One of the huge disappointments of Pages for iPhone and iPad is there are only two paper sizes available: US Letter and A4. Even worse, is that you can't even create a document with these sizes in landscape! However, if you first create the document in Pages for Mac and open it with Pages on your iPhone or iPad, the document size and orientation will remain unchanged.

This workaround works fine for users with a Mac and iWork, but what about Windows users or even Mac users who want to create a document without planning ahead and creating the appropriately sized document first? That's where we come in!

I've created blank templates of all the popular document sizes and added them to my public Dropbox folder for iMore readers to download directly to their iPhone or iPad. Just simply tap the links with your iPhone or iPad and select Open in "Pages" for each one you want. Yes, it's a bit tedious, but unfortunately, this is the best we can do for you.

• Grab the Pages templates via the iMore Forums

After picking up the ones you want, I recommend grouping them up into a folder so they don't clutter up your main document screen.

When using any of these templates, make sure you duplicate it first before making any changes so that you don't lose the original template.

So there you go! Hopefully this makes Pages for iPhone and iPad more useful for you.

See also: Pages for iPhone and iPad review

With iOS 5, Apple introduced a split keyboard mode for the iPad, so we could more easily type with our thumbs when holding the iPad in both hands. If you already use the split keyboard, you know it provides one of the best touchscreen typing experiences on any tablet. But did you know Apple built in "phantom keys" to make typing with the split keyboard even faster and easier?

How to activate the split keyboard

If you're not familiar with the split keyboard, it's easy to enable.

1. When the keyboard is visible, tap-and-hold the Shuffle Slider button on the bottom-right hand corner of the keyboard.
2. From here, a popup menu will let you activate the split keyboard, or just slide your finger up to split the keyboard into two sections.
3. Adjust the keyboard placement to your liking.

Bonus tip: Once you get the hang of it, you can simply "pinch to zoom in" (like you would to make a photo or website bigger) to split the keyboard, and "pinch to zoom out" (like you would to make a photo or website smaller) to join the keyboard back up again.

How to use the phantom keys

It turns out, when using the split keyboard, the empty spaces on the inside edges actually function as if the missing keys were actually there. So, for example, if you want to type 'H' you can just tap the empty space next to 'G', and your iPad will subsequently output 'H' without actually requiring you to tap the key. (And vice-versa.)

This is a great feature for those of us who type based on muscle memory and expect keys to be where we're used to them being. Most of us don't have thumbs long enough to reach entirely across an iPad screen, but when we're typing fast we're certainly apt to reach a little, anticipating an extra key to be there.

By making "phantom keys" available, but invisible, Apple provides the best of both worlds. Our eyes see where we should be typing, but the system catches us if our thumbs inadvertently overreach themselves.

It's thoughtful user interface design like this that's makes typing on the iPad even faster and easier than it otherwise might be.

Check out the video above to see it in action.

• More iPad typing tips

Source: Finer Things in iOS

Every day, TiPb gets flooded with announcements for new and updated iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad apps and games. So every day we pick just a few of the most interesting, the most notable, and simply the most awesome to share with you!

• Puffin Web Browser: A fast browser to view the full version of websites (including Flash) and enjoy millions of videos on your iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. [$0.99 for iPhone and iPad - App Store link]

• Wacky Leaks HD: Inspired by the famous “WACKY” leaks saga, the character J-Lion has one and only one aim to make the sensitive war information available to the world. [$0.99 for iPhone and iPad - App Store link]

• Landscape: Sick and tired of seeing videos recorded on Youtube that should have been recorded in Landscape? With Landscape, you'll never accidentally record a video in portrait, because this app doesn't record in portrait! [$0.99 for iPhone - App Store link]

• Greedy Spiders: The Spiders have come to town and they are planning on dining their friendly neighbors. Use your intelligence in this exciting puzzle game and prevent the Spiders from pulling off their plan. [Free for iPhone - App Store link]

• IntelliVocab for SAT Deluxe Edition (Sale): Study for the SAT's. This app identifies your weak and strong areas and completely controls your learning environment and is built by students of MIT based on the latest research in Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Web Semantics. On sale until Sept 9th! [$1.99 for iPhone - App Store link]

Any other big app or game releases or updates today?

Have an app you'd love to see featured on TiPb? Email us at iosapps@tipb.com, tell us about your app (include an iTunes link), and we'll take a look.

With your iPhone, do you mostly type with the keyboard in portrait mode or portrait rotation? Apple added landscape keyboard system wide in iOS 3 because they said users kept asking for it. I never use it though. On the iPhone, I'm strictly a portrait typist.

In portrait mode, I can easily reach both sides of the keyboard with either thumb, or just hold my iPhone 4 in one hand and quickly tap away with the other. And it just feels like more of the screen is left uncovered that way. We talked about it on the last podcast an Rene, Chad, Seth, Leanna, and Andrew were pretty much all in agreement -- portrait was the way to go.

Several people in the chat disagreed though. They liked the wider, roomier landscape keyboard, especially for composing longer emails or notes. Some also liked that they could hold their iPhone two handed in landscape mode and tap away with both thumbs. Even though the remaining screen was shorter, they liked that it was wider.

So which type of typist are you? Landscape, keyboard, or is it complicated? Let me know in the poll up top and give me the details in comments!

Now that the dust has settled and we now know what to expect "this summer" from iPhone 3.0, it's only natural to include some more iPhone 3.0 madness in the forums.

Our first thread comes to us from Casper TFG, now that landscape in all apps has been announced will you actually use it? I have tried using the landscape keyboard with email and SMS and I've gotten so used to portrait mode that it will take some time, for me personally, to get used to landscape. It's almost easier to simply use portrait at this point. Nonetheless, it's a nice feature that many of you will enjoy.

Next up we have a thread that was started by yours truly and it is pretty straight forward, what is your favorite iPhone 3.0 feature? With over a 100 new features added, some more obvious than others, you can only choose one, so choose wisely. MMS? Cut/Copy/Paste perhaps? Let us know what you think!

This next thread was started by Rene and shockingly it is not 3.0 related! You all have a chance to win 1 of 2 free promo codes for a great piece of software, Beejive IM. If you want your chance to grab one, simply reply in the thread. Tomorrow, Monday March 23rd, we'll pick two lucky winners randomly! Good luck!

Finally, I'd like to mention our iPhone Developer Forum. This is a great place for anyone developing for the iPhone or running iPhone 3.0 software. Come in and compare notes, share interesting features you may or may not have found, share the bugs you have come across, etc... This is not the place to ask for activation codes or for the actual firmware file so please don't ask.

If you want to get in on the conversation be sure to register first. It's a quick and painless process so what are you waiting for!?

See you on the forums!

Update: Wide Email developer Patrick Barry comments below that, according to Macrumors, FOUR landscape email front-ends popped up on the App Store last night, including his own.

We are finally getting closer and closer to the perfect iPhone no? If Apple will not give it to us, 3rd party developers are our only hope. (Whether it is via jailbreaking or Apple's official App Store.)

TouchType (iTunes Link) is a new app available now in the App Store for the low price of $.99 -- a small price to pay for those of you just craving some landscape email action. Now all that is left is some SMS landscape love.

Here's a brief overview of how it works: Open the application and you get a landscape mode keypad, get your email groove on, tap the send button and it automatically sends it to the email application. Type in the email addresses and you’re all set.

Is it ideal? That depends on you. It may be, may not be... but it is just one step closer to the perfection we all seek.

[Rene: And if you're asking how this slipped by the Apple rejection police when MailWrangler got given the boot... Our guess is Apple is fine with an App handing off text to MobileMail to send, just not doing the sending/receiving themselves...]