From iOS 11, major improvements have been made to the keyboard for the iPad and iPhone. With these tricks you get the most out of your iPhone or iPad keyboard.
Type faster from your iPhone or iPad keyboard
Every Apple user learns his own way to send an app or post a comment as quickly as possible. But it can always be faster, so we give four tips to type even faster from your iPhone or iPad keyboard.
1. Smart punctuation marks
Smart punctuation is a feature of the QuickType keyboard that lets you multitask while typing on the iPad. Here’s how: Instead of pressing a button to open the punctuation keys, you can also use it by swiping your finger down on a button. For example, you can quickly put an ‘@’ away by dragging over the letter A and place the number 6 by pulling the Y-button down.
In principle, smart punctuation marks are on by default, but if this is not the case with you, you can activate it as follows:
- Open the Settings app;
- Tap General;
- Select Keyboard;
- Turn the switch behind ‘Smart punctuation marks’ on or off.
2. Type faster with multiple languages
Have you set the keyboard of your iPhone or iPad to Dutch, but do you sometimes type in a different language? Then it can save time to add multiple keyboards, for example if you sometimes switch to the German or French language. The special punctuation marks that are used in certain words, but not in Dutch, are not available from the Dutch keyboard.
To add an extra language to your keyboard, go to ‘General’ in Settings and then to ‘Keyboard’. You will then find the option ‘Add keyboard’ in the ‘Keyboards’ menu. You can access the other punctuation marks by pressing the globe in the lower left corner of your keyboard longer and selecting the language you want. If you now press longer on, for example, the B or C, the ß or the ç will appear.
3. One-handed typing
Where the iPad supports the QuickType keyboard from iOS 11, the iPhone got one-handed typing. The one-handed keyboard lets you easily type with one hand. Handy if you have a Plus model or do not have two hands free. This is how you activate the iOS 11 one-handed keyboard.
4. Browse Safari faster
A simple typing trick ensures that you get to a website a lot faster via Safari. Enter the name of the website you want to go to and keep the ‘.’ button pressed. A row of options will automatically appear where you can quickly choose whether you want .com, .nl or something else. This way you complete your URLs faster.
Looking for more helpful iPhone tips? Check out our comprehensive overview