Tips and tricks for using Skyfire

Using Skyfire FAQs

Q: What resources are there to help me get started with Skyfire?
A: Please visit the quick start guide on your phone. Open Menu > Help > Quickstart Guide. It provides an overview of specific features and functions including shortcuts.

• Release Notes for Skyfire 1.5

Q: How do I set Skyfire as my default browser?
A: This is a feature specific to Windows Mobile phones, and it is not supported in Nokia/Symbian phones. To set Skyfire as your default browser, follow these instructions:

1. Within the Skyfire browser; Go to Menu > Settings
2. Check the box for "Set Skyfire as Default Browser"
3. Click Done

Q: How do I delete a bookmark?
A: Please follow these instructions to erase bookmarks from your Skyfire browser:

1. On the homepage go to the Bookmarks tab within the Skyfire browser
2. Scroll down to "Edit Bookmarks" and click this link
3. Select the bookmarks that you would like to delete and click the delete button.

Q: How do I clear my cookies and history?
A: To clear cookies and history from your Skyfire browser:

Click on the History tab, click "Clear History"

Or

Click Menu > Settings > Advanced Options

Here you may click on either Clear Cookies or Clear History

Q: How can I control the volume in Skyfire?
A: This depends on your phone. Many Windows Mobile and Nokia/Symbian phones support hardware volume buttons, which are the most convenient way to control the volume. For Windows Mobile touchscreen phones, one method is to use the Skyfire 'Menu' button to activate the Windows Status bar at the top of the screen. Then you can use your stylus to tap on the volume symbol and control the phone volume. Also, Skyfire can mute / un-mute once you are in the browsing session (the shortcut key is "0").

Q: How can I switch Skyfire to Landscape view on my phone? Does Skyfire have auto-rotate capabilities?
A: Skyfire can be viewed in landscape mode if your phone has the capability of switching screen orientation. Switching to landscape mode is phone specific. If you have a recent Windows Mobile HTC device and you've installed Skyfire 1.5 then please restart your device. This may enable automatic orientation switching.

Q: How do I download and upload files within Skyfire?
A: Download is supported when you select a link that typically allows you to download files to your desktop browser (with the exception of password protected downloads). In Skyfire, you can download images by pointing your cursor over images and clicking and holding with your phone center select key (or tap and hold for touch screen). This provides a dialog for download to your phone. The current release of Skyfire does not support upload functionality.

Q: What is the content displayed on the Skyfire start page?
A: The start page displays customizable content feeds from many sources across the web. The feeds are updated every few minutes and sorted on the start page in chronological order to give you up-to-date fun and interesting content to explore and snack on.

Q: How do I filter content on the start page?
A: You can filter content by publishing source on the start page. There are two ways to filter:

1. You can either click the Filter button at the top of the page then select the favicon of the feed you want from the list displayed
2. You can click on any single favicon while scrolling down the list of feed entries to filter on that particular feed.

Clicking Filter at the top of the screen or selecting All from the favicon list will restore the full display of feeds.

Q: How do I add RSS feeds to the start page?
A: You can select Customize > My Feeds, then choose Add New Feed, to enter the URL of the site whose feed you want to add. Skyfire will search that site for all available RSS feeds and present them to you in a check-box list. You may select as many of the feeds as you like, then select OK to add them to your MyFeeds list. They will then appear as active feeds in your start page list.

Q: How do I remove an RSS feed from the start page?
A: To remove a feed from the start page, select Customize near the top of the start page and find the name of the feed you want to remove using the category tabs displayed. Click the green Active button corresponding to the feed you want to remove. It will switch to Off and turn gray, indicating that it has been removed from the start page. You can turn it back on again by going back to the Customize menu and clicking the Off button back to Active.

Q: How do I add my Facebook, Twitter, and/or Gmail account to the start page?
A: You can add your Facebook, Gmail, and/or Twitter accounts to Skyfire, which allows you to follow your Twitter stream, Gmail messages, and Facebook news feed updates next to your RSS feed content on the start page, as well as post status updates and share web pages directly from Skyfire to both services. You must set up an account with either service individually before this feature can work with Skyfire.

To add accounts, select Customize from the Start Page. From the Mail/Social category, click the gray Off button to activate feeds or Gmail. You will be taken through a series of steps to give your log in information for those accounts. Skyfire will not share or use your log in information with any other party (please see our Terms of Service for the details of our privacy policy).

For Facebook, you will be asked to install an additional, free application on to your Facebook profile that will talk to the Skyfire browser. This additional step will only take a few additional clicks and should only occur when you are first configuring your account with Skyfire.

Once you've logged in to either account, you will be shown a "success" page, and will be taken back to the Customize menu. You should now see selected services as Active.

Q: Why do I have to authorize Skyfire for my Facebook account?
A: Facebook requires users to explicitly grant permission to any third-party service that wants to access their Facebook content. The authorization step occurs only during the initial set up and login process, and is common for Facebook applications.

Q: Why do I have to login to Facebook & Twitter accounts?
A: From time to time, you may get logged out of either account. If this occurs, you should see a Log in to Twitter/Facebook message displayed on the start page near your RSS feed listings. Click on the message link and follow the log in process to reinitiate your session.

Note that you may be asked to log in to Facebook separately when you browse to a Facebook web page using Skyfire. This is because Facebook treats the Skyfire application session differently than the individual browsing session.

Q: How do I update my status to Facebook or Twitter?
A: You can update your status on Facebook and/or Twitter by clicking the Update My Status link on the Start Page. Write your status in the text entry field that appears and click the "OK" button. Your update should appear on Facebook and/or Twitter soon after you post.

Q: I don't use Facebook/Twitter. How can I remove the log in from my start page?
A: From the Start Page, click "No Thanks" on either Facebook or Twitter, this will remove the log in from your Start Page.

Q: How do I change the services to which I'm sharing status updates and web pages?
A: You can change your Sharing Settings at any time to include either Facebook or Twitter or both whenever you make a status update or share a web page by selecting the Customize link on the Start Page, then clicking Edit Share Settings. From that page, simply check or un-check the services to indicate your preferences.

Q: How do I share a page I'm browsing in Skyfire with my Facebook or Twitter contacts?
A: You can easily share any page you are browsing in Skyfire directly with your Facebook or Twitter contacts. First, make sure you have added your Facebook and/or Twitter accounts and enabled sharing for them.

Select the Menu option from the open browser while on the page you want to share and choose the Share > Online menu item. You will be taken to a Share URL page that will display the URL of the page you want to share, as well as a comment box for you to include any message you want to add to your post. When you are ready, click 'Post'. A success page will appear indicating that your post was sent. If a post fails, you will be given the option to try again or return to the start page.

Q: How can I save my RSS feed and social network account settings with Skyfire?
A: Similar to Bookmarks or History data, you can save your customized feed data with Skyfire by setting up a Skyfire user account. This will allow you to keep your customized data even when you move to a different mobile phone. Creating an account will also allow you to participate on the Skyfire forums.

Q: How do I "right click" to download a image?
A: Move your cursor over an image and 'click and hold' with the center select key until your see an options dialog. For touch screen phones, tap-n-hold. Select the 'save image as...' option. Now you can download the image to your phone.

Q: How do I enter text into a field?
A: In Skyfire browser, text can be entered directly on the page.

1. Move your cursor over a text field
2. Click on the OK button (e.g. center select) on the phone, which will enter text edit mode on the page. For a touch screen phone simply tap into the text box.
3. Type your text using the phone keyboard or the on-screen keyboard.
4. Once done, select Enter on the keyboard, or tap outside the screen (if using a touchscreen phone), or navigate up or down. This will enter the text you just typed into the page. There is a slight delay before the updated text is visible in Skyfire.

For multi-line text boxes the up, down, left, and right keys will allow you to navigate around. However, moving 'up' at the top line or 'down' from the last line will exit text entry mode. To insert a new line use the Enter or new line key if you have a full keyboard, or the center OK button on the navigation-pad.

Q: What hot keys can I use with Skyfire?
A: Use the following hot keys:

Zoom out: 1
Page up: 2
Zoom in: 3
Save Bookmark: 4
Refresh page: 5
Navigate back on page: 7
Page down: 8
Navigate forward: 9
To mute / unmute: 0
Invoke Superbar: *

Q: What Web technologies does Skyfire support?
A: Skyfire supports the same web technologies that PC browsers support such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Flash 10, Silverlight 3.0, Ajax, QuickTime, Java, Windows Media, and more. Support for interaction with Flash applications is limited.

Q: Does Skyfire support Windows Media Player?
A: Yes, as long as the Windows Media Player is embedded in the website that you are visiting. If the website uses a popup window for the Windows Media Player you will not be able to view the video through Skyfire; the current release does not allow popups. Additionally the Windows Mobile version of Skyfire supports launching the media player on the phone for specific files such as .asx streaming.

Q: Can I access my local HTML file though Skyfire?
A: Skyfire does not support the ability to access local files through Skyfire. This is due to Skyfire's tiered architecture; all content is processed on the server side.

Q: Can I access my VPN Network though Skyfire?
A: Users ability to access VPN networks through Skyfire is not supported in the current release and is not on our immediate product roadmap.

Q: Is HTTP basic authentication supported?
A: Skyfire does not support HTTP basic authentication in the current release.

Q: How can I interact with Flash objects, buttons, and text boxes?
A: Although we support Adobe Flash 10.X and you can play videos, etc. we do not support text entry into Flash. We are working on this for a future version of Skyfire.

Q: How about ActiveX?
A: Currently some websites require ActiveX plug-ins. Skyfire does not support ActiveX.

Q: Are popups supported?
A: Skyfire does suppress popups, since they are very inconvenient for the mobile device form factor.

Q: I am trying to log into a website and I keep getting an error message that my log in is not correct.
A: This can occur when the website you are attempting to access requires flash text entry, which is not supported at this time. This has been noted in our product roadmap for future releases.

Q: What types of video does Skyfire support?
A: Skyfire supports embedded Flash (up to version 10), Silverlight (3.0), QuickTime, Windows Media and more. We are constantly extending our support for newer plug-ins as we come out with new versions.

Q: Skyfire is timing out when I am watching a video or listening to music. What can I do to resolve this?
A: Skyfire is a connected, server assisted browser, which gives it it's speed. However continuously open connections tax the radio of the mobile phone and drain the battery, thus Skyfire disconnects after a timeout. Skyfire when in the background disconnects within 1 minute. With Skyfire running in the foreground it disconnects after 5 minutes if you do not interact with it. With Video running Skyfire should disconnect after about 20 minutes. To prevent Skyfire from timing out while you are watching a video or listening to music, simply move the cursor to keep the session active. Skyfire reconnects when you return to it and reloads the last visited page.

Q: Why isn't Skyfire working with ORB?
A: Your settings at the ORB server should be enabled for playback with Flash. Go to Settings > General > Streaming Format and select "Orb Flash Player".

Q: I am trying to use Rhapsody or Pandora to stream music. It doesn't work. What can I do?
A: Due to a change in plug-ins on Pandora and Rhapsody, these streaming music websites are currently not supported. We apologize for the inconvenience. We are working to support these plug-ins in the future so you can enjoy these websites on Skyfire.

Q: What can I do if I run out of memory on my phone and can't use Skyfire?
A: Skyfire requires approximately 18MB of free space to run. If you run out of memory, we recommend that you close all applications running in the background. After you close the applications, be sure to turn off your phone and power up to launch Skyfire again.