When it comes to quickly and easily messaging your favorite contacts, there are sometimes that easy isn’t the right word for it. There can be a lot of taps and clicks to get you into the correct application to send that text message or email. There are a few ways to do it without, but that requires more attention than sending a text may need, and that can get frustrating.
Luckily, in the world of Android, where just about anything is possible (thanks Kevin Garnett), there’s a solution available to that problem. Enter Veer. Veer is a revolutionary way to interact with your most popular or important contacts in a breeze.
First and foremost, Veer is a widget of sorts. Not one that sits on your homescreen, taking up wasted space until you’re ready to use it, but a widget nonetheless. This widget allows for extremely easy access to your customized contact list, and makes day to day interactions seamless.
Before getting into how awesome Veer is, let’s take a look at what goes into getting it set up to your liking. Once Veer is downloaded to your device from the Play Store, and you open it for the first time, you’ll be walked through the set up. The set up screens describe how Veer works and walks you through the process of getting your contacts in the right places.
After going through the walk through, there are some variables that you may want to pin-point before just picking random contacts. Some factors that you’ll want to take into account are:
- Who do you contact the most?
- How do you contact your favorite contacts?
- How many different ways of communication do you use when interacting?
Once you’ve narrowed your list down, and gotten your most contacted set of friends/family/coworkers, you can get Veer rolling. Before continuing, we’ll need to make note of the fact that there IS an In-App Purchase for Veer. This allows you to add more contacts to the list, along with other features that Veer has to offer.
With the “basic” version of Veer, you will be able to add five contacts to your list, and have the ability to use these modes of communication:
- SMS Text Messaging
- Phone Call
- Browse
- Navigate
However, Veer has many more options available through an In-App Purchase. Once purchased, you will unlock the following:
- Hangouts
- Telegram
- skype
- Viber
- Tango
Within each of those unlocked options, there are sub-categories such as Video Call, Call, etc. This allows you to literally contact your favorites via almost any messaging service that’s available on the Play Store right now.
Now you’ll want to head over to the configuration panel within the Veer app. From here, you can pick and choose the Favorite Contacts that you want to show up in the Veer application. You will also be able to set up which “Actions” you’ll be using to communicate with each of your contacts. You can also manually re-order the contact list, allowing for you to pick the best lineup that suits you.
In addition to being able to manually configure and reorder your Favorite Contacts, you can also do the same with your Favorite Actions. While you won’t be able to set the “top” Action for each individual contact, you will be able to just add it to the list. What you will be able to customize is when your contact has different phone numbers or emails. You can set Veer to select whichever point of contact you use the most.
Once you’ve got Veer set up to your liking, and have everything customized the way that you need it to be, you can get started. Hit the home button your device, and you’ll see a half-circle hovering on the right hand side of your display. When on your home screen, there’s a slight highlight around the Veer widget, just letting you know where it’s at. When you’re within other apps, such as Chrome or Inbox, the highlight goes away, so that it will stay out of your way of interacting with other applications.
Swiping left on the Veer widget will open the widget, and reveal your customized contact list, allowing you to easily interact with whomever you selected. Within the widget, you can scroll left to right to select which contact you are trying to interact with. From here, you’ll see the customized Actions and they will either be highlighted, or not. When the Action is highlighted, that means that you have information added for that contact to be able to interact in whichever ways necessary.
Additionally within the widget, there is a bit more information about each contact. You can find the name and any other information about the contact that has be inputted into the contact info within your device. An example of this is if you have any business information in the contact card about where your contact currently works.
Also within the widget is a button to take you back to the Veer app to allow you to change the customization options. You can also head back to the Veer app at anytime to change anything in regards to your contacts if you need to do so. For example, if you don’t want to use the default contact picture that was already in your contacts application, you can switch that to a specific color if you want to change things up a bit.
What We Liked…
- New way to interact with your contacts
- Slews of customization options
- Easy to set up and use
Not so much…
- In-App Purchase is a little pricey
The keyword for this review is Interaction, and Veer doesn’t disappoint. Veer is new way to quickly and easily interact with your favorite contacts. If you’re looking to speed up the process of interacting with your contacts, then you’ll want to check out Veer and see if helps improve the mobile communication portion of your life.
Drop us a line below, and let us know what you think about Veer. Do you see where this can fill a void in the process of communicating with your contacts, or do you think this is just a neat toy that doesn’t really improve much? Either way, let us know what you think about Veer, and in the meantime, let us know you’re favorite means of communication with your various contacts.
