iPhone v1.1.3 WebClips feature can be used for nifty speed-dial shortcut
By Will Park on Wednesday, January 23rd, 2008 at 1:35 PM PST In Announcements, Apple, Developer, iPhone, iPhone OS
Aside from the home-button double-click feature that was introduced with the iPhone v1.1.1, there really isn’t any other speed-dial option on the iPhone. With the introduction of WebClips on the iPhone v1.1.3, Nate True has discovered another nifty use for the web-page shortcut feature.
Along the same lines as that WebClips-based homescreen picture album hack, Nate True has come up with a solution that will put speed-dial thumbnail icons on your homescreen. The hack will take a bit of webpage-coding know-how (or just some instruction-following know-how), and a web server that you can use.
The instructions involved putting a script on a webpage that, when clicked, will prompt the iPhone to dial the embedded phone number. You then turn that webpage into a WebClip (with the appropriate picture) and you’ll have image-based speed-dial right on your iPhone’s homescreen. How cool is that?
Find Nate True’s instructions on creating a WebClip-based homescreen speed-dial thumbnail icon here.
[Via: cre.ations.net]
…or you can get any other phone that has speed dialing…?
Actually, it DOES have speed-dial.
Where’s that? In the favorites tab of Phone button? That’s not speed dialing and neither is programming a mini-website just to call someone from your home screen.
Actually, I would consider the favorites list, when combined with the home-button shortcut, a speed-dial solution.
Double tap the home button, hit my desired contact (of which I have two pages worth) and off I go. I can actaully speed dial on my iPhone in less time (although with more button presses) than any of my other phones ( winmo and symbian). Plus I don’t have to memorize my speed dial list – it’s all displayed in the list. A much better speed dial in my opinion.
And you’re right, webclips is NOT speed dial. Its better than speed dial. You get a visual representation of your speed dial list – not by name but by the contact’s picture.
Calling from my homescreen is way more convenient than speed dial.
I guarantee you that it takes less time to setup and speed dial a contact by holding one button on my N95 than it ever will to navigate to the Favorites tab in the Phone application or setup a visual webclips icon on the homescreen.
Aside from that, I also guarantee you’d have difficulty doing any of that with one hand and/or without looking at the device.