[Q] small menu problem - Windows Phone 8 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hello. I have a nokia lumia 520 and I have a little problem with my menu (that menu that apears after I swipe to left).
I don't know exactly what I do but now in that menu my apps are sorted by letters. I mean in front of apps that starts with "A" I have a letter "A"... How can I remove that letters? I just want to have my apps without that letters in front.
I hope you understand my problem...

This feature has existed for like 1.5 years and is well documented, by the way... it's called a jump list, and enables you to skip around in your app list (for example, get to apps that start with "T" without needing to scroll through most of the alphabet). It is enabled automatically once you have at least 45 items in the list (this includes things like email accounts, but not stuff that isn't in that list such as individual games, Settings apps, or so forth). To the best of my knowledge, there's no way to turn it off again short of resetting the phone, though. I wouldn't want to - I believe my app list has over 100 items by now - but to each their own (or not, as the case may be here). Try it; you'll probably find it's a lot faster than scrolling or typing a search query.

Yeah, with the list indexed as it is, it is much easier to get to WPCentral or WPTorrent now. Tap the letter, then W.. Boom, you're there!!

Related

[[Cupcake]] General musings...few gripes...some questions...

A few days ago I updated to JF's 1.5. I installed the radio update first, wiped, installed 1.5, wiped again (sounds gross I know), and now I'm ready to roll. Overall it's VERY snappy, VERY stable, and I'm highly pleased with it's feature set. However, there are a few lingering questions.
Feel free to add your own to this list-- this post is intended to be a campfire discussion about Cupcake (of sorts). As always, if I posted in the wrong place...mods do your thing.
What I do like:
-The improved integration across the apps (messaging, Gtalk, Dialer, etc). I like that when you're signed into Gtalk, you can see which of your contacts are signed in as well from the contact list, the messaging app....this is very handy. Also the menu's have been cleaned up VERY well, and it's just generally more pleasing to navigate. It feels way less clunky than RC33.
Good job Google.
-The Browser. I'm noticing a big speed increase over the last version of Chrome-lite.
Not much else to say, I just felt like that should be mentioned.
-Bluetooth pairing. I noticed that when I paired my BT headset, I didn't have to enter a key this time.
Very nice.
-Live folders kick ass. I see a lot of potential here.
-Overall speed of Cupcake, the transitions and so forth. The menus flow nicely from one screen to the next, and the new transitions add to the whizbang factor that Android will need to gain more mainstream appeal. Enabling 'Fancy transitions' in Spare Parts is good for wowing your friends too.
Show em...then ask them if their iPhone can do that
Now onto the gripes:
-What happened to the Undelivered messages functions in SMS? Meaning, if a message fails to send, while we do get a prompt saying so, we dont have a way to resend the message (past retyping it). I don't know if it will attempt to resend after a certain period of time on it's own, but I don't think so. I've let undelivered messages sit for hours...and they never resend.
-No auto rotate on the home screen. I don't know if this is something JF chose to leave out of his build, or if this is just the way Cupcake is...but that seems kinda weird from a usability standpoint. If I'm using an app in landscape mode, and hit the home button...why would I want it to rotate back to portrait?
...Just to open the app again, and have it rotate back to landscape?
-I'll wait before T-Mo releases the RC version of Cupcake before submitting this as a feature request but I noticed that all phone numbers, addresses & such in the browser are not clickable. Meaning if a run a search for a business...and the phone number shows in the results field, I can't always click on it to dial. This was the one thing I always loved about the Blackberry browser (though Chrome kicks it's ass in every other regard).
...Your thoughts?
just to say i have not had the issue with clicking on phonenumbers on webapages.
rigamrts said:
just to say i have not had the issue with clicking on phonenumbers on webapages.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i have and its even more frustrating with phone numbers in emails. maybe its set to pick up US number formats and not UK. i'm not sure.
thefunkygibbon said:
i have and its even more frustrating with phone numbers in emails. maybe its set to pick up US number formats and not UK. i'm not sure.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Let me see if I can explain this properly...
I run a google search for say, "Pizza Hut Baltimore." In the list of results, I can click the phone number to dial for the top result only. If one of the results further down has a number in the description field, I cannot click it. Nor the address for that matter. Now if I click the link of the result, and go to the page...I can then click the number, address etc.
To me personally this is not a HUGE deal. In fact I considered it as normal since I noticed that same thing in RC33.
Overall, it's what i wanted. I will say that having the home screen autorotate might be a bit of a battery drain. It seemed to when i had it running on rooted rc33. Whenever i turned it off there was a noticeable improvement in battery life. I'm just saying.
The home screen didn't auto-rotate in the adp 1.5 build either. That's just how it is.
Messages not being sent:
Long click the message that didn't send, press edit, then send again.
No 'Home' button in the browser now. I've been clicking space + menu for awhile now but not having it makes one handed navigation slightly more difficult.
For SMS that are unsent, it will show an envelope with an exclamaition point to the right of it correct? Well what you can do it tap on that icon and it will put it back into the text field. that way you can just tap send again without retyping it.
the.snks said:
No 'Home' button in the browser now. I've been clicking space + menu for awhile now but not having it makes one handed navigation slightly more difficult.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's a HUGE gripe of mine as well.
I wish there was an easy html or xml file that we could edit and change every one of those buttons. The GO button is a waste of space too since you basically can just type any url and hit enter and there you go. That GO could nicely be replaced with HOME.
Just to update this thread:
-Several apps I have installed show as no updates being available (in the Market). As a workaround, I have to select the app, then click 'View more applications' and then the update shows. Very annoying...
-WiFi perfomance is very flaky. I routinely have to toggle it on/off a few times before it picks up an IP. This happens at multiple locations, across different brand routers, so it has to be the phone.
I do not have anything special going on aside from running JF's v1.51. No apps2sd, themes...none of that, and I did wipe before and after installing the update.
....but I think the majority of these problems are cause by the recent radio update. If you search around...the issues are well documented.

[Q] Linux like workspace switcher/screen splitter

I wanted to know since the tab has a screen that is 3x as big as a Galaxy S (3 phones put side by side on the tab) is there an app or a home launcher or something that will allow me to have multiple things running on different screens.
For example, I need to take information from one document and organize with another and I can easily switch between them on Windows and Linux.
I then need to tag along to other places and want to continue to edit both documents on my tab, I have to keep opening one document then remember a sentence or piece of information for a second and close that document and open the second one to continue typing it up.
It is a real hassle and very time consuming and frustrating. Our tabs are pretty big and I would like to utilize it to the fullest of its capabilities as a tablet/big smartphone.
What my suggestion is if anyone feels like making an app that I can do just this and more on my tab, they couod design an app that works like the home screen.
For instance you open a document, email, or webpage and want to look at another document or note you made for yourself or another email. All you do is swipe to the left or right and it is a clear home screen or something to that effect or maybe a list of documents, notes, emails, webpages you can open. You then choose/open what you need and can continue with the first page having the second one open for reference or whatever the case may be.
You can then easily switch between the 2 or however many pages you have opened just by swiping the screen just like you would your homescreen.
If someone knows of such an app or had the resources to make one please let me know.
Also this would make for a great multi-tasking app if made correctly.
What might be an issue here is that most programs themselves are going to detect the loss of focus and handle things. Either saving/reverting to front screen/closing down completely, or leaving things up and running.
I can see what you're after, more a 'cards' type thing, and it might be possible, but you'd have to override what the OS is sending to the apps (don't send the lose focus thing), or get the apps to handle things differently.
Either going to be impossible, or trivial. And even if it was possible to be hacked, apps are going to be assuming their running and might use more power. The way it works at the moment is to assume you're being shut down, and handle that gracefully so you're using minimal resources on a phone.
If one were to change how android handles the multi-tasking, would this sort of app be possible?
Another question is, are there any document editors that can do something like this?
I have an iPod Touch and an app named iFile, and it has multi-window type thing that I am describing where I can open many pages and view many documents at a time.
That's the main thing I want it for, editing documents without having to open and close constantly.
I was thinking of this the other day. This would be something you'd have to build into a ROM. It'd be a nice mod, and since Android already takes screenshots for the recent apps bar, it wouldn't be too hard to implement once the source is released. My thought is it would be a four or five finger gesture left or right. It could possibly zoom out similar to how the screens zoom when you drag an icon on the launcher so that the other tasks could be visible at the same time. The normal activity lifecycle would continue as usual (i.e. onPause() would be called as soon as the gesture starts, and onStop() once the activity is off the screen). A screenshot would be used in place of the actual Activity until the gesture is over (meaning the Activity has "snapped" into place).

Coming from an android note to a HTC 8x

Thinking of trying out windows phone, have opportunity to swap my note for an 8x, how will I find WP, can I still use my google calendar, mail etc....not to bothered about games.
No chance at a nokia 920 instead of the 8x? Nokia has far superiour extra apps.
Gmail support used to be good but i'm not sure with Google dropping activesync how well it is. Hotmail / outlook push works really well though.
If you configure it before July it will continue to work (GMail Sync via ActiveSync). Everything after that point depends on the next WP8 Update (GDR2) and Microsoft's implementation of CardDAV and CalDAV. What you will lose if reconfiguring to CalDAV/CardDAV will be Push Mail as WP does not support Push via IMAP. Until now there has been no indication that Microsoft would implement it.
If it's not too late I wouldn't recommend it unless you've had a chance to use the phone personally. I'm going back to android asap. Firstly a few little grievances with my Lumia 720.
The notification bar that you're used to in android in automatically hidden with no chance of changing it not to. You'll have to minimize whatever app you're using just to check the time etc.
No forward button in the browser.
It just took me 20 attempts to move the cursor to the start of the sentence after '720' so as I could hit the enter button without highlighting the word 'The' (if I didn't it would have overwritten it.
That's just the start. I understand it is a very new operating system and that it will get better with time but I'm not going to wait for months for things that shouldn't be happening in the first place.
Sounds like a case of PEBTAWIBY (Problem Exists Between Touchscreen And Whatever Is Behind You). Even in apps that hide the notification bar (most don't), you can press-and-hold Back to bring up the task switcher; it has the bar. You can also tap Power twice to go back to the lock screen, it has the bar (and the time in great big numbers). The lack of a Forward button I'll grant you (although Histroy does well enough at some times) but it's trivially easy to add back though bookmarklets; check my sig (also things like View Source). As for moving the cursor, did it never occur to you to tap-and-hold on the text and bring up the cursor mode (same as on both Android and iOS, incidentally)? Single taps are generally intended to select words.
With all that said, anybody making a multi-hundred-dollar purchase without knowing what to expect is making a big mistake. You definitely should try out WP8 before buying.
1- I think all google services will work with no major problems except for google maps navigation which you can replace with HERE Drive, there are also alot of Google maps clients available but no turn by turn navigation AFAIK
2- It is confirmed that the GDR2 update coming in June/July will bring CalDAV/CardDAV support
3- UC brower it is a bit more customizable than IE

remove index letters from the app list in 8.1

Any chance to remove it, I have only stock apps installed, around 20 apps and indicator don't want to disappear
Yeah! It makes the list too f...ing long !
No, MS made it so that's always on. I think it's because people got confused when the jump lists started suddenly appearing after they installed some apps.
Two relevant points:
1) Why have a smartphone if you're not installing any apps or even adding things like multiple email accounts?
2) You realize you can jump to the bottom of the list with two taps, right? It's a *jump* list, not just an index.

First week with Windows

Hello
And happy new year to everyone!
This is my first week on Lumia 735 after being 6 years with Android.
I like very much it's desktop, but there are some simple things that I thought until now I would figure out but I cannot find a solution....
1. How can I download a PDF from an email and then attach it to another email?
2. Is there a way to have a shortcut on notification bar for data connection?
3. Is there a way to remove Bing and get Google as default engine?
4. Is there a way to tide up settings? I feel that are randomly scattered...
5. Is there a way to open a new tab in internet explorer, but open in background? Cause we are always transferred to the new tab.
Thanks!
I'm on the same phone since about 4-5 days, so I have not yet answers for you, but another question to add:
- why on some apps the keyboard doesn't turn in landscape mode when I flip the phone? I found it working on some apps only, but in Bing search (just an example) it remains in portrait
EDIT: a bit of googling partially answers to 3: I'm a newbie so I don't know if I can link external sites here, but it seems you can change the default search engine in Internet Explorer in the browser settings (so when you type words in the address bar, it uses Google instead of Bing). Regarding the phone search button, maybe the trick is not so easy...
1. did you see download in email message? click on that link to download file to your phone.
2. with latest WP OS 8.10.14219.341 you can add mobile data shortcut in action center
or use Quick Launch app from store
3. settings - applications - internet explorer, select advanced settings and change to google
4. no... latest updated is always at end of list...
5. not exactly... try UC Browser 8.1, maybe you like it better than IE
Download a app named File attacher,it can help you to attach any files into outlook client.
Sent from my AT&T Nokia Lumia 920 using Tapatalk for Windows Phone
1) Download the file to your phone. You can then open it from the email (which will let you choose what PDF viewer to open it with, if you have more than one installed; some of them directly support sharing) or you can then switch to a file manager app (Files, Pocket File Manager, Aerize Explorer, etc.), go to the Downloads directory, and share the file from there. When "sharing" the file, one option will be to use email; this will attach the file to the email. This approach also works for other file types, by the way.
2) As dxdy says, you need to be on a new OS version (you may need to be using the "Preview for Developers" app) to get the ability to add mobile data specifically to the Action Center (swipe-from-top notification area thing) but there are lots of other ways (tons of free apps, for example) to pin a link to it on your Start screen. You can also have both WiFi and Airplane Mode toggles on the Action Center, even in less-than-newest versions.
3) Not unless you're in Russia, I think? You may be able to change the IE default search engine using the method dxdy posted above, but if you want to change the search button behavior, that's trickier. I think in Russia (or possibly just tell your phone you are), if you have the Google app installed, it may run that... haven't tried, though.
4) Settings are, unfortunately, not directly orderable. The default order for Microsoft-provided settings is basically "what MS has found people use most often", thus things like visual and audio customization are at the top, WiFi is on the first page, and stuff like Backup requires scrolling down a bunch. There's also OEM customizations, which are technically just Store apps that are pre-installed and use the Settings hub instead of the normal app list; those are always listed underneath all the Microsoft settings, and (as dxdy says), the one that was most recently installed/updated is at the top of that section ('top of the bottom of the list' if you will).
5) Doesn't seem to be any such way in IE, but there's lots of other browsers. Most of them just wrap the IE rendering engine, so pages will look the same as on IE but the UI can be totally different. This includes changes to tab management. They won't sync with your other devices, at least not by default, though. There's also a beta of Opera for WP8; it still has some bugs but mostly works and has a very different UI from IE. Annoyingly, though, Microsoft doesn't allow any of those apps to be set as the default browser (you can't change the URI association for http:/https: for example).
@axxel84: It depends on whether the app supports landscape mode. That requires work from the developer, since they have to change the layout of everything, so a lot of apps don't support it. If the app doesn't support it, then it will be locked in one orientation no matter how you turn it, keyboard included. Some apps (mostly games) are also locked in landscape mode only, and don't support portrait.
Hi guys, thanks for the help but I am still finding difficult to compose with windows after coming from fully updated Android phones.
- pdf attachments, not possible. You can see that you download files but no where to be seen in order to attach them in another email! What????
- the option to change Bing to Google was in the past, but they don't have it on new phones. And this is the company that wants to increase market share? With these kind of acts I don't think they will last many years...
- I found a way to have a shortcut on desktop that takes me to settings and there to click on for data. But why don't they include this in notification option? How difficult is this?????
- the other frustrating thing I am feeling, is that most other times when resuming an app when I go out and then in, it starts the"resuming" screen and takes 5 seconds to load... For example viber, I can't chat instantly with someone, I have to leave the program on continuously to do this
- no led notification. I should have known earlier by reading reviews, but there is no led notification!!
- no major apps as official pinterest, dropbox, instagram, sms backup to gmail. My biggest disappointment is Dropbox... I am thinking of selling the phone now and going back to Android. Having two small twins, I take continuously videos and photos, and I don't want to think about backup. I found another application but doesn't sync videos automatically. And also the backup app of windows doesn't do automatically the job... If I was windows I would hire people to help these companies develop the "big" apps...
- notification center doesn't always work. for example when a new app is downloaded, nothing comes app on notification. Or in viber you might get 10 messages on notification, if you click one and then in viber you read all, they remain on notification
Nobody seems to have emailed me a PDF recently, but I can download them from the web and they show up in my Downloads folder (on my SD card, since that's where I told Storage Sense to put new downloads). From there, I can see it in Aerize Explorer, select it, Share it, and choose an email account; a new message is created with the file attached.
Some new phones have the option for Google search, but it's not in all regions.
As you have ALREADY been told, the option to toggle data service from the Action Center is available in the latest version. It's also largely un-needed; Data Sense and related settings should give you enough control over your data usage to make it fairly unimportant. Mind you, I agree that it should have been there from the start, but asking rhetorical questions isn't actually helpful.
The "Resuming..." screen can come up for two reasons (or a combo thereof):
1) Badly-coded app that does a bunch of stuff immediately on resume, before it lets you use the app.
2) Your phone ran low on RAM and removed the app from background execution ("tombstoned" it, sort of like hibernating a laptop), so it needs to be restored from the Flash storage and then resumed.
Lots of phones don't have notification LEDs. That's not a WP8 thing, that's a "if this feature is important to you then you ought to buy a phone with that feature" thing. My HTC has a notification LED, my Samsung did not. Both are/were WP8 devices.
Automatic backup of photos and videos is included in the OS, has been included since WP7 actually, but it goes to OneDrive (formerly SkyDrive) instead of Dropbox. Microsoft software uses Microsoft services; this isn't really surprising.
SMS is automatically backed up as well, just not to Google. Why would Microsoft include a feature to back up your messages to a competitor's service?
Lack of official apps is somewhat annoying/disappointing, but you could have easily enough checked that before buying, and the apps will come in time. In the meanwhile, there's usually third-party versions of those apps.
App downloads are fast, and you know when you started them. Why would you need a notification for that? As for the thing with Viber, it's not the OS' fault that the app doesn't report when a message is read. Notifications are really easy to clear though, just swipe them to the right and all notifications for that app will clear (or hit the "clear all" button to get rid of all of them at once).

Categories

Resources