Speed Up iPhone Typing With This Simple Keyboard Trick

[lotones]

discovered this by accident on my iPhone 6S... so it's at least that old.

 

[Cirillo Gherardo]

I mean...it's a great trick if you are typing one number...

Same as the trick with the shift key.

 

[twintin]

Not sure why it isn't working for you, but I can confirm that, in Messages and Notes, after typing a number then a space, the keyboard switches back to ABC mode.

Appears it only works if autocorrect is enabled, which for me is disabled (don’t like it).

 

[Confused-User]

There is a corresponding trick that works with the shift key, but the implementation is incredibly awful. With the shift key, you have to hold it for a small fraction of a second before you go to the letter you want capitalized, or it'll think you're swyping instead. And it often screws up the target letter. It's really appalling how bad it is and how long it's been that way.

Gboard is a better keyboard, but I removed it years ago anyway. Once Apple implemented swype the difference wasn't large enough for me to keep it.

 

[sowza1]

​

Uhhhh... this is an iPhone version 1 trick.

 

[Yptcn]

Here's a tip that I just learned for people who use multiple languages.

For years, I've had 3 keyboards enabled: French (Canada), English (US) and Emoji. That unfortunately sends the Emoji key next to the Shift key and replaces the Emoji key at the bottom of the screen with a globe.

In that case, in Emoji mode, the ABC key is always one character-space to the left compared to the Emoji key, so I'm always pressing the wrong key to go back, because it's not in a predictable place. It sucks.

So here's the tip: if you remove the English keyboard (which I always thought I had to keep enabled to be able to type in English), you can still type in English, as long as you have the English dictionary installed. That's the important part, not the keyboard. It'll even predict words and correct typos. The best part is that it puts the Emoji key back below the keyboard, where it belongs, always in the same predictable place.

Now THAT is a great tip . I had English and French (Qwerty) enabled also . I removed the French keyboard and my phone indeed speaks fluent Franglais ! Thank you 🙏🏻

 

[Yptcn]

My turn to give a tip I have just found out about not long ago .
I you want to get the degree symbol , just press and hold 0 (Zero) . I had been looking for this symbol for a long time .

 

[DaveEcc]

Now, that’s useful.

The article's tip is cool, but it doesn't help if you want to type 2-digit or greater numbers! Then, it's a hindrance, not a help.

It also doesn't resolve a bigger issue. That is, the auto-switching back to the alphabetic keyboard. I'm often typing a string of numbers — e.g., 34, 56, 128 — and after each space, it goes back to the alphabet. A nuisance.

When in numbers mode, holding ABC and sliding to space inserts a space and reverts back to number mode.

Also,
When in numbers mode, holding ABC and sliding to letter inserts the letter and reverts back to number mode.
When in numbers mode, holding #+= and sliding to a symbol inserts the symbol and reverts to number mode.

 

[darkpaw]

The article's tip is cool, but it doesn't help if you want to type 2-digit or greater numbers! Then, it's a hindrance, not a help.

But it's not a tip for typing multiple numbers; it's for typing -->> a <<-- number or symbol, as the article says.

EDIT: Someone "disagreed" with my post, so let me explain it to them:

FROM THE FRIKKIN' ARTICLE:

Switching away from the alphabetic keyboard layout when you need to type a number or symbol is an all-too-often occurrence...

...slide your finger over to the number/symbol that you want to type, then let go

This single action types the number/symbol and automatically switches...

So next time you find yourself needing to insert a number or symbol, remember this trick and you can type away without pause.

I hope this helps you to understand what the article is actually telling you.

No need for straw men here.

 

[usmaak]

I love this. I knew you could press and hold the number button, press the key you wanted, and then let it all go. I didn’t know you could slide to the symbol/number like that. Very cool!

If the symbol you need is under the #+= key, press the 123 button and then press the #+= key and slide to the symbol you want.

 

[Tagbert]

Uhhhh... this is an iPhone version 1 trick.

Not everyone here had an iPhone 1.

This kind of trick is worth repeating now and then because people don’t always know and don’t alway remember these kind of things.

 

[StyxMaker]

Why not use a keyboard with numbers on another row above the letters. This sort of keyboard is standard on my android phone.

The real way to speed up typing on my phone is to adopt the younger generation's two thumb typing instead of Gen Xer's and Boomer's one finger pecking at the keyboard.

As a 74 year old I’m glad to find out I’m part of the ‘younger’ generation. I’ve been two thumb typing since my Pocket PC days.

 

[StyxMaker]

My turn to give a tip I have just found out about not long ago .
I you want to get the degree symbol , just press and hold 0 (Zero) . I had been looking for this symbol for a long time .

Thanks I’ve been missing the ° since I purchased my first iPhone, generation one.

 

[iSam21]

If this thread is going to be a keyboard tips-and-tricks compendium then I’ll add something that took me years to learn.

If you hold your thumb on the spacebar it activates the cursor, offset without your finger being in the way of the text block.

OMG you’ve just changed my life

 

[svish]

Very nice tip. Will be very useful.

 

[jasonsmith_88]

Wow, I didn’t know this. Super useful. Thank you so much for sharing!

 

[macfacts]

brilliant

There's so much screen space, why not make the keyboard bigger and always show the numbers instead of using this kludge hack.

 

[Blowback]

If this thread is going to be a keyboard tips-and-tricks compendium then I’ll add something that took me years to learn.

If you hold your thumb on the spacebar it activates the cursor, offset without your finger being in the way of the text block.

Thanks. Works for iPad also!

 

[Blowback]

When you press the 123 key, do you see the numeric keyboard ?

If so, without lifting you thumb (or whatever finger you use), just slide it over the number (or other character) you want and lift the finger. Now the selected character should be written and the keyboard return to the alphabetical keyboard.

Does it not work like that for you ?

Works for numbers and the other symbols!

 

[bruno7]

I know we dont like Android here but, I like how they have a number row above the keyboard as part of the standard view. It's optional, so you dont have to, but you can. It's a timesaver. This is a good trick though. I have used it many times but forget about it eventually until I am reminded again, appreciate it.

Try SwiftKey - it has this feature.

Been using it for years, it's brilliant.

 

[Powerbooky]

Try the same thing with <shift>, <ABC> or any other keyboard toggle. Works too.

But... I usually type larger numbers and often need symbols from the <#+=> toggle. Maybe there's another shortcut for that?

 

[Unami]

Does not work here. But even if it did, it's usually very uncommon not to write out one-digit numbers. And while it takes just as long to hold a key as typing it out, this gets very slow when you're typing multiple digits.

 

[apr]

Thanks @iZac for the spacebar tip!

 

[arobert3434]

I know we dont like Android here but, I like how they have a number row above the keyboard as part of the standard view. It's optional, so you dont have to, but you can. It's a timesaver. This is a good trick though. I have used it many times but forget about it eventually until I am reminded again, appreciate it.

You can have this on iOS as well (see signature). Also comes with cursor keys which make small local moves easier than spacebar dragging. The typical iPhone screen has at least doubled in size since the ABC-123 design born of necessity but Apple continues to stick with the layout and provide all manner of video gaming style methods to work around its limitations. (Given we still have one-button mice I don't expect this to change either. 🤣)

 

[CosmicTris392]

big if true

edit: its true