One of the things that is, currently missing from even the latest firmware for the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic is the ability to select multiple items in a list, without having to highlight each item, then go to options>mark for each one. This used to be accomplished by holding down the pencil key on older handsets, such as the Nokia N95, but starting with the N82 (I believe), the pencil key was banished to the nether-regions, with the # key taking over the responsibilities.
Since the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic doesn’t have a # key, users have been left to individually select each item, which can be a real pain. Fortunately, the S60 developer community has come to the rescue, with Jbak Pencil, from the same guy who brought you Jbak Taskman.
Jbak Pencil is freeware, and allows you to assign one of the three buttons on the 5800 XpressMusic to replicate the pencil key functionality. *Please note that it is distributed as unsigned, which means that you will have to use Symbian Signed’s Open Signed procedure to sign it before you will be able to install it. Don’t worry, it’s a really easy process, just follow the steps here.*
Once installed, you’ll be greeted with a simple red screen. From here, you should press whatever button you want to be the ‘pencil’ key. I would recommend the red ‘end’ key. Now press save, and then back, and you should be good go to. Simply hold the button down to select multiple items in a list, or highlight one and press the key, then move to the next one. It’s that easy!
Hopefully, this will be fixed in a future firmware update for the 5800 XpressMusic, where we could simply to go options>select multiple or something. In the meantime, big thanks to Jbak, and if you use the app, be sure to donate for a job well done.
Thanks to FriedBrains for the tip.
