Using Swirl Connect Help Topics
- Connection error: I'm having trouble connecting to Swirl from my mobile phone. What can I do?
- Location: How do you locate me / how can you tell where I am?
- Quick Talk / Push to talk: I'm trying to phone a friend through the My Friends menu, but the call isn't being placed?
- Photos: photos added to places with Swirl's built-in capture appear low resolution?
- Swirl Forum: Swirl on Your Phone
Connection error: I'm having trouble connecting to Swirl from my mobile phone. What can I do?
An active internet connection must be available in order to use Swirl Connect. This connection differs from a WAP connection you probably have set up already on your phone. Most manufacturers and providers will set up your internet connection for you, automatically and free of charge. This is usually implemented via a text message from the carrier or manufacturer.
Before contacting your manufacturer or carrier, you can check to see if you have a suitable Access Point Name (APN) configured on your phone. An APN is a gateway that connects you to your carrier's internet services. In most phones, the APN settings can be found in the Tools or Settings sections. For example:
- On Java-enabled Sony-Ericsson phones, you can find the APN settings under Settings | Connectivity | Settings for Java.
- On Nokia Series 60 phones, they are found in Tools | Settings | Connection | Access Point.
- On Nokia Series 40 phones, they can be found in Settings | Configuration | Personal Configuration Settings.
Some sample APN's used in the USA are "internet2.voicestream.com" for T-Mobile, "proxy" for AT&T, and "isp.cingular" for Cingular. It's common for the word "internet" to appear somewhere in the APN. If your settings don't look correct, you have three options to proceed. The first two options involve getting your internet settings from the folks who have them: the phone manufacturer or the cellular carrier.
Option 1: Visit your phone manufacturer's web site. You can generally find setup help in the support section of these web sites. Larger manufacturers make this information readily accessible.
- Nokia
- Motorola (No support for U.S. carriers)
- Siemens-BenQ
- Sony-Ericsson
Option 2: Contact your carrier / provider, and request that the "internet settings" be sent to your phone.
Option 3: Find the settings for your carrier, and apply them manually to your phone. Depending on your phone model and carrier, this could be a snap, or an hour of frustration. You'll need to consult your phone's manual to determine how to apply the settings to your phone. The folks behind Opera Mini (a fine piece of software) put together a handy menu that you can use to find your settings.
Location: How do you locate me / how can you tell where I am?
Note: we respect your privacy and safety. This information is only used how you want it to be used, and by whom you want to use it. Location information is only available to your friends, and only when you permit it.
- Explicit location, a.k.a. onboard support: If your phone supports the Location API, your carrier supports positioning, and your settings permit us to do so, we can locate you based on your distance from cell phone towers.
- Trusted location, a.k.a. shared support: We can also determine your position in relation to another device's known position. For example, if you make a connection to a Swirl Hotspot device, we know that you're near that Hotspot. If you make a connection to someone whose phone supports explicit location, we know that your locations are similar.
- Referential location: We can also make inferences based on recent explicit and trusted locations, as well as manual locations.
- Manual: The simplest of them all. We know where you are because you tell us.
Push to talk: I'm trying to phone a friend through the My Friends menu, but the call isn't being placed?
Not all phones support the Quick Talk (similar to push to talk) functionality in Swirl Connect, and not all members have Quick Talk enabled. In phones that do support it, there are varying degrees of support. If your phone fully supports the option, your friend will automatically be dialed, provided he/she has Quick Talk enabled. Some phones might require Swirl to be stopped before the phone call can be made. If this is the case, you'll see a Swirl message saying as much, and as soon as your phone is shut down, the call will be made. If nothing is happening, chances are that your phone does not support this functionality, and what's more, your phone isn't informing Swirl that it doesn't support this functionality. If that's the case, you'll just have to dial the old-fashioned way. Quick Talk is enabled for all member accounts opened using regular registration (not Quick Signup).
Photos: photos added to places with Swirl's built-in capture appear low resolution?
Swirl's built-in photo capture can only snap photos at the resolution permitted by the phone in a 3rd- party application, which is almost always lower than the resolution you'll get by using your phone's camera independently of Swirl. Some Sony-Ericsson phones will allow for high-resolution capture, and some Nokia phones allow for medium-resolution capture, but most will default to roughly 120x160 pixels. This amount is then stretched when uploaded to Swirl, exacerbating the appearance problem. If you find that your photos aren't sharp enough, use your phone's onboard camera directly (not through Swirl), and then upload them to the placemark via your PC. If you've checked in, head to 'My Placemarks' in the 'My Activity' menu, select the place, and use the upload dialog to submit your photo.