The productivity-boosting tricks concealed under your keyboard
You might think that to get any serious typing done on an iPhone or iPad you need to use an external keyboard. While it’s true that you can do that – over Bluetooth, using a Smart Keyboard, or using Apple’s Lightning to USB adapter – if you learn the little tips and tricks Apple has baked into the on-screen keyboard, everything from a tweet to the next great novel is well within the reach of your fingertips. Let’s get typing!
We’ll start with something fundamental. Most people will only really use one keyboard for typing, but you can set up several. One main use for this is for typing in different languages; adding other keyboards in Settings > General > Keyboard > Keyboards doesn’t just change the layout of the keys to match conventions in that country (AZERTY rather than QWERTY in France, for example), or even the input method entirely, but it changes the autocorrect dictionary, too. (Here’s a really hidden feature: you can override the keyboard layout change – to retain the benefits of the autocorrect change without the confusion of letters moving around – by tapping the name of the keyboard you’ve added in this list.)
If you do type in more than one language, therefore, and have been cursing autocorrect for mangling your words, here’s the solution, and it even works for different versions of English; handy if you sometimes need to ‘humor’ our ‘neighbors’ in America without causing ‘offense’.
1 To switch between the keyboards you add (in the order you set them in Settings > General > Keyboard > Keyboards), tap the globe icon at the bottom left of the keyboard. If you only have one main keyboard installed, this will instead be a smiley face, as it toggles to the emoji keyboard.
Emoji and special characters
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Mac hardware
We help to solve your hardware hassles, from interrupted upgrades to running diagnostics
Give your iPhone a whole new look in iOS 18
Make your iPhone uniquely you
iPhone 16
Apple Intelligence-ready smartphone for the rest of us
Apple Watch Series 10
10th anniversary Watch is now slimmer with an even bigger display
AirPods 4
Apple's most affordable AirPods remain a brilliant buy
We. HEAR Pro
Room-filling sound from this stylish wireless speaker
HiDock H1
An impressive 11-port AI audio dock for conferencers
Adobe Premiere Elements 2025
Create eye-catching videos for sharing on social media
Photoshop 2024
Your imagination is the limit with this AI-powered pixel creator
Wispr Flow
Bring the power of AI dictation to DMs, documents and Discord chats