Does your DROID sign its name?

Posted in Geek Stuff by dave on November 13, 2009 8 Comments

Update 2010-01-15: I’ve noticed a lot of folks finding this post while searching for ways to enable a signature on their Droid / Android phones … It’s as easy as 1-2-3:
1) Open the GMail app
2) Tap the menu key and select “Settings”
3) Tap the “Signature” setting – you will be prompted for your desired sigline!

I’ve had my new Motorola Droid for a little over a week now, and if my experience so far is any indication, spending the next two years with this phone will be a joy. It’s solid, it works beautifully, and so far I haven’t found a single thing it can’t do.

john hancock

One of the things it can do is add a signature line to emails sent using the phone’s GMail client. And about this, I am conflicted…

Just about anyone who uses e-mail these days has probably received messages from their iPhone-toting friends, happily auto-signed “Sent from my iPhone”. In the digital world, there was a time when this little line of text was as much a status symbol as actually having the iPhone itself, and I’m sure more than a few folks (myself formerly included) promptly dismissed it as yet another way for the narcissistic among us to shout, “Look at me! I have an iPhone!” And yet…

I’ve actually developed a rather healthy appreciation for that little signature. Same goes for “Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry”. It tells me a lot about the message that precedes it – most importantly, that the sender typed it out on a tiny little keyboard with his-or-her thumbs, and that the probable terseness of the message isn’t personal, but merely an artifact of the computing environment from which it originated. Despite the cultural connotation, seeing “Sent from my [whatever]” at the bottom of an e-mail is actually quite useful.

Which brings me to my present conundrum… Should I configure my Droid to auto-sign e-mails? The self-conscious side of me doesn’t want to come across as gloating – because ultimately, being a smartphone user (even if it’s Android-powered!) does not make you special. At all. And anyone who knows me knows I very much dislike calling attention to myself. But on the other hand, I personally find these signatures useful, and I can’t imagine I’m the only one who changes my perspective slightly when I read an e-mail that’s sent from someone’s mobile device. Maybe I should borrow my friend Chris’s strategy, and just auto-sign “Sent from Mobile Device”?

If you’re a Droid / iPhone / Blackberry / S60 / WiMo / Tréo / whatever user and you send e-mails from your phone, what’s in your sig line? Do you even use one? Any reason for your decision? Hit up the comment form and let us know…

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Comments
  • Pauley:

    I use the standard “Sent from my iPhone” that comes with my device. Yes, it’s in part to gloat ;) , but more usefully, it is a hint to the reader that I was out on the go when I composed this message, and not at my desktop, so please excuse me if I didn’t go on in depth about the topic; I may have only had a chance to dash out a short reply and may go into further detail later.

    Reply November 13, 2009 at 4:26 pm
  • Pauley:

    Alternatively, sign it “Sent from my blueberry” and see who notices. ;)

    Reply November 13, 2009 at 4:27 pm
  • Sp3nc3r:

    I actually do not use the signature feature of my phone however I like the idea of it. When I see an email with a signature like this, I seem to dismiss the fact that there are words that are not spelled correctly (large thumbs probably, and the casual nature of cell phone emails) which I find desirable as I spell words incorrectly all the time. Maybe my signature should be “Sent from my Adnroid enabeld phone”

    -Sent from my LINUX POWRED laptop…

    Reply November 13, 2009 at 10:26 pm
  • dave:

    Alrighty, so for now I’ve settled on [[Droid Message]] as my sigline – I figure it’s fairly unobtrusive, the brackets make it look somewhat auto-generated, and it’s un-obvious enough to be ignored by those who don’t care, and a subject of inquiry for those who do…

    Reply November 29, 2009 at 4:43 pm
  • Ken:

    Hi-

    The solution will not work for exchange or POP3 accounts without having gmail act as a proxy for those accounts. This is not a viable solution for those corporate users who do not choose to use gmail.

    The moto droid MUST support signatures if it is going to be a serious corporate contender. The only way to configure a signature in exchange is to use a third party application like touchdown.

    My Moto Droid is an excellent device. This is only a minor shortcoming, but Google must address it.

    Reply January 24, 2010 at 3:59 pm
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