Speed Dialing

Before I get started, I owe you an apology. I have been using this feature of Gmail so long I nearly forgot I was using it. It wasn’t until a few days ago that I was reading my email via a web browser on my cell phone that I thought “I don’t think I told the Gmail Podcast world about speed dialing on the phone.”

OK, I made that term “speed dialing” up for this feature, but I think it’s a pretty accurate way to represent the ability to use numbers instead of scrolling down and pressing OK or ENTER on the link you want to use.

Let me explain with an example of what I’m talking about…

I’ve got a Samsung Blackjack SmartPhone running Windows Mobile 6, but this tip should work fine from any mobile device with a browser. From time to time I use Internet Explorer to read my Gmail when I’m on the go. When reading messages, especially long ones with lots of included text, it can be cumbersome to scroll ot the bottom of the screen to click on “Archive”. Instead, think of those options with numbers 1-7 next to them. If you like, write them down until you’ve got a few key ones memorized. Like:

1: Reply
2: Reply to all
3: Forward
4: Archive
5: Mark unread
6: Add Star
7: Delete

So… you’re reading your message and want to archive it. Don’t bother scrolling down past links in the messages, past lots of text, through the options at the bottom until your highlight lands on “Archive”, just press “4”. Done. Next message. You want to delete it, press 7.

Keep in mind that the numbered options here do not correspond to those on the Java applet, except 7 – by coincidence only.

Now, go out and read, archive, reply, and delete your email quickly from your phone’s web browser.

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