The new “smart” phone is slowly revealing its secrets to me, such as how the heck do I get a ring tone that I can hear? All of the “free” tones that come with the phone are little soft dings or tinkling sounds that are hard to hear and then attach to a phone. Yesterday, I handed the phone to a student and now have the theme from CSI as my tone! THAT I’ll recognize as something to which I need to respond. There is also a voice that yells at me when I receive a text message, so the soft single ding is gone and I may actually be able to put the phone down and still know that it’s doing something that requires my attention.
But, best of all, one person who calls me and I try to avoid now has a special sound: it’s a voice warning that a toxic call is coming in, so DON’T ANSWER YOUR PHONE. I have never felt particularly obligated to answer my phone regardless of who is calling, but I love having the voice yelling at me that it’s a toxic caller, a feeling I always have, but seldom voice. I also now know where to go to get more free ring tones, as well as how to download them, but I have no idea how to affix them to a specific caller if that’s my choice to do.
Today, I’m going to ask my expert about not being on the internet 24/7. I understand that I’m on the AT&T network all the time, but I don’t want to be connected to my email account 24/7 and cannot find a way to log-off … yet. Once I’m shown something, I usually get it and keep it, but I cannot find this option on my own. Progress is a series of steps, not an instant ah-ha event!
I took a photo and sent it as a text attachment, no simple task! The recipient didn’t know that I have a “smart” phone, so he responded immediately, expressing awe that I actually updated from my calls-only previous phone. As I told him, the phone was free; all the other electronics I have been unable to master have cost me big bucks prior to my failure. Of course I understand that the “free” phone isn’t really free, but I’m having fun and am willing to pay a bit more to be in better contact with the people about whom I care.
The bonus is that he showed me the call log and we cleared it. I had been receiving calls that were not answered because I didn’t hear the phone “dinging,” which made people think I was incommunicado when I was just unable to answer the phone! He also showed me how to access the voice mail feature, which is hidden under the number 1 on the dialer pad. Who woulda thunk?
So far, the biggest drawback to the phone is that when I hit the phone icon, or slide my finger down the face of the phone to unlock it to answer a call, it’s answered! I want to hit the answer button as I did with my former phone, but that actually hangs up the call because the phone auto answers the calls. It’s a problem now, but I’m sure I will become accustomed to just saying hello, rather than touching anything, when I hear the theme song from CSI: SVU. Of course, I’d prefer to have Det. Stabler’s voice tell me personally I have a call coming in, so roll over and answer it, dear, but he left the show, breaking my heart in the process, so I have to settle for second-best with the theme song ring tone.
Am I smarter than my phone? Probably not, but I'm a work in progress. I feel confident that I will become a better user someday/somehow. Meanwhile, if you call me, wait for me to answer and don't give up hope if I disconnect you first and have to call back. And, if you want me to send you a text message, I can do that -- maybe in a couple of pieces, but, eventually, you'll get the whole message.
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It sounds like you have an "Android" phone. If so, then chances are you cannot disconnect from the internet, as it is using your Gmail, Yahoo, and/or other contact list to populate your phone contacts.
Also, there is an option to change from auto-answer to having to select answer. I did that with my new phone, but I have trouble answering it still because you have to slide the "answer" green button on the screen, and I rarely seem to slide it far enough, fast enough.
If you have four buttons at the bottom of your phone, one will look slightly like a piece of paper with some lines of text on it (or part of a square with two lines inside it) -- there are some good options there and I suggest you investigate them.
Also, you should have a Settings app under Applications, and that is where you can do things like change your defaults, increase/decrease the volume of certain sounds, etc. Investigate that.
Lastly, you likely have a small bar across the top of the phone that shows your power and a clock -- you can likely slide that down to have certain features/options available to you.
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