“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.]
Hmmm.. Andrew does not need a copy. He actually should be writing one and send a signed copy to David?!?
MDN Magic Word: Perhaps
My fat fingers are still trying to adjust to typing on the iPhone. It’s getting easier. I’ve noticed some movies from the iTS (like the Ratatouille video podcasts) won’t play on my iPhone.
I know the iPhone’s keyboard in it’s portrait mode state will not be useful to me.
I’m having a hard enough time using my GPS’s keyboard in landscape mode. It’s just about the same size as a iPhone.
Does the iPhone work with a stylus?
Not really Pogue’s shortcut now, is it?
More like Andrew’s shortcut and David’s getting the glory for broadcasting it.
@Chris
I think that was the lamest comment I think I may have ever heard…
Are you really saying that you think the reason there are no directions on how to access punctuation marks on iPhone isn’t printed in the user’s guide is because Apple’s document authors and/or editorial people are not paid well enough?
“Does the iPhone work with a stylus?”
Not presently and I doubt it ever will. It uses the static field in your fingers to react. A stylus is something to break or lose.
That is a great tip and I’ve been using it for a couple days, but I still wish you could just tap the punctuation key twice for a period. That would be even quicker.
Hey, Chris…
How dare you compare my one red cent to a Zune! That’s not very nice.
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“That is a great tip and I’ve been using it for a couple days, but I still wish you could just tap the punctuation key twice for a period.”
That’s a great idea.
I’ve been using a fine point black marker. I can’t figure out how to make them move when the screen changes.
> stylus
I’ll bet some clever third party will make a stylus that does work iPhone. I’m sure there are enough people who actually like using a stylus to make such a product worthwhile. It can be combined with a case (with a slot for the stylus).
iPhone stylus: An electric Q-Tip?
The delete key does the same, that is, you can delete a letter, then without picking up your finger, slide up to the letter you actually wanted. If you stay too long on delete, of course it continues to delete letters, but with a little practice, I’m sure this will be useful, too.
Ha, MDN word: too
Awesome tip, and the Safari scroll-to-top tip too! Just made my time on the iPhone easier.
Now, if I could just figure out why Safari keeps crashing on the MDN site.
Tre,
No, I’m saying that because editorial people aren’t paid well (most web sites don’t hire them at all!) there aren’t enough of them that a company like Apple can find enough good editors, copy editors, copy writers and proof readers to do a thorough job. It’s basic economics. If there’s a market that values a service or product, it will be provided in abundance. The market places little to no value on editing, so there is little to be had. I doubt even Apple has many people who’s job titles involve editing.
It’s not his tip!
“I was to receive an email from reader Andrew McCallum”
But of course, Bill Gates ignited the personal computer revolution right?
The touch screen relies on the capacitance of your fingers to work. They work because they are fat and wet (relative to a stylus). I think a thin, non-conductive stulus would have to rely on a different type of screen surface.
> I’ve noticed some movies from the iTS (like the Ratatouille video podcasts) won’t play on my iPhone.
The Ratatouille videos work fine on mine. If you’re having the problem where you only hear the audio, make sure you open the file via “Videos” instead of “More -> Podcasts”. When you play it as a podcast, it’s audio-only.
I know, it seems weird but it’s in the manual, so I assume there was some reasoning behind it.
How about a Van de Graaff wired to a Palm stylus?
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