12 Helpful iPhone and iPad Keyboard Tips and Tricks

12 Helpful iPhone and iPad Keyboard Tips and Tricks

Being an efficient, functional typist on the iPhone tends to be a handy thing, especially since a lot of us are attached to our phone at the hip. That's why we have tips and tricks, little shortcuts that help us become a little more efficient. 

Here are 12 helpful iPhone and iPad keyboard tips and tricks. Now go become an elite Apple typist!

1. Add and Use an International Keyboard

A nifty tip for bilingual folks. Go to Settings -> General -> Keyboard. Select International Keyboards and add the language. To use the extra keyboard, click the little globe near the space bar. 

2. Add Special Symbols
Want a specific, special character but don't want the respective keyboard? Just hold down the letter and several options will appear.

3. Double Tap = Period + Capitalization 
One of the easiest ways to increase your typing speed on your phone is to double tap the space bar. This will add a period/full stop to the end of your sentence while simultaneously adding a space afterwards and capitalizing the proceeding letter. Doesn't work? Go to Settings -> General -> Keyboard then toggle Auto-Capitalization and "." Shortcut on.

4. Quicker Punctuation
Most people simply press the "123" key, tap the punctuation/symbol they need, and hit "ABC" to go back. Stop doing that. Here's a quicker way to do it all. When you press "123," hold it down then slide your key to the punctuation. Once you release, you'll have the new punctuation added and you'll be back to the alpha keyboard.

5. Tap and Slide 

One of the simplest tricks any iOS user needs to know is the tap and slide. Let's say you hit the wrong character. Most people either correct it or allow autocorrect to do its thing. Instead of doing that, next time just leave your finger on the screen and slide it to the correct key.

6. Quickly Add Other Domain Names  
Pressing and holding the ".com" button opens up multiple other domain names quickly.

7. Emoji Keyboard
Go to #1 but this time add the emoji keyboard. Best decision of my life.

8. Add Shortcuts 
Go to Settings -> General -> Keyboard -> Shortcuts, and you should see a few shortcuts already listed for you. Simply click the "+" icon to add more.

9. iPad Split Keyboard 

Hold the keyboard key at the bottom right and then tap split. Alternatively, use two fingers in the middle of the keyboard and split them. 

10. Display Character Counts 
Go to Settings -> Messages then toggle Character Count. Now you'll see how many characters you're typing.

11. Shake to Delete 
Sure, you could just hold down the delete key to erase your nonsense OR you can shake the phone. A message will popup asking you if you want to undo the typing.

12. Reset the Dictionary 
Hate when absolute jibberish is stored in your dictionary? Just reset the entire thing. Go to Settings -> General -> Reset -> Reset Dictionary.