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Apple's Phone App Finally Supports T9 Dialing in iOS 18

scorpio vega said:
I have an iPhone 11 and 15 as well as a galaxy z flip and s22.

All four of them perform the same for calls. And I have test drove all 4 major is carriers.

It’s not the device. It’s the network.
Click to expand...

Wait. I thought you hate Android and don’t talk to Android folks. Yet you have Z flip and S22?
 
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Does iOS 18 phone app allow editing an already typed phone number by inserting a zero or another digit in the middle or beginning of the typed number.
 
Treq said:
Is this really a feature anyone was missing from the iPhone? I thought having a touchscreen was supposed to eliminate the need for such a feature. Are we going to add floppy drives to the iPhone next?
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It is missing on Asia market. Their contact names are complex, T9 can greatly accelerate the input speed.
 
henkie said:
Used it all the time on my Android years ago. Did not understand why it was ommitted since I started using the iPhone (SE): the letters are right there on the keypad!
I was so used to it: just open the Android phone app if I needed phone someone: people in my contact list or the direct number, does not matter.
I think it is quicker. Press phone --> start typing on huge buttons: hard to misstype, can be done one handed. Swiping down on homescreen is somewhat hit and miss for me. Plus one-handed typing, while not misstyping is more difficult.
Click to expand...
yes, the feedback from this thread shows how ios user are well trained.
 
neuropsychguy said:
Why not just swipe down and search for the contact and click the phone button? That seems like the fastest way. I guess this feature could be faster if you're making several calls and are in the phone app, but it also might be as fast for some people to swipe up ('close' phone app), swipe down (to pull up Spotlight), and search for the contact.

Options are great. I'm not knocking this feature; I'm simply offering some other ways to quickly pull up a number.
Click to expand...
maybe this can be done with one hand?
 
Aoligei said:
Wait. I thought you hate Android and don’t talk to Android folks. Yet you have Z flip and S22?
Click to expand...
Not as my daily driver. I won one and I brought the other.

I mainly use the z flip when I’m traveling and don’t want to load up my iPhone with files.

I should sell them honestly because they are terrible.

But no I don’t have service on either
 
Nekronos said:
Yes, the fact that iPhone hasn't had this is absolutely insane. I used android for 10 years, now iPhone for just over 1 year and this has been one of the big WTFs I've had since switching.

Why would touchscreen eliminate such a feature? This is a basic feature that every single phone should have, it makes using the phone as phone easier.
Click to expand...
Why would a touchscreen eliminate a feature that was designed for a phone with a keypad? I’ve never missed it since I moved from my razor to the iPhone. I think it was only really in android because they still make flip phones with android on them, but for a phone with a touch screen and voice functions, is there really a use for this? Hell, most people don’t even call anyone anymore. Just texting. Seriously the last time I used this feature, I had an EarthLink email address. Next thing you know we’ll be able to receive faxes on the iPhone. So retro…
 
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Treq said:
Why would a touchscreen eliminate a feature that was designed for a phone with a keypad? I’ve never missed it since I moved from my razor to the iPhone. I think it was only really in android because they still make flip phones with android on them, but for a phone with a touch screen and voice functions, is there really a use for this? Hell, most people don’t even call anyone anymore. Just texting. Seriously the last time I used this feature, I had an EarthLink email address. Next thing you know we’ll be able to receive faxes on the iPhone. So retro…
Click to expand...
Such an odd take, flip phones don't run on the same software and it wouldn't matter if they did. Android has that predictive T9 functionality because it's a practical and useful feature - it eliminates the need to open contacts to call someone. Furthermore, on my android it matches not only your contacts but also identified business and integrates not only the basic dialer but video/whatsapp/etc.

Calls, including zoom/facetime/etc are widely used even with the popularity of messaging - claiming "most" is a stretch. This isn't retro.
 
Nekronos said:
Such an odd take, flip phones don't run on the same software and it wouldn't matter if they did. Android has that predictive T9 functionality because it's a practical and useful feature - it eliminates the need to open contacts to call someone. Furthermore, on my android it matches not only your contacts but also identified business and integrates not only the basic dialer but video/whatsapp/etc.

Calls, including zoom/facetime/etc are widely used even with the popularity of messaging - claiming "most" is a stretch. This isn't retro.
Click to expand...
It kinda is retro though. And slower than some other ways of dialing contacts. I don’t even open the phone app. I don’t even have to push a button. I just ask my phone to dial whoever I need. But if I do have to open contacts, I still don’t need to open the phone app, so at that point it’s quicker to open contacts first instead of the phone app and then use a keyboard instead of having to find the right number to correspond to the next letter. You will even have to type more characters because each number could correspond to any of three letters. Typing actual letter gets you to the number faster, but not as fast as just asking the phone to dial whoever you want. There are so many ways to dial someone either just as fast or faster. I still don’t know why we would need an out dated feature like this, but some people still have aol email addresses so I guess people just get used to things. 🤷‍♂️.
 
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Treq said:
It kinda is retro though. And slower than some other ways of dialing contacts. I don’t even open the phone app. I don’t even have to push a button. I just ask my phone to dial whoever I need. But if I do have to open contacts, I still don’t need to open the phone app, so at that point it’s quicker to open contacts first instead of the phone app and then use a keyboard instead of having to find the right number to correspond to the next letter. You will even have to type more characters because each number could correspond to any of three letters. Typing actual letter gets you to the number faster, but not as fast as just asking the phone to dial whoever you want. There are so many ways to dial someone either just as fast or faster. I still don’t know why we would need an out dated feature like this, but some people still have aol email addresses so I guess people just get used to things. 🤷‍♂️.
Click to expand...
It's not retro, you might look that up. And that's not how it works. I'd suggest seeing how it works on a modern android before talking about what you don't know. Opening contacts isn't any faster, it's slower - yes you clearly have gotten used to iPhone's lack of this functionality. Sure, you use a voice assistance, but not everyone does that and it doesn't make sense in every situation.

You are overly dismissive of a very basic and functional feature that a lot of people use around the world - a feature that should have been on iPhone since day 1.
 
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Holy ****, FINALLY! I’m so excited for all these quality of life improvements that I’ve been waiting for for years…T9 dialer, scheduled text message sending, text formatting for iMessage. iOS 18 is gonna be great!
 
kc9hzn said:
Why? There’s already a proper contacts list (that’s got a search field) in the phone app! The phone app defaults to the last tap you were using, but I so rarely directly dial anyone these days (usually only businesses) that it makes more sense to just stay in another tab or switch over to one of the other tabs if you are in the keypad tab.
Click to expand...
usually quickly finding someone with big buttons is easier than focusing on tiny on screen keyboard...

and because YOU doesn't use the phone all that much it doesn't mean the rest of the world doesn't as well...
Treq said:
Is this really a feature anyone was missing from the iPhone? I thought having a touchscreen was supposed to eliminate the need for such a feature. Are we going to add floppy drives to the iPhone next?
Click to expand...
Missing? Maybe not, but it's nice quality of life feature...

Besides - it's amusing how some fans can rationalise not being able something as a good thing (think MMS, nfc and others). I bet in a while iPhone users will be prising it as the best thing ever and would claim that apple invented it xD
 
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neuropsychguy said:
Why not just swipe down and search for the contact and click the phone button? That seems like the fastest way. I guess this feature could be faster if you're making several calls and are in the phone app, but it also might be as fast for some people to swipe up ('close' phone app), swipe down (to pull up Spotlight), and search for the contact.

Options are great. I'm not knocking this feature; I'm simply offering some other ways to quickly pull up a number.
Click to expand...
Never came to me to do it this way. Works. Thanks :)
 
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Treq said:
Next thing you know, people are going to complain that the iPhone can’t receive faxes.
Click to expand...
LOL

And you know what........ our entire health system is based on faxes and paper here.
In 2024.
In Canada.
I cannot be more ashamed. Then we wonder why we lose so many requests.........
 
PsykX said:
LOL

And you know what........ our entire health system is based on faxes and paper here.
In 2024.
In Canada.
I cannot be more ashamed. Then we wonder why we lose so many requests.........
Click to expand...
Yeah, same here in the US. There is a lot of fax stuff in the medical field. Still not a functionality that is deserving of being added to the iPhone at this point. Sometimes you need to drag the people into the 21st century.
 
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