'DockPhone' Adds Phone Dialing to Yosemite, Bypassing FaceTime

[MacRumors]

DockPhone, a newly released Mac app, fixes a problem many OS X Yosemite users have faced in the months since the release of the new operating system: the inconvenience of opening FaceTime or Contacts to make a phone call on a Mac. With DockPhone app, users can now search for contacts or directly enter a number within the app, bypassing the need of opening FaceTime altogether.

Though it was one of the major new Continuity features included in OS X Yosemite when it launched earlier this year, many users lamented needing to open FaceTime or Contacts to place phone calls from their desktops or laptops. Receiving calls was simple, but making them through the video chat app designed for a different purpose or cluttered Contacts app felt unintuitive.

DockPhone lets users skip that step, offering a streamlined experience allowing users to easily enter a contact's name or specific phone number to start a phone call. The app interacts with FaceTime behind the scenes to connect with your iPhone, and finally get the call out to the person you dialed. As with making normal phone calls on a Mac, users still need OS X Yosemite on their Mac, an iPhone with iOS 8 or later, and both devices on the same Wi-Fi and iCloud accounts.

While DockPhone is not the first app to offer such functionality, with others such as Keypad having launched some time ago, DockPhone uniquely allows users to also use their voice to begin phone calls. After clicking the microphone button, simply saying the name of a contact or reciting a phone number will begin a call. Recent contacts also appear in widget form in the Notification Center sidebar of your Mac screen, with quick-access prompts to contact them again.

DockPhone is available for download from the Mac App Store for $0.99. [Direct Link]

Article Link: 'DockPhone' Adds Phone Dialing to Yosemite, Bypassing FaceTime

 

[Bluethree]

Seemed a good idea this..bought and downloaded....and keep getting a call fail

 

[ProwlingTiger]

I need to jailbreak my iPad to have something like this. Going into FaceTime even on the iPad ans not having a dedicated dialer is stupid.

 

[3bs]

I need to jailbreak my iPad to have something like this. Going into FaceTime even on the iPad ans not having a dedicated dialer is stupid.

Something like this exists in Cydia?

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Seemed a good idea this..bought and downloaded....and keep getting a call fail

This doesn't have a dial pad either? One reviewer said that and another can't get it to work like you.

Do MacRumors test apps they post about?

Edit: the Keypad app link doesn't work.

Edit: Keypad link working now. Direct link if anyone wants to get it from MAS

 

[Supertaff]

does 't seem to work for me either, I can do face time and continuity calls no problem, but the app doesn't want to play. Thought initially it was because I had Microsoft Lync installed but even after changing setting on that it doesn't work.

 

[newagemac]

Can't you already do this with Spotlight?

 

[Fondaparinux]

You know something's wrong when a third party app fixes a first party problem.

 

[3bs]

Can't you already do this with Spotlight?

What do I have to do? I tried typing in "Call phone number" or just the phone number but neither showed up any results to make phone calls.

 

[Sangoma]

Why is it inconvenient to do this from Contacts or FaceTime? You still have to open an app.

(I don't have an iPhone so I haven't tried)

 

[n-evo]

You know something's wrong when a third party app fixes a first party problem.

Of course it's extremely uncommon for third-parties to extend functionality of first-party products. We definitely didn't see that happening much throughout history.

 

[WildCowboy]

This doesn't have a dial pad either? One reviewer said that and another can't get it to work like you.

Do MacRumors test apps they post about?

I've tested it and it worked fine for me. It does not have a dial pad, which may be an issue for some people. Voice search is handy and worked for me as well.

Continuity's phone call stuff can be buggy, so it may be hard to tell whether failures are due to DockPhone or Continuity. But calls have gone through ok for me in limited testing.

 

[Alon1]

What do I have to do? I tried typing in "Call phone number" or just the phone number but neither showed up any results to make phone calls.

What I think he meant was (at least that's what I immediately thought when I saw this app, as well) is that you can open spotlight and type the contact's name. Their contact card will then pop up and you can hover over the phone number and click the phone symbol to dial. That's how I've been doing this for a while now.

Doesn't solve the lack of dialer problem but at least you don't have to launch any app when you're dialing a contact.

 

[FieldingMellish]

I can rest easy now that this new app is out.

 

[3bs]

What I think he meant was (at least that's what I immediately thought when I saw this app, as well) is that you can open spotlight and type the contact's name. Their contact card will then pop up and you can hover over the phone number and click the phone symbol to dial. That's how I've been doing this for a while now.

Doesn't solve the lack of dialer problem but at least you don't have to launch any app when you're dialing a contact.

That's actually more than ok. I might just stick to that. Thanks!

 

[octothorpe8]

Anybody know if there's a way to do this with Alfred?

 

[shiftless]

Spotlight still tries to launch FaceTime.
The dial pad by MAS does not.

I find this useful.

 

[newagemac]

What do I have to do? I tried typing in "Call phone number" or just the phone number but neither showed up any results to make phone calls.

Just cmd+space to open spotlight and then type in the contact's name. Easy Peezy.

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What I think he meant was (at least that's what I immediately thought when I saw this app, as well) is that you can open spotlight and type the contact's name. Their contact card will then pop up and you can hover over the phone number and click the phone symbol to dial. That's how I've been doing this for a while now.

Doesn't solve the lack of dialer problem but at least you don't have to launch any app when you're dialing a contact.

Yep, exactly what I meant. Why bother with a dialer? Spotlight is easier. Another really nice benefit of Yosemite. Not sure about Mavericks or earlier.

 

[Alon1]

Just cmd+space to open spotlight and then type in the contact's name. Easy Peezy.

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Yep, exactly what I meant. Why bother with a dialer? Spotlight is easier. Another really nice benefit of Yosemite. Not sure about Mavericks or earlier.

My only gripe is that you can't enter phone numbers. Besides the convenience of being able to dial new numbers, it's also an issue when I call a number with an automated directory (for English press 1, etc. ). Gotta carry on the entire convo on your phone from that point on.

Unless I'm missing something.

 

[2457282]

After thinking about it, I mostly call on my iphone by going to the contacts app and finding the person I want to call. If I need to dial a new number I go to the phone app and use the number pad to dial.

In Yosimite, I do the same thing of going to the contact app and dialing selecting a contact. So for me there is no difference and it works fine. However, if I want to dial a new number going to facetime to do that is a little awkward. And if you have to press 1 for english (as someone posted earlier) it does not make sense. Forunately, I have not run accross that yet.

For now I think yosimite is fine, but adding a dialer would be nice. Therefore an app that provided a dialer would be really great, but this one I think I can pass on.

 

[moonman239]

Needs a jailbreak? Why not just create an app that interacts with the FaceTime app?

 

[UKgaryb]

They don't even need a dialler they could use spotlight, ala the calculator function; type a phone number in and Spotlight should be able to dial via continuity

 

[japanime]

I've tested it and it worked fine for me. It does not have a dial pad, which may be an issue for some people. Voice search is handy and worked for me as well.

Continuity's phone call stuff can be buggy, so it may be hard to tell whether failures are due to DockPhone or Continuity. But calls have gone through ok for me in limited testing.

Could you please explain a bit more about how extensively you tested the app before recommending it here? "Limited testing" sounds like you tried it once or twice.

Thanks

 

[Nunyabinez]

Could you please explain a bit more about how extensively you tested the app before recommending it here? "Limited testing" sounds like you tried it once or twice.

Thanks

He didn't claim he did QA on it. Sheesh. Two people said it didn't work. He said it worked for him.

 

[Raffael (WAY)]

Hey guys,

I'm one of the developers behind DockPhone. Many thanks for your thoughts about the app!

We have received many support emails and iMessages (yes, we offer support via iMessage ) with regards to "Call failed!" or similar issues while using DockPhone. We could help most of our users and wrote down some troubleshooting tips on our help page: http://www.weareyeah.com/DockPhone/help/

If you need help as well, please get in contact with us, we'll find a solution! Check the help page for our iMessage / email address.

 

[limborocks]

Really? Please share a screen shot.

They don't even need a dialler they could use spotlight, ala the calculator function; type a phone number in and Spotlight should be able to dial via continuity

What people are complaining about is the inability to enter a NEW PHONE NUMBER to call. Not from contacts, not from facetime or webpages, which is what shows up in spotlight.

I get so sick and tired of people posting crap for solutions that aren't valid, don't work, and they never tried, they just copied and pasted, THINKING it should work.

When I see a screen shot of your famous "ala calculator function" dialing a "phone number", wait never mind. You can't do that...