Photon Support Group For Palm webOS Users

[milominderbinde]

1. It seems that the problem is mostly that my contacts have been messed up by the transition.

2. So I'm not pulling up most of the contacts that I actually want to reach, although I am pulling up a lot of contacts that I don't often contact. ;-)

3. Oddly, the woman whose name I carefully entered yesterday still doesn't come up when I type her first name. It does when I go into "GO contacts", but not when I use "just type". Any clue what the problem might be?

4. Also, the phone has an unfortunate tendency to prioritize cell numbers over all other numbers. Yet I rarely call a celll number if I have a home number for someone. I don't suppose there's any way to re-order that?

5. Hey, is there a way to add an automatic wikipedia search, along with the google search?

1. I created a new Contacts section in the Getting Started with a number of tricks. I tell more about cleaning up Gmail contacts.

2. Set up a Contact Group with all your hot names and use that group.

3. Search using the Contacts app.

4. Search using the Contacts app not the stock dialer. The T9 Smart Dialer first looks for numbers.

 

[Puzzlegal]

I'm confused. Should I be able to "just type" to pull up contacts, or not? My issue is not that the "use a lot" contacts are being obscured by other contacts, it's that a bunch of them aren't showing up at all. Some contacts are showing up, but not the ones I actually want to use.

Yet they show up when I use "Go Contacts", so they must be on the phone somehow.

Very weird.

 

[milominderbinde]

I'm confused. Should I be able to "just type" to pull up contacts, or not? My issue is not that the "use a lot" contacts are being obscured by other contacts, it's that a bunch of them aren't showing up at all. Some contacts are showing up, but not the ones I actually want to use.

Yet they show up when I use "Go Contacts", so they must be on the phone somehow.

Very weird.

Yes. You can just type to find contacts. The search results will include everything else by default so tap the blue G button and select contact to filter out the rest.

Do the missing contacts show up when you look at them from your PC using www.gmail.com? Are they all in the MyContacts group? If they are not in MyContacts, they will not show up in your phone.

Also, in answer to an earlier question, you can include Wikipedia in your just type results if you use an app like WIkiDroid and chose to include it in your search results.

 

[Puzzlegal]

Do the missing contacts show up when you look at them from your PC using www.gmail.com?

dunno. I have never looked for a contact that way. I don't even know how to do that. This is also where my tin foil hat gets warm. Do I have to give google all my contact info in order to use it? Sigh. And then will out show up twice?

Are they all in the MyContacts group? If they are not in MyContacts, they will not show up in your phone.

i haven't actively created any groups. Since some contact info shows up, I guess the phone must have defaulted to creating something. O probably messed up when I deleted "duplicate" contacts.

 

[milominderbinde]

dunno. I have never looked for a contact that way. I don't even know how to do that. This is also where my tin foil hat gets warm. Do I have to give google all my contact info in order to use it? Sigh. And then will out show up twice? i haven't actively created any groups. Since some contact info shows up, I guess the phone must have defaulted to creating something. O probably messed up when I deleted "duplicate" contacts.

TIn foil hat made me smile.

When you got your Pre years ago you had a www.gmail.com account. You transferred it over to your Photon. They already know everything about you and eveyrone you know. Google knows when you are sleeping, knows when you're awake...

Please just log in and and see how many of your contacts are already there. I hope all are already there. That is how the phone backs you up.

Let me know. Based on that answer I can show you what to do the rest of the way.

 

[turnerb]

When you get an updated calendar app, can you delete the existing one on the Photon without any side effects? I don't want to stare at two different icons for calendar functionality if I can avoid it. I am nervous about trying this though because I deleted the weather app(because I can look out the window to see the eater and did not like the gps and battery drain) but I got some crashes at first when I dragged the weather app to the trash.

 

[swimb]

I have a Sprint Pre- and have been reading the forums over here daily for the past few weeks. I'm still trying to decide between this phone and the Evo 3D. I think the 3D stuff would be fun for my kids, but I'm sure I would use it much except to show it to some friends. I live right between 2 cell phone towers, so reception at my house isn't that great. We've had Moto phones in the past, and feel that their radios are really good and tend to get better reception. My concern with the 3VO is that call quality would be worse than what I have now.

I also have some concerns over HTC support vs. Motorola support for the phones. HTC seems to be a bit more open, has more devs (and some from WebOS are now developing for Android) and some cooler widgets, and I think they may push out updates sooner than the other manufacturers. Motorola seems to have had a bad rap with their previous Blur, and they seem to roll out updates later (but that could be a carrier issue, I'm just not sure). Now with Google buying Motorola, I'm not sure if that will be a good thing or a bad thing. Anyone have any knowledge/experience on this?

Also, how is the GPS on this phone? Seems the 3VO has had some GPS locking issues. While I don't use the GPS a lot for turn-by-turn directions since I have a GPS unit for my car, I do like to browse what's nearby and get directions to that place. That works much better for me than my stand alone GPS unit.

I know I really just need to go try one out, but I don't feel comfortable enough yet to do that.

Oh, and so why did you all choose this phone over the Evo 3D?

Thanks!

As 13 year sprint customer and die hard palm fan...from treo 650, to centro, to pre. I say get the Photon.

I had been on precentral for years, but started researching here when it looked like sprint was never going to get the pre3, and it doesn't look like webos is going to make it. I got my photon 2 days ago, and all in all, I really like it. Sure, there are lots of homebrew patches and things that I miss about the phone, but the speed is amazing. I was never an 'app' person, but I have to say it is nice to have REAL apps available.

I chose the Photon over the 3d, because I don't care about 3d. I don't watch HD movies on my phone. I have a 58" plasma for that, or a 27" mac monitor, or... you get the point. Dual core, world phone, gorilla glass...great experience.

Just turn down the brightness almost all the way, and you will get decent battery life...and that is coming from a guy that had the big 2600mA seidio extended battery on the pre.

Get the Photon...or wait for the samsung galaxy II.

 

[douglasazo]

As 13 year sprint customer and die hard palm fan...from treo 650, to centro, to pre. I say get the Photon.

I had been on precentral for years, but started researching here when it looked like sprint was never going to get the pre3, and it doesn't look like webos is going to make it. I got my photon 2 days ago, and all in all, I really like it. Sure, there are lots of homebrew patches and things that I miss about the phone, but the speed is amazing. I was never an 'app' person, but I have to say it is nice to have REAL apps available.

I chose the Photon over the 3d, because I don't care about 3d. I don't watch HD movies on my phone. I have a 58" plasma for that, or a 27" mac monitor, or... you get the point. Dual core, world phone, gorilla glass...great experience.

Just turn down the brightness almost all the way, and you will get decent battery life...and that is coming from a guy that had the big 2600mA seidio extended battery on the pre.

Get the Photon...or wait for the samsung galaxy II.

I agree. I recently made the switch. treo>pre>photon. wife had centro then pixi. I think precentral was what made the webos phone so awesome. Difference with the android is there are widgets and apps to do the same things.

I do love the photon though after only 2 days. I was able to customize my pre through preware, but I wasnt happy with the phone until i had 85+ patches installed. The difference is that I am stoked with the photon already. It feels bigger than the pre in my hand but its not noticable in my pocket. it also feels thinner than the evo in my pocket.

the evo 3d is a good phone but for me, the photon is just a bit better. battery life is amazing. i used my phone all day, talking, messing with contacts, finding apps, etc and made it all day without a charge. my friends evo did the same but he has the extended battery.

 

[Puzzlegal]

TIn foil hat made me smile.

When you got your Pre years ago you had a www.gmail.com account. You transferred it over to your Photon. They already know everything about you and eveyrone you know. Google knows when you are sleeping, knows when you're awake...

Please just log in and and see how many of your contacts are already there. I hope all are already there. That is how the phone backs you up.

Let me know. Based on that answer I can show you what to do the rest of the way.

I didn't. I got the gmail account after I got the Pre, and I have used it mostly for calendars. I've never kept contact info there.

When I replaced my Photon yesterday, I neglected to ask the saleswoman to transfer my contact info, and now my Photon has no contact info except for what's in Facebook.

I know there's some way to dump that off my Pre and into Google, and I logged on this morning to look that up. I seem to recall it's in "getting started" in this very thread. I'm not sure if I will have time to do it this morning before I need to go to work, though. And I really am uncomfortable doing so -- neither Palm nor HP have ever been in the business of selling my personal information, and are unlikely to enter that business in the forseeable future. That's Google's primary business. Sigh. At least, unlike Facebook, the people who own Google acknowledge that there are legitimate issues around privacy. But there's a reason they have to remind themselves to strive for "don't be evil", because it's oh so easy for their business model to drift towards the dark side. Knowledge is power, and power corrupts, after all.

 

[Puzzlegal]

Okay, I created a vcard.vcf file. . . .
Update: I tried logging into gmail and did find an option to upload vcards. I now have contacts in Gmail. And I seem to have contact info on the gadget, again. All hail our google overlords.

 

[freeridstylee]

Is anyone else devastated with yesterday's news? I still had hope that I would return to my beloved WebOS sometime soon. Oh well, I guess it's all in on Android now. I'm still pretty frustrated with it, but it's mainly because I don't want to take the time to customize it. Oh and its sad excuse for Multitasking.

 

[Puzzlegal]

I am. I am even fantasizing about picking up an unlocked Pre3 on ebay or something.

But I'm busy customizing my new Photon, and moving in to it. I guess I'm a tinkerer, and I like the "moving in" part. I miss the keyboard. I miss "cards". I miss "cards" a lot, despite having installed "perfect task switcher", which sort of imitates the card experience. Android has a form of synergy, and a form of "just type", and both have advantages and disadvantages as compared to the Pre. So I'm missing the Pre, but enjoying some new functionality.

And this phone has some functionality I love. It's a great GPS gadget in the car. Calendars pop up instantly, I don't have to wait for ages.

The thing I like least about it is that it creeps me out a little to be so very intimate with Google, but most people seem to be okay with that.

And I miss my Pre, and I'm sad about the announcement.

But freeridsylee, tkae the time to tinker with your Photon, you will be much happier for it.

 

[kludgette]

I think we Pre users are just way too set on a physical keyboard. I went in to Sprint with the same attitude and tried their various keyboarded android offerings. Also tried a few on screen keyboards (ya know, to solidify that I really can't stand them). I basically typed the *slowest* and least acurate on the physical keyboards. At that point I decided the Photon would probably be the phone for me. Just try it all before you decide on something.

I Installed touchpal on my photon for typing. Use the two letters per key keyboard (same keyboard I used to use on my touch Windows phone). Also a former Pre- users. Mine died. Not liking Android, liking the apps I needed though. Hopefully they improve it - or a new (non HP) WebOS device is out next year - with the apps I need (ie logmein ignition).

 

[kludgette]

I am. I am even fantasizing about picking up an unlocked Pre3 on ebay or something.

But I'm busy customizing my new Photon, and moving in to it. I guess I'm a tinkerer, and I like the "moving in" part. I miss the keyboard. I miss "cards". I miss "cards" a lot, despite having installed "perfect task switcher", which sort of imitates the card experience. Android has a form of synergy, and a form of "just type", and both have advantages and disadvantages as compared to the Pre. So I'm missing the Pre, but enjoying some new functionality.

And this phone has some functionality I love. It's a great GPS gadget in the car. Calendars pop up instantly, I don't have to wait for ages.

The thing I like least about it is that it creeps me out a little to be so very intimate with Google, but most people seem to be okay with that.

And I miss my Pre, and I'm sad about the announcement.

But freeridsylee, tkae the time to tinker with your Photon, you will be much happier for it.

I miss cards a LOT too. boo hoo. Android is clunky man. I'll survive a year. Hope they fix it!! Will look into perfect task switcher.

The notification bar drives me BATY

 

[kludgette]

Is anyone else devastated with yesterday's news? I still had hope that I would return to my beloved WebOS sometime soon. Oh well, I guess it's all in on Android now. I'm still pretty frustrated with it, but it's mainly because I don't want to take the time to customize it. Oh and its sad excuse for Multitasking.

They may sell it or license it. Could be the best ever news for WebOS actually!!! Keeping my hopes up. Android is just not functional or smooth enough. Takes WAY to many taps to call back a missed number (one of my many gripes). Personally - I've always HATED HP. I do HOPE they sell WebOS.

 

[Puzzlegal]

I miss cards a LOT too. boo hoo. Android is clunky man. I'll survive a year. Hope they fix it!! Will look into perfect task switcher.

The notification bar drives me BATY

What dorves you batty about the notification bar? I don't like that I have to keep clearing out notifications, (it doesn't know that I've been to email already) but other than that it seems fine.

 

[kludgette]

What dorves you batty about the notification bar? I don't like that I have to keep clearing out notifications, (it doesn't know that I've been to email already) but other than that it seems fine.

Not being able to tap individual notifications. Have to open it up to clear them. Not being able to quickly and easily read the first two lines of a text (tiny up there and scrolls once). Having to click and hold for date (or get it off lock screen) - sure there's "fix" for that - haven't found it yet. Not able to connect QUICKLY to wifi - often resorting to shutting it off and back on - or going to the settings screen (doesn't always give a notification when network is available). Miss my menus...

 

[kludgette]

I miss cards a LOT too. boo hoo. Android is clunky man. I'll survive a year. Hope they fix it!! Will look into perfect task switcher.

The notification bar drives me BATY

Perfect task switcher isn't showing thumbnails - though I checked it to do so. Anyone else had this?

 

[Puzzlegal]

Not being able to tap individual notifications. Have to open it up to clear them. Not being able to quickly and easily read the first two lines of a text (tiny up there and scrolls once). Having to click and hold for date (or get it off lock screen) - sure there's "fix" for that - haven't found it yet. Not able to connect QUICKLY to wifi - often resorting to shutting it off and back on - or going to the settings screen (doesn't always give a notification when network is available). Miss my menus...

You can clear them indivdually, although you do have to pull open the notification screen to do that.

Hmm, I'm sure you are right about texts. I haven't gotten a text since getting the phone (I almost enver get texts)

For the date, download "Date Status Bar", by Modded Logic. It almost exactly reproduces the date widget on the Pre. I love it.

I've had no problems with Wifi. It is constantly notifying me that wifi is available, and has worked fine to attach to wifi when I've tried. Once I tell it to connect to a particular wifi service, it does it automatically every time I'm in range (such as at home.) It's true that it's a nuisance to get to the wifi screen other than by clicking the notification, but that's worked well enough for me.

I miss the menus, too.

 

[Puzzlegal]

Perfect task switcher isn't showing thumbnails - though I checked it to do so. Anyone else had this?

It says somewhere in the documentation that this only works on rooted phones or something. I agree that it sucks.