LG Dare Tricks
Posted on Jul 19, 2008 by Rob in All, News, Older, Review
34 Comments
(UPDATE: 12/14/08 – Folks, I no longer own a Dare. I haven’t in quite a while. If you have questions pertaining to the Dare I would highly recommend checking out one of the Dare user forums on the web. I am a BlackBerry user now and plan on staying that way for a long time to come. If you want to chat BlackBerry feel free to contact me or hit me up on Twitter, but please, no more Dare questions to my email.)
It’s been a few weeks since I bought my LG Dare and I have discovered quite a few fun tricks with the phone. There is a fan site LG-Dare.com that has been a great resource for lesser known tweaks and I highly recommend it to Dare users. I wanted to share some of tricks I’ve learned. Some may be applied to other phones as well but most are for Dare users.
- Custom Web Browsing – Most PDA/Smartphone/Feature Phones come with an HTML browser that makes surfing the web fun and quick. One of the biggest downfalls to these mobile browsers, besides lack of flash support, is the simple bookmarking systems they utilize. Verizon has a start page for the Dare’s browser that is great of you like a lot of Verizon services and choices, but if you want something custom you are limited to the text based favorites system they have. After looking at some other browsers I decided to build my own start page for my Dare. (the start page link no longer goes to a custom start page. sorry, but too many were using it on their phones and were killing my bandwidth. You will now find a zip file with the parts needed to build your own start page) Using simple HTML I was able to build a web page that displays my daily favorites in an organized and visual manner. After setting it as my default start page I have found my browsing to me more fun, faster and easier. I also created a second choice using smaller icons. I found the first version looked great but having to scroll every time became annoying. The second version smaller icons so it displays on the Dare’s browser on one screen. If your interested in having me build one of these start pages for you I can do them for a $20 donation to Design Offering. Please email me or find me on AIM and I’ll try and get it for you as soon as possible.
- Custom Start Screen – The Dare has both a main menu (located at the bottom of the screen) and a shortcut menu (located to the right of the screen). The shortcut menu has some neat tricks. You have the choice to either show a small tab to it or hide it altogether. If hidden all you have to do is tap the main screen to bring up the shortcut menu. You can also drag icons from your shortcut menu to the Dare’s main screen where they can be dragged around and placed anywhere. This gives you a desktop experience unlike any other phone I have used.
- Easy Wallpapers & Ringtones – While you can use BitPim to manage your pictures and ringtones you can also email them to your phone as well. All you have to do is send your formatted wallpaper (240×400) or ringtone (MP3-30sec. or less) to YOUR-TEN-DIGIT-NUMBER@vzwpix.com and they will show up as a text message and give the option to save to your phone. Images and tones can not be too large for this method to work but I have successfully emailed myself quite a few.
- Voice Text Messages – If you click the small face icon while reading a text message a female voice will read it to you. The cadence and enunciation is actually very nice and is a useful tool while on the road.
- Browser Zoom – As with many mobile browsers, the Dare allows you to zoom web pages. A little known feature is that the volume rocker will zoom in and out while browsing and the camera button will give you a full page zoom.
There are so many other great options to this phone that I could spend all day typing up lists. If you have a neat trick you would like to share leave a comment!
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34 Responses to “LG Dare Tricks”
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madame
15. Aug, 2008
Thanks so much for the post. I have been looking for some useful customizations to add to my phone. Your collection of links on the custom start page are also very nice :)
Rob
15. Aug, 2008
Glad you found it useful. :)
Tina
29. Aug, 2008
I love this page! You rock my socks! I would love for you to help me out with my dare I just got it today!
Rob
29. Aug, 2008
Feel free to contact me with any questions. I don’t own a Dare anymore as I went to Blackberry but I may still be able to help.
George`
02. Sep, 2008
Another very neat trick that the camera has is the ability to take slow motion video. Simply go into video mode, and on the menu to the right choose high speed then record. When you play it back it will be in slow motion. The quality of the video is a lacking but still presents a very cool effect upon playback. Looks cool when taping something dropping (like a pencil off a table). Have fun
william
14. Sep, 2008
thanks for the tips, that one for zooming in & out on webpages is quite useful!
Rob
14. Sep, 2008
Glad you found it helpful :)
carlyg
28. Oct, 2008
regarding the desktop. Does anyone know how to put the dail pad or contact list on your desktop for easier access rather than the small icons at the bottom?
Joe
11. Nov, 2008
Rob, will you please contact me regarding creating a start page with favorite icons?
Rob
12. Nov, 2008
You can contact me via my “about” page and filling out the form.
http://www.coffeedharma.com/about/
Matthew
17. Nov, 2008
any idea how to get rid of the icons you drop on the main screen?
Rob
17. Nov, 2008
Just drag them back to the shortcut tab to remove them from the home screen. If you have hidden the shortcut tab you’ll need to make it viewable again first.
Jesse
20. Nov, 2008
If your phone is locked with the password anyone can still access your photos, videos and contacts! This is how: If one of your emergency contacts has an email address listed you can access the picture/video messaging via the “incase of emergency” (ICE) icon.
Ashley
02. Dec, 2008
I am trying to set messaging alerts for each contact. Like if Sue sent a text message it would play the song I have set as her ringer. And if Joe sent a message it would play the song set for him. Any advice? I heard through the rumor mill it could be done and I cant seem to figure it out. Thanks!
~Ashley
Rob
03. Dec, 2008
Sorry, it can’t be done on the Dare
Rob
03. Dec, 2008
Folks, I no longer own a Dare. I haven’t in quite a while. If you have questions pertaining to the Dare I would highly recommend checking out one of the Dare user forums on the web. I am a BlackBerry user now and plan on staying that way for a long time to come. If you want to chat BlackBerry feel free to contact me or hit me up on Twitter, but please, no more Dare questions to my email.
Ashley
03. Dec, 2008
Thanks for your reply! Hope you enjoy your Blackberry.
Marco
26. Dec, 2008
how do you zoom using the camera….?
thanks
Unholy Dangue
17. Jan, 2009
it’s funky but easier-than-expected and clever: when the cam is on, scroll up or down on the image. it doesn’t zoom much, though
bailey
20. Feb, 2009
how do u get the lg dare main menu icons ( the four dots) onto the home screen
Rob
21. Feb, 2009
I’m not sure. As I noted in the article above, I no longer own a Dare (and haven’t for quite a while now) so questions are best posted elsewhere.
Larry
09. Mar, 2009
How do you make the caller ID picture bigger so when someone calls you can see the pic. It is so small right now that you can’t make it out
Thanks
Laary
Stella
14. Apr, 2009
********If you are looking at your pictures and you place your finger on a picture foro about 3-5 seconds a box will appear that lets you choose weather you want to set the pcture as your background or delete it!*********
Kayla
18. Apr, 2009
For your # 2 – custom start screen… it says that you can drag things onto the screen.. and i have done that. I just want to remove one but I cant seem to figure o ut how to get it off of the main screen!! Help!!
moe
19. Apr, 2009
Kayla, to remove your icons from the screen make sure your shortcut bin is visible and then all you have to do is drag them back onto the shortcut bin.
hellen keller
22. Apr, 2009
i just wanted to leave a message because this guy is getting mad about all the replies and he doesnt even have a dare anymore. i think it is hilarious. and i just had to get in on the fun.
Rob
23. Apr, 2009
I don’t get mad about leaving comments. Please feel free to leave as many comments as you like (as long as they pertain to the article). I just said not to send me emails with Dare questions because I no longer own one and don’t know what has changed on them in the past year.
nick b
04. May, 2009
how can i make my dare lock with a password automatically
Sarah
29. May, 2009
How do you do number two? I would love that feature!
Casey
12. Jun, 2009
why did you switch to blackberry?? i had the black berry pearl..but i really did not like it..the LG dare is the phone i absolutley ADORE..but thank you for your tips..i knew some but not all.
Rob
12. Jun, 2009
I switched because the Dare is very limited in what it can do. I needed a true smartphone for my business. BlackBerry is simply the best, most reliable smartphone on the market for business and multi-tasking. I had a Pearl as well for a while. I liked it but it wasn’t the best example of the BlackBerry experience. The full keyboard models are much nicer and easier to use.
angelica
17. Jun, 2009
is it possible that the dare has updates? instead of having the menu black and white can it be any other colors?
amy
20. Jun, 2009
Hi, I was wondering if anyone knew how to once you drag the icons from the short cut menu to the homescreen is there any way to remove them from the homescreen without resetting the whole shortcut menu?
Lynn
27. Jun, 2009
I’m sure this is a silly quesiton, but when I access My Verizon and am prompted to type in my numerical password… how do you get a keypad or access something on the LG Dare to type in the numbers? I swear I have tried every button and menu on the phone while on that screen.
Thanks!