Typing on a tiny software keyboard isn’t something that most enjoy. While many may still argue that onscreen keyboard remains inconvenient to type – beyond small text snippets for on the go messaging – things have improved a lot. And if you are willing to invest your time for learning some smooth gestures and a few time-saving hacks, you can befriend the software keyboard to write with the desired flair. To help you get started on the right note, I’ve lined up the best tips to speed up typing in iOS 13 and iPadOS 13. So, let’s learn how to tap less and type more!
There are a couple of ways you can get rid of the shortcomings that prevent you from typing smoothly. First and foremost, remove the unnecessary taps that sort of kills the flow. Second, get a good hang of the swipes along with the newly-introduced text editing gestures to accelerate the whole affair. Aside from these productive ways, it would also be great to employ some of the notable keyboard features to make typing plain sailing.
While QuickPath may not have got plenty of traction unlike other new arrivals like Dark Mode and the full-fledged download manager for Safari, it remains one of my top picks for making typing pretty smooth. If you have tried your hands on the glide feature on Google’s Gboard (free), you would (most probably) find iOS’ swipe-to-type gesture quite familiar.
- To get started with QuickPath, bring up the keyboard inside your favorite app like Messages, Notes, Mail and more. Then, glide your finger from one letter to the other on the keyboard. Let’s say, you want to type in ” like watching football.” First, swipe your finger on the letters “L” “I” “K” “E”.
Note: If you ever don’t like to use the slide to type feature, head into the Settings app on your device -> General-> Keyboard. Now, turn off the switch for Slide to Type. iOS 13 also lets you delete slide-to-type by word. To do so, turn off the switch for it as well.
In iOS 12 or earlier versions, you had to press and hold the curser and then move the finger to place the cursor at the desired place. With iOS 13, Apple has made it a little easier. Simply, tap anywhere on the screen to access the curser and then drag it using your finger. Yeah, you no longer need to press on the screen!
Though iOS already had the undo/redo option in the form of “Shake to undo/redo”, it never felt intuitive. Not so surprisingly, it remained unnoticed for years. Thankfully, Apple has introduced a better way to do it on iOS 13. Now, you can just swipe left with three fingers to undo anything. To redo, all you need to do is simply swipe right with three fingers. Alternately, you can also undo/redo anything by just double-tapping with three fingers. The “Undo” or “Redo” badges will show right at top of the screen to let you verify your action.
With iOS 13, it’s become pretty simple to cut, copy, and paste using gestures. Once you have selected your text, pinch with three fingers to copy it. Then, you can repeat the copy gesture twice to cut it (pinch with three fingers twice). When you want to paste the text, simply place three fingers on the screen and spread them apart.
So, how do you enter full stop using your iPhone keyboard? Tap on the numbers key -> find the full stop and select it. Then, tap on the letters key to return to typing letters again. Oh no! That’s not just time-consuming but also quite inconvenient. The better way to enter a period is simply double tap on the space bar. It will not only enter a period but also include a space so that you can go ahead with typing without any hiccup.
6. Make the Most of One-Handed Keyboard
Even though the one-handed keyboard isn’t a brand new feature, it hasn’t been explored by a large number of iOS users. Personally, I have found it quite helpful, especially when I want my thumb to do all the talking. So, if you wish to make typing convenient, you shouldn’t miss out on this one. Times when you can’t use both hands to type or wish to use your thumb to type comfortably, it can come into play really well.
Gone were the times when the dictation feature was just there to make numbers. Now, it works more accurately. So, at any time, you don’t want to use your fingers to type, you can dictate the QuickType keyboard to do the job for you. To get started, ensure that Dictation is enabled on your iPhone (Head over to Settings app -> General -> Keyboard -> Enable Dictation. Then, choose your preferred language.) After that, tap on the microphone icon and then dictate the keyboard.
