iPad Keyboard: Tips and Tricks!

This news item isn’t a single specifc article I found, so there is no link. Instead, it’s a number of tips I’ve compiled that will hopefully speed up your typing on the iPad’s virtual keyboard!

1. There are a few system-wide configurations that you should know about – and likely make use of – depending on what you type!. If you go into Settings to General and the Keyboard  you will see the following:
   • Auto-Capitalization (for the start of sentences)
   • Auto-Correction (which some people love and others loathe)
   • Check Spelling (which I can’t live without)
   • Enable Caps Lock (for those times you need to use ALL CAPS)
   • “.” Shortcut (which allows you to hit the spacebar twice to put a “.” at the end of a sentence.
2. There are a few gestures that might aid in your speed when typing on an iPad as well:
   • Holding down on a word or image is one most people know (this will give you a menu to select, or copy, or paste, or check spelling depending on your task and location).
   • Double-tapping on a word will select it as well
   • Triple-tapping on a word will select it’s entire line
3. Pressing and holdingon particular keys will also grant you access to numerous other characters and items. Certain items (such as the first two) are also setup to only have one item so you can quickly “flick” to get their counterpart. Here’s an exhaustive list.
   • !/, give you an apostrophe
   • ?/. give you a quote
   • Various alpha-numeric keys have hidden characters as well
   • • ABC
       • a : à á â ä æ ã å ?
       • c : ç ? ?
       • e : é è ê ë ? ? ?
       • i : ? ? í ì ï î
       • l : ?
       • n : ñ ?
       • o : ? ø œ õ ó ò ö ô
       • s : ß ? š
       • u : ? ú ù ü û
       • w : ?
       • y : ? ÿ
       • z : ? ž ?
   • • 123
       • 0 : °
       • - : — •
       • $ : or £ € $ £ ¥ ?
       • & : §
       • ” : “ ” „ « »
       • . : …
       • ? : ¿
       • !: ¡
       • ‘ : ` ‘ ’
   • An item under the “#+=” key also have a gem, though I admit I’m not sure when I’d use it
     • % : ‰
   • the “.com” also holds these secrets:
     • .com : .org .net .edu + more
4. The “Press, hold, and slide” gesture also works to quickly type numbers and capitol letters as well.
   1. Press and hold the Shift key and then slide to your desired letter, it will be capitalized, and the keyboard with return to lower case letters.
   2. Press and hold on the “.?123″ key and then slide to a number, it will type the number and then return to the regular keyboard.

Some additional items that are not specific to the keyboard, but that I do find helpful, are listed below.

1. Double click the home-button.
   1. When the screen slides up, it will reveal the multitasking bar at the bottom of the screen. Swipe your finger to the right in this area.
   2. You should now see:
      1. a set of quick controls for any media that might be playing, including volume.
      2. a control for screen brightness
      3. You will also find an option to lock the orientation of the device (in whatever format it is currently situated).
      4. If you are near an AppleTV, or anything that allows “airplay” you will also see a button to connect to that service.
      5. Pressing the home button again, or swiping down from the top of the screen, will hide this menu.
2. If you turn on Multitasking Gestures (Settings > General)you will also be able to use four or five fingers to:
   1. Pinch and return to the home screen
   2. Swipe from the bottom to show the multitasking bar at the bottom of the screen.
   3. Swipe left or right to move between applications that you’ve opened.
• of note: this feature sometimes causes problems with the “write-guard” functions of handwritting and drawwing apps.
3. Swiping down from the off the top of the screen reveals the notification center.You can change what does and does not show in this menu, as well as how some of the items act by going to Settings > Notifications
4. Airplane mode: If you’re not using wifi or 3G (if you’re ipad has that feature) you can turn this on, and know that you iPad isn’t searching for any signals, and wasting battery life. I admit do this more with my phone, but it is especially helpful in areas well cell reception is poor or non-existent.

Hope you find this list helpful! And, to be sure, if you have any other tricks, please feel free to add them as a comment below!