Hidden iPhone Keyboard Tricks to Speed Up Your Typing

Many iPhone users are unaware of several built-in keyboard shortcuts that can make texting and typing faster and more precise, according to an AP technology report.

One feature, called QuickPath, lets users type by sliding a finger across the keyboard instead of tapping each letter individually. To turn it on, go to Settings, General, Keyboard, and toggle on Slide to Type. To use it, touch the first letter of a word, then slide to the following letters without lifting a finger. Pressing delete afterward removes the entire word rather than a single letter.

For editing text, holding a thumb on the space bar until the letters disappear turns the keyboard into a trackpad, letting users move the cursor by sliding a finger around the screen.

The same space-bar hold, combined with a tap anywhere on the keyboard, allows for more precise text selection than the standard double-tap (to highlight a word) or triple-tap (to highlight a paragraph). This trackpad-style selection works for both selecting and deselecting text in apps like Notes or Mail. In messaging apps such as iMessage or WhatsApp, it only allows selecting, not deselecting, so users should instead hold the shift key and the space bar together.

To copy highlighted text, users can pinch three fingers together over the selection; spreading three fingers apart pastes it elsewhere. The gesture also works with photos.

The report noted that some of these shortcuts didn't work smoothly when tested on short snippets of text on an iPhone, and might perform better on a larger screen, such as an iPad's.

Features may vary slightly depending on the version of iOS installed.