“I’m going to share with you the solution to one of the most annoying things, if not THE most annoying thing, about typing on the iPhone: The punctuation keys and alphabet keys appear in two different keyboard layouts,” David Pogue writes for O’Reilly Media.
“And therefore imagine how thrilled I was to receive an email from reader Andrew McCallum, containing a method of typing a period or a comma with only a SINGLE finger gesture,” Pogue writes. “The iPhone doesn’t register most key presses until you *release* your finger. But Andrew discovered that the Shift and Punctuation keys register their taps on the *press-down* instead.”
So here’s what you can do, all in one motion:
1. Touch the “.?123” key, but don’t lift your finger as the punctuation layout appears.
2. Slide your finger a half inch onto the period or comma key, and release.
Pogue explains, “Incredibly, the ABC layout returns automatically. You’ve typed a period or a comma with one finger touch instead of three. In fact, you can type ANY of the punctuation symbols the same way. This makes a HUGE difference in the usability of the keyboard. I’m sending Andrew an autographed copy of iPhone: The Missing Manual.
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “MikeK” for the heads up.]
Amazing. I am sure this was planned, just never mentioned.
I knew that! I want an autographed book!
Apple should have explained this in one of their pre-release iPhone videos. The software was obviously written to allow this; it’s just that no one knew.
Works perfect and helps my typing speed.
wow…
The great thing about truly great software is that it actually improves your life. It’s more than clever, novel, or entertaining for a while….it’s actually a genuine benefit. No one understands this better than Apple. No one.
wow…
The great thing about truly great software is that it actually improves your life. It’s more than clever, novel, or entertaining for a while….it’s actually a genuine benefit. No one understands this better than Apple. No one.
If only others did.
FANTASTIC TIP!
Love it!
and hit the top bar to bring you back to the top of a long safari page …….. This is a huge help.
Just try that on your Moto Q!
“….and hit the top bar to bring you back to the top of a long safari page.”
——————-
I wish there was an easy way to get to the bottom of a page too… Navigating pages with a lot of comments (like this one) takes far too long using your finger to scroll..
I wish i documented this:
if you use google to search for: iPod, Zune and iPhone you’ll get(5/July/2007:
iPod ~ 112,000,000
Zune ~ 3,310,000
and iPhone ~ 91,500,000
10 days ago i searched for iPhone it was around 63,000,000
that’s a jump ~30,000,000 in 10 days (the launche period)
interesting.
i.
And he also had a great tip on adding apostrophe’s.
If using a contraction like “can’t” or “don’t”, don’t even bother with the punctuation key. Simply type “dont” and the space to allow the iPhone to correct your mistake for you. Much faster.
MDW: “kept”: as in, “Apple added these features on purpose. I wonder why the KEPT them secret?”
Oh, man, you are a god, I bow down to you. This was one of my biggest complaints (and one of very few complaints as I might add). Funny how none of the Mac geniuses at the retail stores knew this when I asked TWICE. I don’t think this was planned though – someone smart enough to figure this out just did so.
Now get me my darn to do list! Only other major whine.
iPhone rocks! Greatest piece of tech since, well, the phone itself!
works with shift/caps too
Apple isn’t keeping these features secret, it’s just that there are too many great ‘little’ things about Apple products for them to spend time or money advertising. No doubt there are still more neat iPhone features to be discovered.
what’s the good of that “iPhone Missing Manual” when that tip’s not in it….
this is the most annoying thing about Apple, all those “secret” features that really make your life easier.
Apple should have special page with all of them listed instead let people “discover”
@Chris
Tips and shortcuts like this could easily be printed in the iPhone User Guide.
Awesome tip! I’m a big texter and this is definitely a time-saver.
I’m still trying to find the pirate’s flag flying over the Cupertino campus. I wonder if Clarus is hiding anywhere inside the iPhone?
MOOF ! ! !
Imagine if everybody applied these little things to say; roadbuilding or insurance contracts, or a lot of really terrible software programs. It really would be quite a bit better around here.
I do really think that this was planned by Apple. Seems that it would be a gross oversight if it was missed.
wow, and I thought I knew everything.
@MikeK,
You’ve obviously never worked in or around publishing. First, it’s very time consuming, and requires hiring people with the right skills and temperament to do the job. Second, it generally doesn’t pay well enough to keep people with those talents in the business, so even if you’re a rich company like Apple, you’re going to have a hard time finding good editors, copy editors, and copy writers. Little tips like this are going to be missing until editorial people are paid well enough to keep them in the business.
“if you use google to search for: iPod, Zune and iPhone you’ll get(5/July/2007:
iPod ~ 112,000,000
Zune ~ 3,310,000
and iPhone ~ 91,500,000″
I wonder how many of the Zune references are to people poking fun of it on sites like this one?
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MDN Magic Word: cent, as in: The Zune isn’t worth one red cent.