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There are many contacts in which I have more than one phone number listed. I want to call the default number of the contact directly without going to the Infinity view and select the number to call. How to do this?

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As there are several dialer apps around, a 3rd party app might offer this feature to you. Would you consider that a solution -- or would you prefer to work with the built-in apps? (of course, if possible that is preferable most times -- so my question should rather read: are you open to an approach involving 3rd party apps?) – Izzy Jul 31 '12 at 16:04
Yes, Im ok if this can be done with a third party app... but the few apps that I tried on the market were not able to do this and I was under the impression that this should be a part of any phone's default contact app... otherwise whats the use of designating a number as default if You cannot make calls to it directly? – Venkatesh Jul 31 '12 at 17:27
I fully agree with you on that -- but this won't help you at all, I guess. There are a few apps on the Playstore which look promising. I'll sum up my findings in a separate answer -- though I cannot promise they are fully solving your request, they might come close. – Izzy Jul 31 '12 at 18:02

5 Answers

up vote 2 down vote accepted

As 3rd party apps are acceptable, there are some available which look promising. Not sure, though, that they completely fulfill the request, they should still be worth a look:

  • GO Contacts EX -- from the well-known GO-Team, and with an excellent rating. Feature list mentions two things: "Smart dialing" (just type a part of the number, and it will be found) -- and "speed dial". The former is not what you look for, the latter is probably something like "favorites on 0 to 9".
  • DW Contacts & Phone & Dialer promises the dialer "has many options to make it exactly to your wishes"
  • exDialer offers "speed dial" and promises a lot of flexibility
  • Dialer One is also worth a try -- feature-rich, high rated and regularly updated
  • Angel Dialer seems to be highly configurable (and again is high rated)
  • Eir Fast Dialer -- as the name suggest, this one promises fast dialing, and seems a promising candate indeed

As said, I cannot promise any of those will do exactly what you wish. But having checked many of them, these seem to be the best candidates. Personally, I'm not initiating too many calls, so I'm still contend with the default dialer...

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Thanks a lot... Dialer One has this feature... If you have a default number for a contact, you can touch the name of the contact and it will directly dial the number!!! Exactly what I wanted!! – Venkatesh Aug 1 '12 at 14:12
Ah, thank you for the confirmation! I thought I remembered that, but was not sure (I used DialerOne on my old phone when it still had stock 2.1 -- more than a year ago). – Izzy Aug 1 '12 at 14:42
up vote 6 down vote

You can create a "Direct Dial" shortcut on your home screen to do this:

  1. On Android 1.x through 2.x (and on some replacement Launcher apps on newer OS versions) long-press on empty home screen space, and select Shortcuts -> Direct dial. On Android 3.x and above, open the app tray, and swipe to Widgets. Then find the Direct dial widget and drag/drop it to the home screen.
  2. Select the contact's phone number from the list.

Now by tapping on the created shortcut you will call the number directly, as opposed to having to select the number from drop-down.

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Thanks for your answer, but by creating a direct dial shortcut on the home screen, I can create a shortcut to call only that particular contact. However, I wish call the default number of any contact directly instead of opening the contact details and choosing the number to dial – Venkatesh Jul 31 '12 at 14:14
up vote 3 down vote

Open the contact and:

  • Option 1: long press the desired phone number. A pop up will appear. Select Set Default.
  • Option 2: press menu button and select Mark as default.

My phone uses Android 4.0.3.

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up vote 0 down vote

In my rooted LG Optimus One (P500) I did the following in my stock contact application:

  1. Added an existing contact with more than one phone number to my favourite list.
  2. Opened that contact and long pressed on the phone number which I would like to make it as default. This is not required, if there a number is already assigned as default.
  3. In my favourites list, I see the contact name and a button with phone icon. Touching the phone icon now calls the default number.

This is also verified with default contact app of Sony Ericsson SK17i running 4.0.3 (stock and unrooted)

The same can also be done without adding to favourites. Long press of the contact in the contact list opens up a menu. In that menu, touching "call contact" calls the default number.

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up vote 0 down vote

I am quite surprised this has not been said here yet...

You can slide the list item of your contact to the right to directly call the default number. Also, you can slide it left to send a message to that number.

To set the default, long press on the number and "mark as default" or via the menu button, in the desired contact view.

I saw this on Android 2.2 and 2.3 on my Samsung Galaxy Fit. I'm not sure the same dialer app is used on other phones...

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