Help Phone numbers / emails at hotlinks

[James Blonde]

I thought my ex-boss was being a bit daft when he said he couldn't click on the phone numbers on webpages on his new S4, after moving over from an iPhone. I'd been able to do it on my 2 previous android HTC's so just assumed that it was standard across all Androids.

Then I got my S4 and found that phone numbers do not hotlink! I can't even copy and paste into the phone dialer.

I must be missing something, surely?

 

[Szadzik]

Hotlink from where? Websites?

I just copied a random number from an email and pasted it in Dialer on my i9500. No issues at all.

Went to Facebook and looked at my profile where my cell# is added. Clicked on the number and that took me straight to Dialer.

 

[James Blonde]

Yep, hotlinks from websites.

Went to a website "contact us" page.
Phone numbers are clickable on the page using my HTC Desire HD
Phone numbers are NOT clickable on the page using the S4

I WAS being stupid in being unable to paste, so that's my bad! However I'm still not getting why the numbers aren't clickable?

 

[Szadzik]

Yep, hotlinks from websites.

Went to a website "contact us" page.
Phone numbers are clickable on the page using my HTC Desire HD
Phone numbers are NOT clickable on the page using the S4

I WAS being stupid in being unable to paste, so that's my bad! However I'm still not getting why the numbers aren't clickable?

I am able to click links. It depends on the website too as the number probably needs to be formated correctly for it to work.

 

[lotus49]

I am able to click links. It depends on the website too as the number probably needs to be formated correctly for it to work.

Me too. It works as you'd expect.

I seem to recall this has come up before but I didn't follow the thread so I don't know if the issue was resolved. Try searching for that thread.

 

[James Blonde]

I did, no luck! :/

Can someone try Contact us - Met Office and see if any of the phone numbers on there are clickable? It's not the only site I'm having problems with

 

[Szadzik]

Of course that will not work. I can select andd paste them, but they are not made into hotlinks on the site, so how did you want them to be hotlinks?


Here is some info about hotlinking phone numbers:

http://allwebco-templates.com/support/S_smartphone-link.htm

 

[James Blonde]

and this is why I'm confused.

The HTC Desire HD (and my HTC Hero before it) does recognise all of those phone numbers as phone numbers, and when clicked, will open them in the dialer. They could be international format, UK format, whatever. They may not be hyperlinks, but that doesn't matter. I guess the iPhone does the same, hence the comments by my old boss.

It's such a simple thing that my phones have been doing for years and I'm finding it bizarre that the S4 doesn't do it. It's clearly a Samsung thing rather than an Android thing as well.

I've searched for an explanation - nothing. I've searched for an app or setting that would enable it, but wouldn't even know what it was called, and anything I have searched on has come up blank. I guess is Samsung have never done it, then it would explain why many of you guys haven't a clue what I'm going on about!


Edit: Ahhh... This might explain...
http://arstechnica.com/apple/2012/06/apple-moves-to-block-samsung-galaxy-iii-from-sale-in-us/

Thanks Apple.

 

[Szadzik]

And how difficult is to copy those and paste in dialer?

 

[James Blonde]

It's not, but that's not really the point. Until now, I've not needed to, so it's more difficult than it needs to be. It also isn't 1 click and requires more than just "mashing" on the number, so isn't something I can do so easily on the go. As it's something I used to do frequently, I've lost functionality.

I guess HTC will be in the same boat, so I wouldn't have been any better had I gone for the One. Unless they licensed from Apple. Given that it'll be software, I guess someone could create an app for it.

Perhaps I should have put a sarcastic smiley on the "Thanks Apple" comment though - I suspect that may have resulted in a slightly less frosty reply...

 

[lotus49]

That web page didn't work for me on my S4 or on my iPad but I tried another random web page on my S4 and it did.

I think Szadzik is right. It's something to do with the way the number is formatted.

 

[Szadzik]

That web page didn't work for me on my S4 or on my iPad but I tried another random web page on my S4 and it did.

I think Szadzik is right. It's something to do with the way the number is formatted.

Of course. I have confirmed that a correctly formatted text works. I said that in my previous posts. Yet, James behaves as if it does not work ANYWHERE, where it only does not work where it was not made to work. It is obvious to me, that if someone posts a link in plain text, it will not be recognized as a link. Even the forum here, parses links and makes them into clickable ones automatically. Not everyone and everywhere does that and then it does not work. Do not blame the phone, that a link that is not a link does not work.

google.com

Can you click that link above? NO? Why? Because it is not a link, but just plain text. Very, very basics of how everything works.

As a test, here is a phone number that I posted using 'Insert link' option

1-847-555-5555

The same as above, but entered as plain text:

1-847-555-5555

Does either one work for you James?

3rd test that should actually work on the phone

tel:1-847-555-5555

 

[Szadzik]

James, please try the last link I posted and let me know if it works. It is formatted the way a phone number should be, as a link with tel: prefix. If that does not work for, it does for me, it means you have a different S4 that has some features removed.

 

[James Blonde]

Szadzik, I'm not behaving as if it doesn't work anywhere. Of course hyperlinks work - That's what they're designed to do. but that's not what I'm saying.

I'm saying that on my Desire HD, the PLAIN TEXT phone number (the second one you entered in black plain text - 1-847-555-555) worked, and it open up the dialler. UK formatted numbers work (01xxx xxxxxx, +44 1xxx xxxxxx) as per the plain text numbers on the website I linked to.

I know they're not formatted as hyperlinks, but they work. I can try to video it somehow if you want proof?

(Ironically, it seems a US formatted number with dashes may also open up the dialler on the S4.)

So that would suggest that HTC have (or had) a bit of code that recognised phone numbers formatted as plain text. In the Patent wars, they appear to have been called "Data Detectors." The link I provided would suggest that it has been part of the patent wars between Apple and Android hardware manufacturers, so I'm supposing that the functionality may have been removed, or redesigned to ensure it isn't breaching Apple patents. The Desire HD was manufactured before this particular patent issue was raised by Apple, so (and I'm supposing) perhaps the functionality hasn't existed on new phones for a couple of years. Samsung may have something similar, but perhaps only recognising US or numbers formatted with a dash maybe (I don't know - I've not tested it exhaustively)

 

[Szadzik]

Well, Samsung does recognize them, when they are supposed to be recognized. I see no reason to complain if only about the stupidity of USPTO

 

[Podivin]

JB, I see the same thing you do, like you it strikes me as odd that older/lesser phones/versions of the OS would be able to do this but the S4 cannot.
I guess we have to get used to a few extra 'cut & paste' steps to make those calls now...

 

[James Blonde]

JB, I see the same thing you do, like you it strikes me as odd that older/lesser phones/versions of the OS would be able to do this but the S4 cannot.
I guess we have to get used to a few extra 'cut & paste' steps to make those calls now...

Glad you know what I'm going on about Podivin, was starting to think I was making it all up!

Surely the stupidity of the USPTO is reason enough to complain?!