Placing calls

Users can place calls from various views within Dialer.

They can place calls from:

  • One of the top-level contact views (Recents, Contacts, or Favorites)
  • A contact’s detail view
  • The Dialpad

Users can also select the Search control on the app bar to find a contact and place a call. Outside of Dialer, users can also place calls from missed-call notifications in the Notification Center. To learn more, visit How the Notification Center works.


Placing calls from a top-level contact view

In any of the top-level lists or grids (Recents, Contacts, or Favorites), a user can select a contact’s avatar, the contact name, or the area near these items to place a call to the contact’s preferred number. When placing a call and throughout the call, Dialer displays the in-call status screen, which shows call status and provides options for managing the call.

Placing a call from the contacts screen
Users can place a call by selecting anywhere near the contact’s avatar or name
Side-by-side view of contact list and Favorites grid
Users can place calls from any view that shows contacts in a list or grid, including Recents and Favorites – in all cases, selecting the contact will start the call

Placing calls from contact's details

A user browsing Contacts or Recents can select a contact’s details icon to see and place calls to any of the contact’s available phone numbers.

Flow of contacts list to contact's detail view
Selecting the details icon to the right of the contact name opens a lower-level details view

The detail view of a contact displays all phone numbers for that contact, so the user can choose which one to call. When a user selects one of the listed phone numbers, Dialer places a call to that number and displays the in-call status screen to show ongoing call status and allow the user to manage the call.


Placing calls from the Dialpad

Users can select the Dialpad tab on the app bar to view the Dialpad. There, users can enter a phone number, and backspace as needed to make corrections. As users enter a partial number, Dialer continually updates and displays an alphabetical list of contacts whose numbers match so far. At any point, users can specify the call recipient in either of the following ways:

  • Scroll the list and select a contact to place the call
  • Complete the phone number from the keypad and select the call button to place the call
Contact names are displayed for known contacts
To place a call, users can either select a contact from the list that appears as they enter digits, or they can enter a complete phone number and select the call button (circled in green in this example)

When Dialer places the call, it displays the in-call status screen to show call status and allow the user to manage the call.