Address Uno

Introduction

Address Uno is an address book application for Palm handhelds. It's a variation of Palm's own Address Book application that adds two badly needed features: support for one-handed navigation and sorting by first name.

Studies have shown that every 23.4 minutes a new address book application for Palm Pilots is written. Among this vast variety Address Uno distinguishes itself by doing as little as possible. Uno is based on the same source code as Palm's Address application, so everyone already knows how to use it. To this familiar base, Address Uno adds the following features:

1. One-handed navigation. At last, it's possible to look up phone numbers while holding the Palm with just one hand. This frees up your other hand for more important activities, such as holding the wheel.
2. Sorting by first name. Adam and Eve didn't have to remember last names, and now neither do you.

Using the one-handed navigation feature

• Use the Up and Down scroll buttons to move the selection among the contacts.
• Press the Address button to view the details of the currently selected contact. Press this button again to return to the contacts list screen.
• Use the Tasks and Notes buttons to move quickly between contacts. Pressing the Notes button moves the selection to the first contact that starts with the next letter (e.g., if the currently selected contact begins with the letter G, then pressing the Notes button will jump to the first contact that begins with the letter H). Pressing the Tasks button jumps one letter back.  These buttons wrap around, so for example if you press the Tasks button while at the top of the contacts list then the selection will jump to the first contact that starts with the letter Z.
• Press the Date Book button to cycle between categories.
• To exit the application, press the Date Book button for at least one second before releasing it.

Other Features

Sort by first name

To sort the contacts by first name, start the usual Preferences screen. In addition to Last Name, First Name and Company, Last Name, it has a new option: First Name, last Name.

Launch using the Address button

The first time you run Address Uno, it will offer to make itself the default application that starts when you press the Address button. This will make using Address Uno truly a single-handed experience, because you will be able to start it with a single keypress even if the Palm is turned off.
Whichever choice you make at this point, you can always change it later from the Uno Preferences dialog.

Uno Preferences dialog

There is an additional menu item under theOptions menu: Uno Preferences. Use this dialog to set additional preferences for Address Uno:

• Choose whether pressing the Address key should launch Address Uno or the regular Address application.

Compatibility

Address Uno is compatible with devices running PalmOS 3.5 and PalmOS 4.x, and has been used with handhelds such as: Palm Vx, Palm 500/505, various Handspring Visors, Sony Cliés, and the Handera 330.
Note that on devices with PalmOS 3.5 beaming won't work, but you can always use the regular Address Book application for that.

History

Version 1.0 – 9/23/2002
Initial version.

Versions 1.01 to 1.03 – 9/25/2002
Minor bug fixes.

Version 1.1 – 9/28/2002

• The Date Book key cycles between categories.
• Can automatically make the Address key launch Address Uno.
• Improved interaction with masked and hidden entries.

Version 1.2 – 10/11/2002

• The letter-navigation keys (Tasks and Notes) wrap around.
  
• Pressing the Date Book key for over a second exits the application.
  
• Support for the high-resolution modes of the Sony Clié and Handera handhelds.
• The Date Book key can no longer be used to jump directly to the letter Z.
• Fixed bugs related to the handling of international characters.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused inconsistency between the fonts in Address Uno and the built-in Address application on devices with PalmOS 3.5.

And Finally...

To get the latest version of Address Uno, go to http://www.hurvitz.org/software/AddressUno/.

Email me with questions, suggestions and bugs.

Oren Hurvitz
October, 2002