TipBITS: Use Trackpad Mode When Editing Text on the iPhone and iPad

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Originally published at: TipBITS: Use Trackpad Mode When Editing Text on the iPhone and iPad - TidBITS

Trackpad mode has been a fixture of the iPhone and iPad keyboard for years, but many people are unaware of it. Here’s a quick tutorial and an exhortation to spread the word.

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I’ve been using this for years but I must say it is awfully finicky. I can’t count how many times I’ve inserted double and triple spaces and haven’t been able to find out the secret trick.

Dave

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My experience is similar to Dave’s. I’d say that Trackpad Mode works about 90% of the time, but the other 10% I’m just inserting spaces. Fortunately, you can exit Trackpad Mode: if the keyboard doesn’t go blank after you press and hold, slide your finger up and off it; then you can try again.

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There’s a much easier way to activate trackpad mode on the iPad – tap with two fingers anywhere on the keyboard. I find this quicker because the iPad being larger, I can put two fingers down wherever they already are. And there’s no risk of accidentally inserting a space.

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Thanks, @jzw! I completely forgot about the two-finger method on the iPad. That makes it a lot easier in cases where you want to move the cursor down.

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Clearly I was amongst the people unaware of trackpad mode although I’ve been an iPhone user since the 3GS. :open_mouth: It seems simple enough to use and without a doubt much easier than trying to position the cursor with your finger when I tried it out. :+1: So, many thanks for this valuable information. :slightly_smiling_face: Still, I would rather have cursor keys and don’t really understand why Apple doesn’t have those on their virtual keyboard? :thinking:

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I’ve been an iPad user since the 1st iPad & an iPhone user for even longer; never knew about trackpad mode. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.
Out of curiosity, I went to the Apple support site to see if there was any more info about it or possibly additional screenshots. Searched both the iPad & iPhone support pages & the online user manuals; couldn’t find any mention of it. :woman_shrugging:t3:

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There is an iPhone support page that mentions it. Type with the onscreen keyboard on iPhone - Apple Support (ME)

and for iPadOS: Type with the onscreen keyboard on iPad - Apple Support

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I’ve been using it for a few years now and find it amazingly helpful on my iPhone. And the few friends I’ve shown it to were impressed.

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Thank you very much. I searched for trackpad mode & all I found were references to using a trackpad & Magic Keyboard. Guess Apple doesn’t use the phrase trackpad mode.

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My main problem isn’t editing text on the iPhone – it is getting the keyboard to appear at all. Can spend minutes trying to get an insertion point so the keyboard will show at times. Pasting in text field is very close to impossible very often no matter what you do. Trackpad mode might be nice to use too though.

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Wow! Lots of useful info in these Apple support links. Didn’t know most of them. Thank you for sharing them.

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Brilliant, thanks for that. Always drives me crazy trying to get an insertion point in a website address when the whole lot gets selected.

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Apple’s search capability has always been weak. See:

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Thanks, Adam. Guess I expected more from the Apple support site, never occurred to me the search capabilities were so poor. I’ll know better next time.

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Thank you, Adam. I had no idea this existed and it’s extremely useful.

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