Hi all,

Got this phone yesterday on impulse and after so many years of being used to a keyboard, I'm really struggling with the touch keypad!! I've been searching for ages for a decent phone that had a keypad but when going into CPW yesterday, I really struggled to find one.

I spent a good half hour in there deciding whether to choose the Wildfire or stick to what I know and go for the SE X10 mini, as that had a keypad. But both the salesman and OH convinced me to 'try something new'.

I do 'like' the phone, although am finding it a bit fiddly and keep hitting the search touch button when trying to text. I've only got small hands so the phone is a bit wider than what I'm used to. However I do like the way my contacts sync with FB (and saves me trying to find photos to link to my contacts)

Am also finding the apps a bit naff, compared to iTunes - any recommendations for apps/games? (Preferably free?)

Also is there anyway to sort my photos into any kind of order? My last SE sorted them into month, which was quite handy if I knew when it was taken.

I guess it'll take some getting used to, have got it for 2 years!! Just dont think I'm appreciating it fully at the moment.

I got one of these 2 days ago, previously I had a G1 and then a Samsung Galaxy Portal for 1 day before returning it because it was crap.

Personally I love the Wildfire, yes the keyboard takes getting used to but then again I am a veteran of using the G1 on screen keyboard (couldnt be bothered sliding the hard keyboard out alot of the time).

My wife was a keyboard addict and on impulse went for a LG Intouch Max which she returned and swapped for a Wildfire two weeks ago (prompting me to get one). She now loves the on screen keyboard.

My recommendation is persevere with it .

Try calibrating the screen again, or download an alternative virtual keyboard. I stuck a multi-touch one on my Desire which I sort of prefer to the default one, but not entirely conviced after a week.

Texting on screen always takes a bit of getting used to, but you can always turn the phone 90° to get a (bigger) landscape keyboard that's eaasier to press the correct letter on. That said, I tend to type mostly in portrait, hitting roughly in the right place and the keyboard software chooses probably about 95% of the time the correct word for me, whether I've pressed the letters correctly or not. I find if you learn to "trust" it, typing becomes a whole lot easier.


Most are free. Tell us what you've used from iTunes and we'll give you an alternative for Android. Failing that, there are tonnes of Desire/Android threads that have list upon list of recommended apps.


Not with the stock app, but there are plenty of gallery apps that allow you to do this (and more).

Try an app called ThickButtons. It replaces the default keyboard. When installed it makes the letters it thinks you are going to need BIGGER so they are easier to pick.

As soon as you can (because it is closed again at the moment) try the swype beta. It really is a work of genius and, if it ever becomes available in the marketplace, I would happily pay whatever they want to charge.

Standard Android keyboards aren't the best but swype allows me to ''type' faster than any other phone I have ever had. I can see this becoming THE standard keyboard on all touch screens eventually.

I too am a Swype convert and now love texting as I found it a chore before.

I text for no reason now.

I calbrated the phone and I can text a bit better on it now but whilst before I could walk and text, I have to stop! Am also finding it hard to reach the alternative words bit with my thumb cos of my small hands and find it a bit annoying that if I want to put an ! or ? on the end of my words that I have to keep going into the arrow bit, whereas I would have quite liked it to recognise that I use ! or ? more than an @ sign.

I mainly used a few games, like Bejeweled nnd paper toss (have noticed an alternative) and started using vouchercloud and a walk/jog/run app. Quite interested in a photo editor app but not sure which ones are good and maybe any camera type apps.

Figured out the GPS today but tried to download the text-voice app but it killed my battery after 82% downloaded.

ETA - are there also any apps out there to be able to either seperate the conversations into 'inbox' and 'sent' and to maybe change the colour of the message screen box?

ETA - are there also any apps out there to be able to either seperate the conversations into 'inbox' and 'sent' and to maybe change the colour of the message screen box?[/quote]

Try ChompSMS its free and has some very nice features for txt'ing

I wonder when, or even if, this handset will be available on O2 any time soon?

I have this phone on O2 but upgraded in the CPW not O2 shop. Wasn't aware I could do this until a couple years ago.

I am thinking of getting a Wildfire, is there any major issues with it that anyone has found. I am still using a N95 but my wife has a 3GS so I am used to the touch keypad for text. I think at £15 a month this sounds like a really good phone

the only slight downside is the display which is not high resolution. Don't get me wrong it is adeqaute and more than meets my needs but some text can appear a bit fuzzy and blocky, however this is just minor to me..

For what I pay I am very very happy with it, it has a very smooth interface and responsive screen. The size is also very convenient.

And thanks to you I popped into the Carphone Warehouse this afternoon for a look at the handset.....and ended up buying one

I've been looking a alot of various handsets for the past 2-3 months and never been able to make up my mind. The problems being the high cost of the hansets I like and an unhelpful and difficult to deal with O2. They just refuse to negotiate any extra on their contracts.

So I've ended up buying a pay-as-you-go Wildfire which I'll use with my O2 simplicity SIM. For the price it seems a decent comprimise on the top-spec (£450+) smartphones out there.

First impressions are quite favourable. I like the feel and look of the phone. Fits nicely in the hand and in my pocket. ( a phone I've been reading about alot is the Galaxy S and it seemed huge hanset in terms of length)

It's going to take a bit of getting used to and will probably take me a fortnight to set everything up properly. For such a capable phone.the user guide in the box is quite pathetic. However I've downloaded, (to my laptop) a more detailed manual from the HTC website.

HTC Wildfire-user manual

The manual is actually on the memory card supplied with the phone, as I discovered yesterday, after doing the same thing you did! The sync software is also pre-installed on the memory card so you can copy it to your computer, if you haven't already found that.

Thanks for telling me, it would have taken a few days for me to discover on my own.