Default phone/ email in Contacts - not a simple problem!

[nirseth37]

This "problem" has "bugged" me ever since I got the Z in March, but have put up with it in the hope that updates would solve it! 6 months on the problem persists!

In Contacts, there is the option to set default numbers/ emails... I set the dot into the preferred field and save! Then, when I try to make a call (from Contacts or Favorite or even the Top Contacts App) the former action has had no effect, and I still have to choose a number which is now irritating me as increasingly I have many contacts with various numbers, etc.

I have removed the Top Contacts app (in case this was the problem), but no joy. The only way around this (at present) is for me to edit the contact and put the preferred number as the first number! I never had this problem with the Arc and in lesser phones such as the J the default option works! Am I missing a something?

[Uliwooly]

Perhaps you should look for a different dial/phone app from the play store

[nirseth37]

Issue aside, I actually like the stock Contacts, but I will probably look again. I would, however, like to know if this is a known issue (as no one else seems to have reported it?) and ever likely to be resolved?

[Rickard]

As i understand it, being able to set a number or email address as default is a standard feature in Android but if (and how) the default selection is actually used then depends on the app you're using to access contacts. If you for example open the app Gmail or Email and start typing a name the email address set as default will be the first choice in the list but you still need to select it. There might be apps that doesn't give you the selection and that just uses the default selection as well.
I can forward this as feedback but if you want to be able to call certain contacts without selecting their number i would use direct dial shortcuts on the homescreen instead. Tap and hold somewhere on the homescreen and select APPS -> Shortcuts -> Direct dial and then the contact/number.

[nirseth37]

Thanks for the reply, and I can understand that. Unfortunately, I do not like to clutter my screens with direct dial shortcuts, and unwittingly I tend to either move/ delete them!

The frustation, however, is that the highly useful widget (from Top Contacts, a Sony app) works well on many Xperias (eg. Arc (2.3.2), J (4.1) & E (4.1.1), yes have used all of them!) where on first use of a contact in the widget will allow you to "remember" the preferred number and then works perfectly. This widget has never offered me that option in my Z from launch (currently 4.2.2), and likewise on my wife's Xperia L (currently 4.1.2). Am I to assume this is a widget issue above 4.1.1 and report it off?

Even it is a widget issue, it still does not explain why the Default option (eg in Favorits does not work), especially as I only use the stock Contact and Email apps, with no similar app downloaded.

[Rickard]

After you have created some direct dials, drag and drop them on each other and you'll get a folder that you can tap to access them. That way you don't need to clutter the screen.

I can forward your feedback regarding the stock apps and widget but i don't know if there will be any change regarding those.

[nirseth37]

Never thought of that Richard, and certainly works though will never be as intuitive as a proper Speed dial (where oh where has that gone, especially as once there but not in 4.2 upwards!), especially as Favorites is also almost usless... thanks for forwarding feedback re Top Contacts but is look more and more like it is no longer supported as last version is almost a year old (shame as the initial beta.life.contacts was very good, followed by the poorer Top Contacts and now basically nothing)