It took a little while for me to get used to the iPhone's "soft" keyboard -- large hands + tiny keyboard = baby elephant playing piano.  Even though I've become rather proficient with the iPhone's keyboard, I'm always on the prowl for anything that will help with my speed and accuracy.  This week's Tip is all about some keyboard shortcuts, brought to you by and with special thanks to George by way of Adam Pash's article at lifehacker.com.  Keep reading for some helpful keyboard Tips (and check out Adam's article for yourself)!

Unless you are building aircraft, skyscrapers or bridges, shortcuts/cutting corners are a GOOD thing.  Take typing on the iPhone, for instance.  There are a number of time-saving (and finger-tapping) ways to maximize your iPhone's keyboard.

When entering a web address, and you need something other than a .com (.com key already provided on your iPhone), then just tap and hold on the .com key and three other common domain options will appear.  Just tap the one you need and you are on your way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Similarly, if you are entering an email address, you'll notice that you don't even get the .com key on your keyboard.  I believe this is a serious (VERY serious) oversight on Apple's part, but at least they provided a solution by enabling a pop-up list of domain options when you hold down the period ( . ) key.  If you get in the habit of using this shortcut, it's just a matter of time before you are, well, saving time!

For those sending out Spanish language texts, emails, etc., did you know that if you hold down the " ? " key or the " ! " key, you can invert those characters?  Give it a try!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, what if you need to accent a letter?  The name "Chloe", for example, may need an "acute" accent above the "e", like this: "é".  To do this, just hold down the "e" key and a pop-up will give you several options to choose from, as illustrated above.

Try experimenting on your own with the iPhone keyboard and see what kind of surprises may be waiting for you.  This experiment can be particularly handy and satisfying while waiting in the long line at the DMV.

That's it for this week's Tip.  If you have a tip of your own that you would like to share with the rest of us, please leave a Comment or you can email me at: brian.hart@tipb.com.

Disclaimer:  Tip o' the Week makes no guarantee, express or implied, that any tip found herein will be new or particularly useful to the reader (but it could be fun adding accents to everyone's name that you know.  Kinda weird... but fun).