying that the OPTION should be there. I understand what you are saying (and I agree also), it is simply not having the option to tweak it via some phone setting that is missing. I realize you can change the notifications volume manually.

This is why there is an Android Market, for folks to add functionality that did not come with the base Android design, or to add conveniences that save steps, making it easier to perform a task on the phone.

RE the email, yeah I had a feeling you would say that. Hey, I will be the first to admit, IMAP servers are not the most popular e-mail server type and most people either use Web based e-mail or Exchange servers. However, small businesses don't always have this luxury due to cost restrictions or infrastructure restrictions. The fact is IMAP servers are still well alive in the small business world and the stock e-mail app is garbage for "real world" use on IMAP servers. So I appreciate the comment to get a better e-mail provider, but that isn't really possible at the current time.

RE the Y2K bug, I was just making a comment to your comment regarding your first phone in '97 didn't have speed dial. Just making a joke. I have not yet played around with the voice setup, but will soon. But having such a simple (and standard) feature not built in (even if slightly outdated) is disappointing to me.

You cannot blame Android for the shortcomings of IMAP. Also, as seen from the applications written for GMAIL and Yahoo, it would be quite possible for your email provider to write an application which provides this functionality. As I said, get a better email provider! ;-)

Voice dial is a simpler and better solution than the antiquated speed dial. Do you also lament that your car no longer has wooden wheels?

Yeah, I looked at the Desire actually and it seemed nice but not having a "real" keyboard was a deal breaker. I just don't trust the on-screen keyboards and need the feel of a real keyboard in my hands. I guess old habits die hard.

I agree with you. I too like having the feel of a real keyboard. Right now though, I am using SlideIT (similar to Swype) on my phone and am liking the results. You might want to give it a try.

 

[Chellebelle]

I, too, do not like the slide end call button. Also, I have found that LaunchPro is stalling my phone for seconds at a time. Can anyone tell me how to change default email in the individual contacts? I want it to be my Gmail account instead of my corporate account so my contact will sync with my facebook.