Sign - Gesture-based Speed Dial

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Sign is a unique, gesture based speed dialer for Android which lets you call or text your friends by simply drawing a gesture (signing) directly from your home screen.

Unlike other speed dial options such as direct dial icons or quick dial widgets, you don’t have to worry about accidentally calling somebody just because you inadvertently bump your phone’s screen. Sign is still extremely fast and easy to use, and best of all, you decide how to activate a text or phone call. Simply assign a gesture to any contact. To make a call or text, all you have to do is activate the widget and Sign right from your home screen. Simple and secure, it’s easy to use without even looking at your phone to find contacts or phone numbers.

We developed an enhanced recognition engine to provide a more accurate, consistent, and reliable system to recognize the gestures you assign to your contacts. Sign lets you assign single OR multi-stroke “Signs” to the people you call or text most often.

Watch a quick demonstration of how to setup and use Sign here:
YouTube

Link directly to the market using these QR codes from your phone:
The full version ($1.99) has unlimited Signs:



The free version, Sign Lite, has a limit of 3 Signs:





Additional screenshots:

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We released our first major update to Sign last night. Here’s what changed:


Fixed EAS/3rd Party Contact Syncing
The primary purpose of the update was to make Sign sync with Exchange Active Sync (EAS)/3rd Party contacts. Previously Sign only synced with Google account contacts.



Added User Option to Select Call or Text as Default Action
This feature, which is included in the settings, allows the user to select the default action when they open Sign – either Call or Text. This should to reduce the amount of times the user has to switch between call or text, especially for people who are heavy texters. The previous default was for Sign to call the contact.


Sign Works as an App, Can be Added to Docks
Another major feature which was added was to make Sign work as an app and as a widget. Sign was previously only available as a widget to emphasize the user interaction with the homescreen instead of “opening” an app. The main reason for changing this functionality was to allow users who use alt-homes/launchers which include docks such as Launcher Pro/ADW Launcher to add Sign to their docks.
Defaults to Company Name if No First/Last Name
A final feature that is included in this update is in the earlier version, contacts which included a phone number, but not a first/last name would not show up in the contact list. With the update, if the contact does not include a first/last name, but does include a company name, Sign automatically pulls the company name displays it in the contact list along with the phone number.



Minor UI/Graphics Tweaks
Finally, we included some other minor changes to the UI.


We are excited about this update and would love to hear your comments and suggestions for future updates.



Thanks!
SA

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We received our first official review.

We’re really excited about the recent review of Sign from the team at Best Android Apps Review, a great resource for discovering new apps. Some highlights from the review!

“Saves plenty of time and effort”

“Faster and more efficient”

“beautiful implementation”

Go read the full review of Sign and other apps at their website: Best Android Apps Review.

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Just wanted to post an update with a couple of reviews that we missed earlier.

This earlier review by mic_888 on xda was from shortly after the release in July.

xda developers

For those not familiar with the xda Developers website/forum, its another great resource (like PPC Geeks!) for all things Android and Windows Mobile. Definitely check it out, especially if you have any questions or problems with your Android or Windows Mobile device.

Also, Android Phone Geek posted a great review of Sign last week, that we somehow missed. David Wasserman, aka The Android Phone Geek, does a great job of providing keen insight into the Android community and we’re really happy that he took the time to try out Sign and provide a fantastic review.

Anyways, wanted to pass these along and thank both mic_888 and David for their reviews.

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We were finally able to get the graphics incorporated and updated in the market in the last few days. In addition to revising the graphics, we also added a feature to go directly to the homescreen after a call is ended. Hopefully this will prevent accidental misdials from the Call Log screen.

We aren't done adding features - we're going to implement some user control over the recognition, allow the user to save multiple Signs for each number to improve the recognition, add email, add the ability to assign gestures to apps or other shortcuts, etc. As always, we welcome suggestions, but these are just some of the features we are going to be working on over the next several weeks/months.

Here's a few screenshots - its tough to get the timing down to get the actual "Signs" in the screenshot, but there's a few.

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Just a heads up that Joe at PocketNow had a recent video review about using gestures in Android. He hits on Sign at about the 5 minute mark.

PocketNow

We're continuing to work on adding features like making the Sign determine whether its a call or text and making Sign open other applications, so keep an eye out for updates.

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The most recent update to Sign is now available, and its faster than ever. Version 2.3.6 speeds up the time to launch the app and also allows Sign to be opened/used even when other apps are already open. With the optional "Quick Startup" option enabled, Sign can be accessed through the notification bar at all times. Quick Startup also means Sign opens immediately - no hesitation.

We know people are concerned about battery life issues and having processes running in the background slowing the phone down; however, we specifically designed the Sign Quick Startup to prevent impacts to the battery life or phone performance. In fact, our testing indicates that Quick Startup doesn't use any additional battery power or have any impact on the phone's performance.

We've also updated the Settings menu and tweaked graphics to improve the overall appearance, as well as fixed some reported bugs with the assigned gestures database which was causing issues on some phones.

Give it a try - the Quick Startup makes a big difference in the time to activate the app and its very convenient to have Sign accessible even when other apps are open.

We still have a lot of updates planned, so stay tuned. If you have any comments or issues, just shoot me an email at chris@simplyapplied.com.

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In celebration of the 4th of July, we've temporarily reduced the price from $1.99 to $0.99. The lower price is currently available in the Android Market and we're waiting for approval from the Amazon Appstore.

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Sign is still on sale for $0.99 in the Android Market and Amazon Appstore. However, in an effort to make Sign even better for our users, we're considering removing the 3 contact limit from the free version (Sign Lite) and making it ad-supported. Let us know what you think.

Click Here to vote.

Thanks!

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Sign is one of Gizmodo's Deals of the Day today. Pick it up for $0.99.

Also, we're going to be doing a cool giveaway in the coming weeks, so follow us on Twitter @simplyapplied to keep tab.

Finally, we still want to hear from Sign Lite users on whether they want the 3 contact limit removed. Vote here.