You can cut your typing time in half by setting up Text Replacement shortcuts for the ones that you use most often. So think of all the words and phrases that you type over and over again. For instance, if you pick up your iPhone, open iMessage and type "omw" into a text message, and then tap the space bar, the words "On my way" will appear on your screen. The Text Replacement feature allows you to assign a small number of characters to represent a word or phrase. This is one of my favorite features on the iOS keyboard because it saves me time every single day. Me? I'll stick to using the backspace key.
However, it does exist, so if you have a good grip, feel free to give it a try. I typically don't recommend this feature to friends and family because I am afraid that someone's $1000 iPhone is going to go flying across the room while they are shaking to undo. The iPad has a dedicated Undo button, but the iPhone does not so shake to undo is available if the app you are using does not have an undo arrow for you to use, or if you can't reach it with one hand. It's like Ctrl+Z or Cmd+Z on your laptop, but on your phone. The idea is, you shake your iPhone to undo the last thing that you typed. Shake to Undo is one of the most unusual iOS keyboard tricks that there are. To exit caps lock, simply tap the shift key again. You can tell you have caps lock on because the shift arrow will turn black and has a line underneath it.
You can activate caps lock by double tapping the shift key. This one is quick and easy, but it's an iOS keyboard trick that everyone should know about. One Handed Keyboard & Key Flicks on iOS 4. To return your keyboard to its normal position, select the icon in between the left and right options, or tap the arrow on the side of the keyboard. The keys will be a little smaller, but this change should enable you to reach more of the keyboard and have a better one-handed typing experience.Ī quicker way to activate the one-handed keyboard is to press and hold the emoji key, or the globe key, on your keyboard and then slide your finger to select the side of the screen that you want your keyboard to be on. Once enabled, your on-screen keyboard will shift to the side of the screen that you chose. There are options here for left-and right-handed users. If you go to Settings > General > Keyboard, you can turn on an option for one-handed typing. Thankfully, Apple has included a keyboard option to help solve that very problem. People like bigger screens, but they are not as easy to use as they used to be. Over the last few years, iPhones have been getting bigger and bigger. The larger screen on these devices allows for a larger on-screen keyboard with more dedicated buttons for punctuation and other symbols. Key Flicks are available on all iPads, with the exception of the 12.9" iPad Pro. When you use Key Flicks, you seldom need to switch to another keyboard screen because all the numbers and most used punctuation symbols are now right there on the first layer of the keyboard.
This action is what Apple calls a Key Flick.
These secondary characters can be used by pressing on the key and pulling it down with your finger. For instance, Q also has the number 1, W has the number 2, E has the number 3, and so forth. You may have noticed that most keys on an iPad keyboard now have two characters on them. IPad users take this idea of pressing and holding a step further with Key Flicks, a feature that Apple introduced in iOS 11. There are plenty of surprises waiting to be discovered, so why not take some time to long-press on some of the other keys and see what else you can find with this handy hidden feature. You can press and hold the $ sign for more world currencies, or press and hold zero for a degrees symbol. When typing a web address, you can press and hold the period/dot key to have quick access to domain shortcuts like. Release your finger to make your selection.įoreign language keys are not the only characters that are hiding under a long press. For instance, if you want to write café like the French do, press and hold the "e" key and then move your finger along the screen to select the "e" with an acute accent. By pressing and holding on certain keys, you reveal a pop-up selection of alternative characters that you can slide your finger over to select. This iOS keyboard trick shows just how expansive the keyboard can be on an iPhone or iPad. The iOS keyboard is a perfect example, so get ready to impress your family and wow your friends with these 13 top tips for using the keyboard on your iPhone or iPad. They are either buried in menus or concealed from plain sight. Unfortunately, not all of these features are as discoverable as they should be. There are lots of hidden features in iOS, and knowing what they are can dramatically change how you use your iPhone or iPad.