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There's a quick way to switch between applications on an S60 phone. This trick goes way back to even 2nd-edition S60 devices and once you find it, you'll never know how you lived without it.
Just press and hold the menu key (you know, the one with the kind of swooshy symbol on it), and you'll see a scrollable list in the upper left corner of the screen. To switch to an application, scroll to it and hit the OK button (or Select). To quit an application without going to it, press the C button and then hit Yes. It saves a huge amount of time. Okay, it saves maybe three thumbpresses, but it feels like it saves a huge amount of time (staggering, maybe even), and that's what really counts.
The first time a friend of mine showed me this, I did a total smack-the-forehead -why-didn't-I-realize-that- before thing, which is pretty much exactly the same way everyone else reacts when I show them. It's so totally obvious and smart, and yet a whole lot of people don't even know they have it.
Comments
Heh. This shortcut has ALWAYS been there.
Posted by: Hannes Engelbrecht | July 4, 2007 03:03 PMIt was there in Nokia's first Symbian phone, the 7650.
And cool apps like Handy Taskman make use of the shortcut, and beef up that Task Manager (no affiliation) to no end.
Very handy tip. Many thanks.
Posted by: Carl | August 16, 2007 06:35 PMDoes anyone know if this works on the E series devices? For example, my E62?
I can't seem to get it to work and I'm wondering if something is interfering or if it just doesn't apply?
Thanks.
Posted by: John | September 29, 2007 10:38 PMit works on e62. you will have to open two or three apps to switch between them. I am not able to close/exit app as mentioned in the article.
Posted by: govindan | October 2, 2007 09:46 AMIt works on my e61i and as govindan said you need to have a couple of apps open for it to swap. A little experimentation showed some other niceties.
I live and die by my e61i so these short cuts really help.
Cheers Posted by: Lawrence | October 31, 2007 08:09 PM
"Hold down the "any" key brings you to configure the any key"
Just for curiosity sake... what key do you mean when you say the "Any" key in regard to the E61?
On my E62, I have an "Own" key and an "Alt" key...
Or were you poking fun with a "Press ANY key to continue..." bit of humour?
Posted by: Vicntc | October 31, 2007 10:48 PMawesome tip.. I didn't know this one.
Posted by: Shahryar"Back to even 2-nd edition"?
Posted by: Deathbrin | November 16, 2007 07:17 PMWhy do people always forget that there was a 1st edition, not very different from the 2nd one?