[OT] Was: totally satisfied :D

[Nick Sabalausky]

On Tue, 18 Sep 2012 23:46:35 -0400
"Steven Schveighoffer" <schveiguy at yahoo.com> wrote:
> 
> 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!
> 

Thanks for the tip!

> 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.
> 

Now those are some clever ideas.

> The keyboard click sound (which you can disable BTW,  
> settings->sounds->keyboard clicks) obeys the ringer volume.

Ehh? How unintuitive.

> 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.
> 

I think the main problem is that the volume rules are just far too
convoluted. They took something trivial and hacked it up beyond
recognition, and all in the supposed name of "simplicity", go figure.

> 
> 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.
> 

Well, I *would* fidget with it a lot, but frankly no matter what I do
it's always playing something either too loud or two quiet, and I've
got better things to do than mess with a screwy interface every time I
walk into a different environment. So really it just encourages me to
avoid even using it or even bringing the thing anywhere unless I really
need it. A stiff, recessed master volume dial that I could reach into my
pocket to adjust would pretty much solve the issue, but I guess that
just isn't "high tech" enough. Make it holographic so you can't even
feel it at all, *then* Apple would probably toss it in. :/

> > 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.
> 

If it were my own personal device, I'd just jailbreak it and be done
with it. (And then pay the ransom to publish, of course, because what
else can you do? Create your own device and compete with Apple under
capitalism? Nope, Google tried that idea of "competition" and look what
happened:
<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/25/technology/jury-reaches-decision-in-apple-samsung-patent-trial.html?_r=1&ref=technology> )

> 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 :)
> 

I've done it on the Android already - could be better could be worse.
Marmalade's deployment tool is really dodgy when installing to a device,
but using Google's ADB directly is pretty reliable, and so is
installing from a URL via the device's browser.

I'm definitely not looking forward to dealing with iTunes though. I've
already used it for syncing the phone, and it's just a big mess. I
don't even bother trying to sync it anymore (PalmOS syncing OTOH, was
flawless). When the time comes, I'll probably grab copies of "Phone to
PC" and/or "Phone Disk" <http://www.macroplant.com/downloads.php>. The
demos of those seem to work much better than iTunes, plus they don't
treat me like a brain-damaged monkey.

> 
> I love how my iPhone will never scratch or deteriorate.

Instead, it'll just get prematurely discontinued ;)

But I dunno, I've heard that the iPhones are so brittle that you
practically look at them the wrong way and they break. (I wouldn't
know - I've got a super heavy-duty case on mine. The device is far too
expensive to replace if anything happened to it. Damn thing costs twice
as much as my laptop. For a stupid little phone. Go figure.)