Comments on: Should The Red Key Continue To Kill Applications?

By: Arik

Arik — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 22:58:19 +0000

I install the Epoc ware handy shell then worked out how to customise my phone and using the red key menu keys L/R ect….
then you can set close everything when red key is press or have an exception list for application that you want to hide. e.g Nokia Maps, Music player, Games….

By: Bennish

Bennish — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 06:08:04 +0000

Handy Shell will allow you to do this. If you don’t want the shell but still want active standby, and just change the red button behaviour, do the following:

disable the ‘handy shell’ option in the ‘cycle’ menus. then select for the red button to either hide, or close with exceptions. but do NOT exit the settings window back to handy shell. just red-button it to the background, and you’ll use active standby like nothing happened – except now red button will minimize!!

By: Magnus

Magnus — Sun, 11 May 2008 14:46:07 +0000

Great great article! Congratulations on the effort!

Now to add my opinion… Nokia really should fix the annoying non-conforming behaviour of the read key. Shuts every thing off excapt the music player, the internet browser and the search application but only if you searched something in it.

By: Vaibhav Sharma

Vaibhav Sharma — Sat, 10 May 2008 22:18:04 +0000

Thats exactly my point pal. Multitasking! When someone new to S60 buys a phone and hits the red key to close an application and it closes like on any other phone, he gets no idea about its multitasking ability. Its just another phone.
But if the red key ceases to kill applications and he sees the ‘application running’ indicators throughtout the menu, he immediately comes to know that the applications he thought he killed are still running! Thus he learns about multitasking without referring to any literature.

Now this argument I made might differ from the Dummy and Expert mode ideas, I think it makes sense too. Thats why I said the idea is out in the open for deliberations! Hope I make myself clear, cause I think you misunderstood me, I was never against multitasking.. In fact thats what I’m trying to encourage..!

By: Ish Puneet

Ish Puneet — Sat, 10 May 2008 21:34:47 +0000

The ability to switch between running applications is one of the things I love about symbian.

Recently, a few of my freinds who are new to the S60 phones did not know that one can simultaneously run few applications in these phones and switch between them. Freinds have come and enquired as to why there is the application running sign that appears in the menu when an application is running appearing in their menu as to if they have done something wrong with that application or something.

Recently a freind who knew about it came and enqiured when he bought a N81 that why the music application can not be switched off.

I think the S60 devices stand out because of its open platform and its multitasking ability.

So as to your opinion to maybe bring in an option to kill or even make it cutomisable, i strongly disagree as that would leave the new user of S60 devices ignorant of its wonderful abilities. Even the experts had their own learning experience so let every one have their day.
I fell in love with the abilities of what the symbian phones and I personally learnt about things by hit and trial when there were not many things I had access to about nearly 4 years back.

So I think by taking away the opportunity from people what they can do with their S60 devices, we can take away the awe and the powerful feeling one has carrying a S60 device. We take away the chance from people to be fans of symbian, like us.

The multitasking provision of the S60 is dear to me and should not be taken away from people who are new to it as they would’nt utilise their devices to the full.

Hope you agree…???