Filed under: Hardware, Software, Productivity, Tips and tricks, TUAW Tips, iPhone
TUAW Tip: A better iPhone period trick
I just read about an iPhone typing tip from David Pogue (via John Gruber) that involves one solution to the alphabet/period conundrum: the period isn't included with the rest of the alphabet, so entering a period and moving on with another sentence is an aggravating process. Pogue's solution involves tapping and holding on the ".123" key (I left out the question mark since it doesn't play well with our blogging system), sliding your finger over to the period and then releasing - the trick here is that, if you do it right, the keyboard will switch back to the alphabet due to the way the keyboard registers and handles taps and key releases.Personally, I find this really clunky, and I think I have an easier solution: simply press that ".123" key normally, type your period and then hit the space bar - the iPhone realizes you've just ended a sentence and are beginning another, so it automatically switches back to the alphabetical layout. This seems far more natural to me and easier to pull off in any kind of mobile or awkward situations.
[Update: It appears my trick works with any character on the punctuation/number keyboard layout: press the .123 button, hit a number or punctuation character, then press the space bar to switch the layout back to alphabetical. For some characters that typically have a letter after them, such as an apostrophe, the keyboard seems to switch itself back automatically without any interaction on the user's part; not even a space bar.]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
John LaRose said 6:49AM on 7-04-2007
Can't you just double-tap the spacebar to produce a period and a space after it, like you can on a blackberry?
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Ken said 6:32AM on 7-04-2007
There are times when punctuation is necessary (as in mail or sms) and times when it's optional (as in entering names, calendar events, etc).
The iPhone keyboard could adapt to these cases and squeeze somewhere a comma and a period. Just like it does with the ".com" button in Safari.
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andy said 7:49AM on 7-04-2007
I guess it doesn't steal a trick from the Blackberry and convert to spaces into a period, space and auto capitalization of the next character?
Andy
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Norbert said 8:14AM on 7-04-2007
It was the Lisa group, which invented the pull down menu http://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?project=Macintosh&story=On_Xerox,_Apple_and_Progress.txt&topic=Origins&sortOrder=Sort%20by%20Date&detail=medium, so it is quite natural for Apple to turn the special character key into a kind of pull menu. Much better than the "Press, type and hit" concept.
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Rick said 8:53AM on 7-04-2007
Easier still might be to combine Pogue's tip and yours - it's quicker to slide down to the larger target of the spacebar than the ABC key without lifting your finger.
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barstep said 9:29AM on 7-04-2007
Once the iPhone is released in the UK this will become the "Full Stop" trick - it sounds more final than "period" as though it'll shut the whole thing down.
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Dave said 9:44AM on 7-04-2007
Maybe I'm a luddite, but you lost me at the "simply press that "" key normally" comment. Which key does the "" represent?
I think a combination of both your and Pogue's tips will work best. For the period, yours seems best, but keep in mind that Pogue's tip is supposed to work for all characters on the number keyboard, i.e., nice way to enter a comma or other punctuation. Also, there are times using a "." might not be the end of a sentence (3.1, myfolder.server.net, etc.). Pogue's tip is cool for the whole number keyboard, but in practice, without more practice, the tap/slide/release isn't a natural feeling movement for me (yet).
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digitalintrigue said 10:20AM on 7-04-2007
The Pogue 'press and slide' works well for me...thanks for the tip...
Hopefully there will be a software update shortly to address some issues and add other improvements.
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digitalintrigue said 10:22AM on 7-04-2007
Actually, it appears it should be the McCallum 'press and slide' after reading Pogue's blog. :)
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nyctech said 11:30AM on 7-04-2007
Here is what I duscovered : If you are using two thumbs to type, this method is the fastest. Using the left thumb, keep the "?123" button PRESSED. Now if you move the right thumb around on the screen, only one area is active - and thats the "." button ! As soon as the right thumb presses the "." button, the screen switches back to the main keyboard. Try it out
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Frank said 11:43AM on 7-04-2007
it seems to me that it automatically puts a space after a period, which i find TOTALLY annoying. has anyone else experienced this?
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Dave Chartier said 11:52AM on 7-04-2007
#11: Nope, no space-after-period behavior here. I tested it both in SMS and Notes, and it's just a plain period. Perhaps you're accidentally hitting both the period and space keys together?
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Ryan Schmidt said 11:57AM on 7-04-2007
Yea, that's one thing I miss about my blackberry, AutoText and double spacing for a period and a space. :( Please do something about this apple!
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GadgetGav said 12:14PM on 7-04-2007
You tip assumes you are needing the period for the end of a sentence. It's also not really a 'tip' as it's something that the Apple user interface engineers designed. The press and slide technique (while also a UI design in that the .123 button works on the touch, not the release) is more obscure, and therefor to my mind qualifies as a 'tip'. It also works for all punctuation.
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heather wallace said 1:21PM on 7-04-2007
This guy's review definitely makes me want to go out and buy one:
http://www.orato.com/node/2928
iSaw.iPhone.iBought.iHappy
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Frank said 1:31PM on 7-04-2007
@12
i'll have to pay closer attention when i type in, david -- thanks for letting me know this isn't normal behavior. maybe the software can learn that i'm fat-fingered monkey when i type, eh?
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David said 1:33PM on 7-04-2007
I use an iPhone, and I find Pogue's method to be very helpful. Your method, which I use many times, requires 3 clicks (123, ., space) whereas Pogue's method requires only a press and quick slide (I mean, it's right there, it's not hard to do). Yes, if you wanted to start a new sentence it would require a second click (spacebar), but for ending emails or SMS messages, his method works very well I've found.
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koreyel said 3:17PM on 7-04-2007
How do you make a period?
Lol.
Best! Gadget! Ever!
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steve said 2:46PM on 7-05-2007
you can't just tap the spacebar twice like on a blackberry?
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Rafael Emmanuelli-Jiménez said 3:25PM on 7-10-2007
The only big limitation on the iPhone is that there is no way to use special Spanish characters like accents or letter ñ. Any body know who to write an ñ... Coño!
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