[OT] Was: totally satisfied :D

[Steven Schveighoffer]

On Tue, 18 Sep 2012 18:32:41 -0400, Nick Sabalausky  
<SeeWebsiteToContactMe at semitwist.com> wrote:

> On Tue, 18 Sep 2012 17:42:59 -0400
> "Steven Schveighoffer" <schveiguy at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>> On Tue, 18 Sep 2012 16:50:18 -0400, Nick Sabalausky
>> <SeeWebsiteToContactMe at semitwist.com> wrote:
>>
>> > Actually, it's a little too effective: It's impossible to reach down
>> > into my pocket and adjust the volume because it plain refuses to
>> > *let* me adjust the volume without taking it out, pushing "Lock" or
>> > "Home", sliding the touch-slider, and *then* using the damn volume
>> > buttons - which *still* don't even do what I want most of the time.
>>
>> If you want to adjust the ringer volume, yes.  If you want to adjust
>> the volume of something that is currently playing (like a song), it
>> works without having to unlock.
>>
>> I find the silent switch more useful, I don't often change ringer
>> volumes.
>>
>
> What I *really* want is a master volume control. But there is none. At
> all. And there is no "app for that". For example:
>
> - When I go into a library, I *expect* to have *no sound*, period. And
>   this is what Apple apparently expects you to do: Pull it out, press
>   "home" or "lock", slide the slider, double-press "home", swipe the
>   bottom row to the right, adjust that volume with the touchscreen
>   control, and switch the "ringer/vibrate-only" switch to
>   "vibrate-only". And guess what? Even that *still* doesn't disable all
>   sound. And that's even if you ignore the fact that vibrate isn't
>   actually silent. I don't even take the fucking thing into libraries,
>   I just leave the damn thing in the car. Fuck it. It's not worth it.

You can configure silent mode to not vibrate.  Then it has the odd effect  
(if you have vibrate enabled for full-ring mode) of vibrating when you  
turn it *off* silent.

I tried doing that for a while, but I found myself forgetting to revert  
the switch, and I would miss updates/calls/emails all day without  
realizing it!

A good improvement (to any phone really) would be to have it configure  
your audio settings according to wifi SSID.  That is, if you're connected  
to "MyLocalLibraryWifi", then set the thing to full silent.  My Windows  
Mobile phone had a cool feature where it would detect when you were  
supposed to be in a meeting (according to your calendar) and set itself on  
silent/vibrate.

> - I'm haplessly attempting to peck something out on the miniature
>   non-tactile chicklet-keyboard (which only *sometimes* goes into
>   landscape mode) and notice it's too loud. So I have to go find
>   something that plays sound, ideally music, play it, *then* adjust the
>   fucking volume (otherwise it adjusts the ringer volume instead), then
>   stop the music or whatever it was, then go back to whatever it was
>   that I was doing and *hope* that I like the new volume setting
>   because if not, I have to do it all over again.

The keyboard click sound (which you can disable BTW,  
settings->sounds->keyboard clicks) obeys the ringer volume.  But ringer  
volume cannot be lowered to "off", so you can't get rid of the volume.   
Unless you put the phone in silent mode, and then you will hear no  
clicks.  I find silent mode pretty much makes everything silent.  Apps do  
not have to obey that setting, but most of them do (all the games I've  
played do).

I don't know what your exact situation is, or the app you are having  
difficulty with, but I just tested safari, and it definitely obeys the  
ringer volume.  It really sounds like you just should be using the silent  
switch.

> - Luckily, I don't use it to play music (I have a *real* portable music
>   player for that, with a sensible amount of storage). Because if I
>   did, then changing the ringer volume would work like this: Stop the
>   music, change the ringer volume, resume the music. Seriously? Talk
>   about pointless coupling.

Coincidentally, I wanted to do this today.  You can change the ringer  
volume without manually stopping music by going into settings.  But it  
annoyingly stopped playing music temporarily to demonstrate the new ringer  
volume.  Once I exited settings, it automatically resumed playing music.

Meh, what are you going to do?  Complain I guess :)

> And then there's the fun times when the stupid thing *thinks* audio is
> playing so it won't let you adjust the ringer volume even though no
> audio is playing.
>
> Of course, I constantly need to change the ringer volume because, being
> mobile, it's constantly either too quiet or too loud.

Well, I guess you fidget more about ringer volume than I do.  I usually  
like the ringer to be on 100%, because I frequently leave it on my desk or  
somewhere other than my pocket.  When I want it to be quiet, it goes into  
silent mode.

> And that's *just* volume issues alone. God, I *HATE* the fucking thing.
> Any time I use it, I just want to hurl the damn thing into the nearest
> concrete wall as hard as I can. But I can't, because it's not even
> mine, it's a loaner, and I unfortunately need it for
> development/testing (or at least *will* need it for such once we pay
> Apple their Developer Ransom).

Hehe, yeah, that sucks.  But it's definitely worth it if you are going to  
do *any* development, even if you aren't publishing.

Just wait until you try to install your app on your phone for the first  
time -- I have a feeling you will hate that too :)

>> > And there's
>> > a ton of other issues I have had with the devices, like poor
>> > accuracy (because my fingers aren't <=1mm in diameter and the damn
>> > thing won't even register touches from anything that's actually
>> > more accurate).
>>
>> There are styli for capacitive screens, they aren't that great, but
>> better than a finger.  But no place to store them on the phone.  I
>> think Samsumg has a stylus-based capacitive screen phone called the
>> Galaxy note.
>>
>
> Right. Basically capacitive stylus is a hack solution. And the thing is
> too, I already *have* no less than *ten* styli built right into my
> fingers. But they're incompatible. And so is my knuckle (mostly), which
> is annoying when my fingers are messy.

Again, given my experience with the fragility of the non-capacitive touch  
screen phones I've had, and the lack of accuracy of them, I'd take  
capacitive *any day*.

My mom is a different story.  I talked her into getting an iPhone and she  
has a difficult time because of her longer nails.

I recommend getting this app to practice typing better:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/taptyping-typing-trainer-suite/id364237969?mt=8

My typing has improved dramatically with some of the techniques they  
recommend.

>> But I have not had much of a problem with accuracy.  In certain cases
>> when I'm browsing the web, I have to zoom in to accurately tap a
>> link. However, my touch screens that I had with my palm Treo, and
>> Windows Mobile 6 phones both sucked at accuracy.  I spent so much
>> time "calibrating" them, and even then, I couldn't click on anything
>> near the edges.
>>
>
> I never had any accuracy problems with my Visor Deluxe or my Zire 71.
> Granted, they still *could* have been more accurate than they were
> (even though I never actually found it problematic), but the capacitive
> devices are far *less* accurate just because of the whole "finger"
> thing. Most people just don't notice the inaccuracy because they're
> using something (big beefy finger) that, unlike a stylus, they
> intuitively/subconciously expect to be inaccurate.

Also, the UI is designed around that limitation.  For instance, typing on  
the keyboard pops up a temporary copy of the key so you can see what you  
are pressing.

>> My Windows Mobile phone I completely gave up on using the touch
>> screen at all, I got very good at using the keyboard shortcuts.  The
>> only thing I ever used the stylus for was playing solitaire, and even
>> then, I had trained myself to offset my tap locations based on what
>> part of the screen I was on.  I literally knew exactly where to tap
>> if I wanted to move whatever card to another pile -- and it wasn't
>> uniform!
>>
>
> Hmm, yea, I've never actually used any of the WinCE PDAs. I wouldn't
> know about them.
>

It was the same screen as my palm.  Same technology anyway.

I love how my iPhone will never scratch or deteriorate.  I remember a  
friend whose palm treo was so bad, he had to put so much force on the  
screen to get anything to happen that his hands would literally shake.

-Steve