Mango Tips & Tricks

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Talys

Senior Member
Nov 19, 2010
69
16
Vancouver
Well, Mango Beta is here, meaning there are lots of new cool features. Some of them are either buried or not obvious. Here are some that I've found so far:

UPDATE: Thank you for everyone's participation. I have added several tips based on comments in the discussion :)


Custom Ringtones

1. Copy MP3 or WMA to Zune Collection. Choose Edit, and type in manually under Genre "Ringtone". The song must be less than 40 seconds and smaller than 1MB.

2. Go to Settings -> Ringtones + Sounds, tap Ringtone. Your custom ringtone will appear under a new tree called "Custom", above "Windows Phone"

Note that it is identified by the filename, rather than the track title.

Also, you can tap and HOLD a ringtone, and Delete will be offered (but only on the Custom ones; preloaded ones grey out delete).

Windows Live Messenger

Windows Live Messenger is so damned easy that I didn't see it staring at me. Pick Messaging, slide right to Online. Set Chat Status (icon at bottom), hit +, and send a message to any Messenger contact. And/or if anyone sends you an MSN, you get a ding just like a SMS, and it appears under Messaging.

Mango automatically made my Windows Live account that my phone is registered under, which is also my Messenger account, work. Others have noted that it's not possible to have a second Messenger account -- only your PRIMARY Windows Live account is linked to Messenger.

Facebook chat is set up also from Messaging -> Online. Some people have had trouble with this... read down to see some possible solutions.

Dev Unlock Mango B2

You must have a dev unlocked phone to install Mango, but installing Mango relocks your phone. To unlock it again, run Windows Phone Developer Registration from the Beta 2 SDK tools.

Voice Activated SMS/Messaging

To allow Voice recognition from Messaging (like SMS, Messenger) while on Carrier Data, go to Settings -> Speech and check Enable Speech Recognition over Network.

This is REALLY cool. Put on a headset; leave your phone on the home screen. When someone sends you a Messenger, it announces that the person has sent you a message, Read It or Ignore. If you say, "Read it", the phone reads the message. You then have an opportunity to reply via speech!

Visual Voicemail

Evidently, this is in Settings -> Phone (or Phone app, slide up, call settings). But it doesn't show up for everyone -- it's carrier dependent (doesn't show up for Telus phone on Fido for me).

Exchange/Gmail Server Search

To search the server for older (for example, Exchange) go to Outlook, click the on-screen search button, make a search. At the bottom of the results, tap "search more in Outlook". When the server search is done, at the bottom of the results, you'll see "get more results" and "search all folders". Woohoo!

Bing Visual Search -- and OCR!

Tap Bing key. Click eyeball. You can snap QR codes, Microsoft codes, or TEXT. If you snap text, it will then detect it, and you can translate it (for example, from French to English). But as someone mentioned, you can translate from English to English... and the results come as text that you can then Copy and Paste! Quick and easy cloud OCR that you have to see to believe.


Skydrive, Office

Just, Wow!

Go to Office. Slide over to Locations and SkyDrive. You can see any of the documents on your SkyDrive, and edit things like Word. It's perfect.

Notes (OneNote, synchronized with SkyDrive and your Desktop OneNote as long as you're saving to Web) is really slick. Office 365 and SharePoint are under Locations.


Easy Ones

Music Controls - This one's easy. Play a song, pause it. Hit lock key. Controls are on the wallpaper. Unlock, hit volume keys -- Controls appear.

Multitasking - Hold down Back button. It's a beautiful implementation. To remove a task from the list, pick it, then hit back button once.

Outlook Threads - Just tap a conversation thread to expand it.

Outlook Account Linking - Outlook -> ... -> Link Inboxes

App Grouping - tap the letters above the groups of apps, just like the phone book (tapping "a" gets you all the letters, tapping "s" jumps to Settings)

App Find - tap magnifying glass on apps list

IE9 -- OMG. Best Mobile Browser Ever. 'nuff said. But is it possible to turn off Address Bar in Landscape? Takes up lots of space.

People/Groups - Tap People hub, tap Family or +. You can make your own Groups, and then SMS or email everyone in the group that has SMS or email. Or quickly call them, since they get big tiles.

People/History - Tap a contact in the People hub, slide to the right, and see History. It shows call/messaging history, and "search Outlook" at the bottom.

Really Nice Subtle features

- Improved buttons during a voice call (larger, blockier, and harder to mispress)
- People Tile is really pretty now
- XBox Live Hub, Avatar, Messages -- way, way nicer. Best game hub ever.
- Marketplace is much better organized; Games are split up into categories.
- Power Down (hold lock button) now "confirms" with a prompt to slide down
- Hardware Search button now always brings up Bing; on-screen search button for context-sensitive.
- Dithering on browser eliminates banding in most cases

Doesn't Work Anymore

The following appear to be broken in Mango:

- Homebrew - Chevron Ringtone Installer (but it's bult in now)
- Homebrew - Home Screen Bluetooth/Wifi/Data button (I already miss this one!)
- LG App Store doesn't seem to open anymore (error appears -- but this seems to work for at least some other people)
- Maps Directions gives an Error
- Maps - Some people don't get Traffic, others do. For the time being I am using gMaps. Free version works!
- Not really sure how to go back and forward on the browser, other than "recent" (which doesn't give you cached version).

UPDATE:
======
To make Traffic work, just set region/location to English (United States). I had it set to English (Canada). Directions from "My Location" then works as well! (note that I am physically in Canada).

LG App store still does not work for me. It comes up with Error code:805a0194 (Optimus 7 / Telus)
 
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1

1jaxstate1

Senior Member
May 1, 2008
109
1
Facebook chat isn't working for me. In the messaging option for facebook chat, I hit ON, it then says Facebook is set up on my phone, but more steps are needed for chat to work, it then going to a web page that is a dead link.
 
D

dtboos

Senior Member
Dec 22, 2009
510
62
Talys said:
Missing

- What happened to traffic, in Maps?

- Is it possible to search server folders in Outlook?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Traffic will be back in with the final release/build (if not sooner?)

Full exchange folder search should be possible, as full search of folders for online email. Your outlook wont be searchable unless you sync it to hotmail via connector or use exchange.

I haven't gotten my email yet for download, but this is whats supposed to be in the [final] build. Hope not too many things haven't been implemented, but looking forward to messing around with it.
 
T

Talys

Senior Member
Nov 19, 2010
69
16
Vancouver
dtboos said:
Traffic will be back in with the final release/build (if not sooner?)

Full exchange folder search should be possible, as full search of folders for online email. Your outlook wont be searchable unless you sync it to hotmail via connector or use exchange.

I haven't gotten my email yet for download, but this is whats supposed to be in the [final] build. Hope not too many things haven't been implemented, but looking forward to messing around with it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

It looks great to me. Most features appear fully implmented or "implemented but not quite working" (like FB chat).

I use Exchange. Can't seem to find unsynced emails using the server (eg server search for a year old email or unsync'ed folder). This is a super useful feature on the BlackBerry.

Traffic back would be nice, as I cancelled my XM Nav on my car, since Maps Traffic worked so well :D

I will have to see how well Network Voice Recognition works when on 3G. Previously, using the LG Voice to Text App, performance on LAN was awesome but performance on anything short of a great 3G connection was awful (the wait was so long that I could park the car and type the message 5 times over).
 
prjkthack

prjkthack

Senior Member
Jan 4, 2009
914
131
Eagan, MN
www.prjkthack.com
You guys aren't seeing traffic in maps? I see it and it works just fine.

Don't forget you can also turn on Visual Voicemail in phone settings. Then you can get to your voice through the Phone tile, and by swiping over to voicemail.

Also, Messenger only signs in using your primary live account. You cannot add a second Live ID and have it sign it to messenger.
 
W

weatherx

Senior Member
Feb 28, 2011
69
3
i'll be the first to ask...is there now a separate ringer volume? in other words is media and ringer volume separate?
 
RoboDad

RoboDad

Senior Member
Mar 6, 2008
845
87
Boise, ID
I think asking questions is a great idea, but everyone should probably keep one important thing in mind. This is not even CLOSE to the final build, so just because a feature isn't "in there" today doesn't mean it isn't already in the plan for the release version.

With that said, here's my question. Does the task switcher offer any way to close a running task? I can't believe that such an obvious, basic, and NECESSARY feature isn't in there. And only the five most recent tasks? To quote Microsoft's own ad campaign, "Really?"
 
prjkthack

prjkthack

Senior Member
Jan 4, 2009
914
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Eagan, MN
www.prjkthack.com
weatherx said:
i'll be the first to ask...is there now a separate ringer volume? in other words is media and ringer volume separate?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

As far as I can tell, nope. Just a single volume control.


RoboDad said:
With that said, here's my question. Does the task switcher offer any way to close a running task? I can't believe that such an obvious, basic, and NECESSARY feature isn't in there. And only the five most recent tasks? To quote Microsoft's own ad campaign, "Really?"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

The only way to manage running tasks is from the background tasks option under settings. As far as I can tell, the task switcher is just a list of recent apps. They don't run in the background, they become frozen in the background (kinda like they do now in 7.0), and because they aren't actually doing anything in the background, there is no need to close anything within the task switcher. So the option doesn't make much sense to begin with since it doesn't really close anything.
 
drkfngthdragnlrd

drkfngthdragnlrd

Retired Recognized Developer
Mar 27, 2008
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prjkthack said:
The only way to manage running tasks is from the background tasks option under settings. As far as I can tell, the task switcher is just a list of recent apps. They don't run in the background, they become frozen in the background (kinda like they do now in 7.0), and because they aren't actually doing anything in the background, there is no need to close anything within the task switcher. So the option doesn't make much sense to begin with since it doesn't really close anything.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Open the app & press back button will remove it from task switcher. The only app this doesn't work on is IE from what I've seen as the back button is the back navigator button for web pages.
 
RoboDad

RoboDad

Senior Member
Mar 6, 2008
845
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Boise, ID
Unless the back button has radically changed under Mango, pressing the back button once doesn't exit an app, unless the app is specifically written to treat a single back button press as "exit". Many apps are very poorly written WRT the back button, and some would require a dozen or more presses to "exit".

And, there are some apps where the back button is part of the necessary app navigation (not just IE, but some other apps I use). I wouldn't want the OS to interpret a single press as an exit if I switch back to the app.
 
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prjkthack

prjkthack

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Jan 4, 2009
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drkfngthdragnlrd said:
Open the app & press back button will remove it from task switcher. The only app this doesn't work on is IE from what I've seen as the back button is the back navigator button for web pages.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Yes, well, that simply removes the "card" from the task switcher. That doesn't necessarily close the application or kill the task. All the task switcher does is step back in time. So going back to an app, and pressing back removes it because by pressing back, you are bring the phone back to a point where the task you switched to has not been started yet (time travel, such a paradox).

If you want to remove a card from the task switcher history, instead of going to the app and pressing back on it to "close" it, you could simply go to the app right before that and it effectively does the same thing. Saves you a step right there.

The problem is that multi-tasking exists for specific reasons/apps on Windows Phone 7.5 and the only way to manage that is by using the background tasks options menu.

So there are two questions and solutions here:

1) Can you terminate an app from the task switcher? No.
2) Can you remove a recent application from the task switcher list? Yes
 
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RoboDad

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Thanks for that clarification. I suppose I'll have to play with it once Mango "ships", but right now I'm not sure the task switcher is going to be very useful to me.
 
drkfngthdragnlrd

drkfngthdragnlrd

Retired Recognized Developer
Mar 27, 2008
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prjkthack said:
Yes, well, that simply removes the "card" from the task switcher. That doesn't necessarily close the application or kill the task. All the task switcher does is step back in time. So going back to an app, and pressing back removes it because by pressing back, you are bring the phone back to a point where the task you switched to has not been started yet (time travel, such a paradox).

If you want to remove a card from the task switcher history, instead of going to the app and pressing back on it to "close" it, you could simply go to the app right before that and it effectively does the same thing. Saves you a step right there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Part of what you said is true, but part isn't. Say I have IE, Messaging, Mail, Settings open in that order. I go back to Messaging & press "back". Now IE, Mail, Settings are in the task switcher. So, it's not "Time Travel" as you put it. You don't loose the other apps you opened after the app you went back to, just the one you pressed "back" on.

This all boils down to the dehydration hack. Apps on the switcher act as if your have the hack enable on pre-mango while those you remove from the switcher get "dehydrated". The setting you mentioned has to do with bg services that allow apps to do stuff in the background. This is similiar to those little icons on your PC's task bar next to the clock such as anti-virus, adobe updater, winamp agent, etc. Stuff running in the background that might do something for the app but isn't necessarily needed. In anti-virus apps, that'd be live protection, which is good but severely impacts performance. The adobe updater checks for updates, close it, no automatic updates.
 
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prjkthack

prjkthack

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tiny17 said:
Not seeing that option in the phone portion of settings . . .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Not sure if its carrier dependant or what. I have T-Mobile, and I also have the Visual Voicemail option on my account. Under "phone" settings, right under "Voicemail number", there is an option for me to turn on/off Visual voicemail.



drkfngthdragnlrd said:
Part of what you said is true, but part isn't. Say I have IE, Messaging, Mail, Settings open in that order. I go back to Messaging & press "back". Now IE, Mail, Settings are in the task switcher. So, it's not "Time Travel" as you put it. You don't loose the other apps you opened after the app you went back to, just the one you pressed "back" on.

This all boils down to the dehydration hack. Apps on the switcher act as if your have the hack enable on pre-mango while those you remove from the switcher get "dehydrated". The setting you mentioned has to do with bg services that allow apps to do stuff in the background. This is similiar to those little icons on your PC's task bar next to the clock such as anti-virus, adobe updater, winamp agent, etc. Stuff running in the background that might do something for the app but isn't necessarily needed. In anti-virus apps, that'd be live protection, which is good but severely impacts performance. The adobe updater checks for updates, close it, no automatic updates.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

My example was a bit off, my mistake. The rest is still rather unfortunately true, as it stands now, the task switcher is just that, a task switcher. Apps do not run in the background actively, so there is no need to terminate these apps since they aren't really running to begin with, hence you can't really terminate them. The only way for apps to run in the background (or rather, for apps to do things in the background), would be to take advantage of the background tasks feature so that it can do something while not actively open. The only way to manage anything running in the background right now, is with the background tasks setting.
 
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    T
    Talys
    Well, Mango Beta is here, meaning there are lots of new cool features. Some of them are either buried or not obvious. Here are some that I've found so far:

    UPDATE: Thank you for everyone's participation. I have added several tips based on comments in the discussion :)


    Custom Ringtones

    1. Copy MP3 or WMA to Zune Collection. Choose Edit, and type in manually under Genre "Ringtone". The song must be less than 40 seconds and smaller than 1MB.

    2. Go to Settings -> Ringtones + Sounds, tap Ringtone. Your custom ringtone will appear under a new tree called "Custom", above "Windows Phone"

    Note that it is identified by the filename, rather than the track title.

    Also, you can tap and HOLD a ringtone, and Delete will be offered (but only on the Custom ones; preloaded ones grey out delete).

    Windows Live Messenger

    Windows Live Messenger is so damned easy that I didn't see it staring at me. Pick Messaging, slide right to Online. Set Chat Status (icon at bottom), hit +, and send a message to any Messenger contact. And/or if anyone sends you an MSN, you get a ding just like a SMS, and it appears under Messaging.

    Mango automatically made my Windows Live account that my phone is registered under, which is also my Messenger account, work. Others have noted that it's not possible to have a second Messenger account -- only your PRIMARY Windows Live account is linked to Messenger.

    Facebook chat is set up also from Messaging -> Online. Some people have had trouble with this... read down to see some possible solutions.

    Dev Unlock Mango B2

    You must have a dev unlocked phone to install Mango, but installing Mango relocks your phone. To unlock it again, run Windows Phone Developer Registration from the Beta 2 SDK tools.

    Voice Activated SMS/Messaging

    To allow Voice recognition from Messaging (like SMS, Messenger) while on Carrier Data, go to Settings -> Speech and check Enable Speech Recognition over Network.

    This is REALLY cool. Put on a headset; leave your phone on the home screen. When someone sends you a Messenger, it announces that the person has sent you a message, Read It or Ignore. If you say, "Read it", the phone reads the message. You then have an opportunity to reply via speech!

    Visual Voicemail

    Evidently, this is in Settings -> Phone (or Phone app, slide up, call settings). But it doesn't show up for everyone -- it's carrier dependent (doesn't show up for Telus phone on Fido for me).

    Exchange/Gmail Server Search

    To search the server for older (for example, Exchange) go to Outlook, click the on-screen search button, make a search. At the bottom of the results, tap "search more in Outlook". When the server search is done, at the bottom of the results, you'll see "get more results" and "search all folders". Woohoo!

    Bing Visual Search -- and OCR!

    Tap Bing key. Click eyeball. You can snap QR codes, Microsoft codes, or TEXT. If you snap text, it will then detect it, and you can translate it (for example, from French to English). But as someone mentioned, you can translate from English to English... and the results come as text that you can then Copy and Paste! Quick and easy cloud OCR that you have to see to believe.


    Skydrive, Office

    Just, Wow!

    Go to Office. Slide over to Locations and SkyDrive. You can see any of the documents on your SkyDrive, and edit things like Word. It's perfect.

    Notes (OneNote, synchronized with SkyDrive and your Desktop OneNote as long as you're saving to Web) is really slick. Office 365 and SharePoint are under Locations.


    Easy Ones

    Music Controls - This one's easy. Play a song, pause it. Hit lock key. Controls are on the wallpaper. Unlock, hit volume keys -- Controls appear.

    Multitasking - Hold down Back button. It's a beautiful implementation. To remove a task from the list, pick it, then hit back button once.

    Outlook Threads - Just tap a conversation thread to expand it.

    Outlook Account Linking - Outlook -> ... -> Link Inboxes

    App Grouping - tap the letters above the groups of apps, just like the phone book (tapping "a" gets you all the letters, tapping "s" jumps to Settings)

    App Find - tap magnifying glass on apps list

    IE9 -- OMG. Best Mobile Browser Ever. 'nuff said. But is it possible to turn off Address Bar in Landscape? Takes up lots of space.

    People/Groups - Tap People hub, tap Family or +. You can make your own Groups, and then SMS or email everyone in the group that has SMS or email. Or quickly call them, since they get big tiles.

    People/History - Tap a contact in the People hub, slide to the right, and see History. It shows call/messaging history, and "search Outlook" at the bottom.

    Really Nice Subtle features

    - Improved buttons during a voice call (larger, blockier, and harder to mispress)
    - People Tile is really pretty now
    - XBox Live Hub, Avatar, Messages -- way, way nicer. Best game hub ever.
    - Marketplace is much better organized; Games are split up into categories.
    - Power Down (hold lock button) now "confirms" with a prompt to slide down
    - Hardware Search button now always brings up Bing; on-screen search button for context-sensitive.
    - Dithering on browser eliminates banding in most cases

    Doesn't Work Anymore

    The following appear to be broken in Mango:

    - Homebrew - Chevron Ringtone Installer (but it's bult in now)
    - Homebrew - Home Screen Bluetooth/Wifi/Data button (I already miss this one!)
    - LG App Store doesn't seem to open anymore (error appears -- but this seems to work for at least some other people)
    - Maps Directions gives an Error
    - Maps - Some people don't get Traffic, others do. For the time being I am using gMaps. Free version works!
    - Not really sure how to go back and forward on the browser, other than "recent" (which doesn't give you cached version).

    UPDATE:
    ======
    To make Traffic work, just set region/location to English (United States). I had it set to English (Canada). Directions from "My Location" then works as well! (note that I am physically in Canada).

    LG App store still does not work for me. It comes up with Error code:805a0194 (Optimus 7 / Telus)
    View
    2
    dkp1977
    dkp1977
    vc_dxb said:
    can anyone help me with the link inbox feature. am just not able to find the option in the settings menu.
    Click to expand...
    Click to collapse

    I don't have my phone next to me, but isn't it directly within a certain e-mail account? So e-mail -> swipe up those three dots.. Somewhere there or even there in settings or something? I don't think you'll find it in the regular settings at all.
    View
    2
    weepatc
    weepatc
    Add some pics as 'Favourites' in the Pictures hub & select 'Shuffle background picture' you now have a sldeshow on the backround & on the Start screen tile.

    Sent from my HD7 using XDA Windows Phone 7 App
    View
    1
    prjkthack
    prjkthack
    drkfngthdragnlrd said:
    Open the app & press back button will remove it from task switcher. The only app this doesn't work on is IE from what I've seen as the back button is the back navigator button for web pages.
    Click to expand...
    Click to collapse

    Yes, well, that simply removes the "card" from the task switcher. That doesn't necessarily close the application or kill the task. All the task switcher does is step back in time. So going back to an app, and pressing back removes it because by pressing back, you are bring the phone back to a point where the task you switched to has not been started yet (time travel, such a paradox).

    If you want to remove a card from the task switcher history, instead of going to the app and pressing back on it to "close" it, you could simply go to the app right before that and it effectively does the same thing. Saves you a step right there.

    The problem is that multi-tasking exists for specific reasons/apps on Windows Phone 7.5 and the only way to manage that is by using the background tasks options menu.

    So there are two questions and solutions here:

    1) Can you terminate an app from the task switcher? No.
    2) Can you remove a recent application from the task switcher list? Yes
    View
    1
    prjkthack
    prjkthack
    Talys said:
    Here are two examples of native application multitasking. I don't know if this worked in NoDo -- perhaps someone can try.

    Skydrive upload:

    1. Go to Camera, and slide back to the last picture. Share to -> Skydrive
    2. Immediately press and hold back button and switch to another task

    Check for the photo on a PC; the picture will be there shortly.

    (In NoDo, maybe try hitting the Windows key and jumping into another app).


    IE9 rendering:

    1. Go to Engadget.com and hit Desktop version link at the bottom (Desktop version takes forever to render on phone).
    2. Switch to another task. Wait a minute.
    3. Switch back. Engadget is rendered!


    (please say so if either of these actually *aren't* backgrounding, and it's some clever slieght of hand)

    Obviously, the Music (Zune) app works, too. But that's not new, except for the controls in the Toast notification area and wallpaper.
    Click to expand...
    Click to collapse

    The native applications always had the capability to do tasks in the background. All the native apps do them in some shape or form. What we'd all really like is 3rd-party background tasks and applications. That's the primary concern here.

    So those examples above have always been possible and still work just fine in Mango.
    View

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