Even though sales of Windows Phone 7 have not been the greatest there are still new users everyday. In an effort to help everyone understand how to use Windows Phone better we have a few tips for beginners and refresher for the veterans.
Tap and Hold
One of the main features of Windows Phone 7 is a clean user interface and the way to achieve that is to minimize what I being displayed. However when there needs to be additional functionality usually a “TAP and HOLD” will reveal it. For example:
- “TAP and HOLD” an Email to see “Delete, mark as Read/Unread, move, set/clear flag”
- “TAP and HOLD” a conversation in Messaging to see “delete”
- “TAP and HOLD” a text message to reveal delete, forward, or copy.
- “TAP and HOLD” a number in your Call History to reveal “delete item”. .
- Try “TAP and HOLD” text and pictures in most apps to reveal hidden options
Search options
The Hardware Search button is not context sensitive. At any place in the operation of the Windows Phone if you press the hardware search button it will take you to Bing.
- For each app or hub there is a software search button on the screen.
- The Hardware Search button is not global search of the phone yet.
Voice Commands
Windows phone has excellent voice control where you can search Bing or Open an Application. To initiate voice commands hold the Windows button and say:
- Anything and it will search Bing, for example the term Unit Conversion reveals websites, apps, images
- Open “Your Application” will have Windows Phone 7 open an application
- You can use voice commands from the launch screen by turning the feature on in the settings. Simply go to Settings, then speech and check the box to use Speech when the phone is locked.
- To cancel voice commands if you accidently launch it just hit the back button
Text Editing
There are a few tips that can speed up your text editing on Windows Phone 7. If you are writing an email or surfing the web these tips will help.
- Press and Hold on a text box to invoke a cursor for editing a specific section
- When you type words in the text editor using the keypad, suggestive words appear above your keypad. Scroll that list from right to left to see more words.
- Tap a word to select it, move the arrows to select more words. Then press the copy icon to copy the selected text.
- If you have text copied in order to paste it use the paste icon in the word suggestion bar. If it disappears slide left to right to bring the paste icon back.
Highlight Text and Search
When you are surfing the web you may come across a word or phrase that you want more information on. If you highlight the text and hit the hardware search button, Bing will run a search based on the word or words you selected.
- Highlight a word or phrase and hit the hardware search button.
