One of the criticisms of the iPhone is that, out of the box, finding and dialing phone numbers isn’t as fast as on some other smartphones. Yes, there is a favorites list in the built-in phone app, along with contact search and a scroll bar which can jump quickly to a particular letter; but, for some, the process is still not as convenient as it should be.

Enter Smart Dial from Gary Fung, a terrific utility which dramatically speeds up your ability to find and dial phone numbers on the iPhone.

Simply spell out the first few letters of your contact’s name on the dial pad, and Smart Dial will instantly home in on the person you need. If you have several contacts whose names begin with the same letters, you can quickly scroll through the options using the large arrow key on the bottom left of the screen, or you can simply keep typing to narrow the search even further. Tapping on the contact’s name at the top of the screen brings up his or her full details, enabling you to call a different number or send an email or text message.

Of course, just like a conventional phone, Smart Dial also allows you to dial a number directly and to assign a speed-dial to each number on the dial-pad.

There are several other user-configurable options, including the ability to mute the dial-pad sounds and set which number should be displayed by default (home, work etc.). Best of all, you can tell the app to search your recently dialed contacts first, meaning you rarely have to type more than one or two letters for the right number to pop up.

I haven’t looked back since installing Smart Dial. Those big buttons make searching for contacts a breeze, and my iPhone now feels more like a conventional mobile phone when making calls, which is a good thing. You can also add new numbers to your address book directly from the dial pad screen.

I particularly like the way the app defaults to the dial pad when launched, unlike the built in phone app which opens the last used window. Because of this, there is a degree of predictability in using the app; you always know what you have to do to make a call.

Smart Dial doesn’t completely replace the built-in phone app, which is still required to access missed calls and visual voice-mail, but it has taken the phone app’s spot on the bottom row of my iPhone’s launch screen. I picked Smart Dial up when it was just 99 cents from the App Store; it has gone up to $2.99 since then, but I still consider that a fair price.

Smart Dial can be found in the App Store or by following this link. Trevor.