HOWTO: Make the Android Phone dialer default to the call log.
I've had a cell phone since the year 2000. (Yeah, I was a late adopter.) Without fail, all of the "feature" phones (aka dumbphones) have had the same feature. If you press the "call" button without keying in a number, you get the phone's recent call log. I got very used to this, and a lot of other people use this function without even realizing it. Most of us have a mostly-complete address book, and 99% of our calls are to people we know. A significant chunk of those calls are to people who we've already spoken to recently.
So, it started to get on my nerves a little that pressing the "phone" icon on a stock Android phone (specifically, my Motorola Droid) brings you to the "keypad" screen instead of the recent call log. Yeah, it's only one extra click to get there. But, for me, that wasn't good enough. So here's what I came up with. The only real downside to this technique is that it requires buying a $2 app. (Well, it doesn't *require* it, but I really wanted the icon to look just like the stock dialer. You can get it done for free, if you want.)
We're not going to change the dialer itself, rather we're adding a shortcut that points directly to the call log.
1. I used the "BetterCut" app from Better Android. Take a moment to buy and download it. Here's the link: market://search?q=pname:com.betterandroid.bettercut . It's $1.99, and it does a fair bit more than just what I'm using it for. (Their web site has, for example, an entire home screen of apps with their icons replaced with rounded squares a la the iPhone style.) If you want to do this for free, you can use the free app "Any Cut", but then you can't change the (ugly) icon that it gives you.
2. Download the Dialer icon from the Android source repository, and put it on your SD card somewhere that you're not going to move it. That link is here: http://android.git.kernel.org/?p=platform/packages/apps/Contacts.git;a=blob_plain;f=res/drawable-mdpi/ic_launcher_phone.png . There's also a higher-res/larger image if you need it. But, right now, Android icons are generally 48x48.
3. Go to your home screen, where you want to put the new dialer shortcut. Obviously, make sure that there's a space open for you to but an icon. Then, long-press the open spot, and choose "Shortcut" from the list. When the list of applications comes up, choose BetterCut. You'll get a bunch of options. Choose the bottom one, "Make your own". You'll have three things to fill in. Enter these things into the three fields:
Action: android.intent.action.VIEW
Data: content://call_log/calls
Type: vnd.android.cursor.dir/calls
4. The next thing that BetterCut will do is prompt you give the shortcut a name, and to pick an icon. Choose "Pick picture", and you'll get the Gallery application for choosing which picture you want to be the icon for this shortcut. Find the dialer icon from step 2, and choose that. Give the shortcut a name, and hit "Create". This will put your new dialer shortcut on your home screen. (In fact, on a home screen on all your launcher apps.)
That was more trouble than it should have been, but it illustrates just how customizable Android phones are - if you put your mind to it.
So, it started to get on my nerves a little that pressing the "phone" icon on a stock Android phone (specifically, my Motorola Droid) brings you to the "keypad" screen instead of the recent call log. Yeah, it's only one extra click to get there. But, for me, that wasn't good enough. So here's what I came up with. The only real downside to this technique is that it requires buying a $2 app. (Well, it doesn't *require* it, but I really wanted the icon to look just like the stock dialer. You can get it done for free, if you want.)
We're not going to change the dialer itself, rather we're adding a shortcut that points directly to the call log.
1. I used the "BetterCut" app from Better Android. Take a moment to buy and download it. Here's the link: market://search?q=pname:com.betterandroid.bettercut . It's $1.99, and it does a fair bit more than just what I'm using it for. (Their web site has, for example, an entire home screen of apps with their icons replaced with rounded squares a la the iPhone style.) If you want to do this for free, you can use the free app "Any Cut", but then you can't change the (ugly) icon that it gives you.
2. Download the Dialer icon from the Android source repository, and put it on your SD card somewhere that you're not going to move it. That link is here: http://android.git.kernel.org/?p=platform/packages/apps/Contacts.git;a=blob_plain;f=res/drawable-mdpi/ic_launcher_phone.png . There's also a higher-res/larger image if you need it. But, right now, Android icons are generally 48x48.
3. Go to your home screen, where you want to put the new dialer shortcut. Obviously, make sure that there's a space open for you to but an icon. Then, long-press the open spot, and choose "Shortcut" from the list. When the list of applications comes up, choose BetterCut. You'll get a bunch of options. Choose the bottom one, "Make your own". You'll have three things to fill in. Enter these things into the three fields:
Action: android.intent.action.VIEW
Data: content://call_log/calls
Type: vnd.android.cursor.dir/calls
4. The next thing that BetterCut will do is prompt you give the shortcut a name, and to pick an icon. Choose "Pick picture", and you'll get the Gallery application for choosing which picture you want to be the icon for this shortcut. Find the dialer icon from step 2, and choose that. Give the shortcut a name, and hit "Create". This will put your new dialer shortcut on your home screen. (In fact, on a home screen on all your launcher apps.)
That was more trouble than it should have been, but it illustrates just how customizable Android phones are - if you put your mind to it.