Reduce Keystrokes Using iOS Keyboard Shortcuts

If you’ve been reading TechTips for any length of time you’ll realize that I like to find and use any type of shortcut that will help save time and effort. I recently put together a new presentation on how a sales force can most effectively use iPads in the sales process.

One of the tips I demonstrated in my presentation was how to use the built-in iOS keyboard shortcut feature to reduce the number of keystrokes necessary to use common phrases that you type often. It really is very easy to set up and works for both iPhone and iPad devices.

To access the Keyboard shortcuts, tap on Settings -> General -> Keyboard. At the bottom of the screen you will see a section entitled Shortcuts. You may have one default shortcut already listed. Tap on Add New Shortcut and you will be able to enter a phrase and the shortcut you want to associate with that phrase.

For example, in the phrase field you can enter “Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks.” And in the shortcut field you enter “.tx”. Now in an email or text when you type “.tx” iOS will pop up the associated phrase. To enter the full phrase you simply tap the spacebar.

The shortcuts that you create will work in most places where you can type. This is very similar to creating a custom AutoCorrect word or phrase. Here are a couple of tips to help you get the most out of shortcuts:

• I recommend you begin your shortcut keyword with a punctuation mark. I currently use the period. This prevents your shortcut phrase from being misinterpreted when you don’t want to use it. You seldom start a word with a period so it makes the phrase unique.
• Your shortcut keyword can not contain any spaces.
• I have not found a limit on the number of characters that you can include in the phrase associated with your shortcut keyword. So, you can create a long paragraph that is associated with just a few characters.
• You can type a long phrase someplace else and paste it into the Phrase field.
• I also have not found a limit on the number of shortcuts you can create. The key will be remembering which shortcut keyword is associated with what phrase.
• Shortcut phrases you create on your iPad cannot be synced to your iPhone or vice versa. You will have to enter the same shortcuts on each device in order to have cross-platform capability.
• To delete an existing shortcut, swipe from right to left on the existing phrase in the shortcuts listing. Tap on the Delete button that appears.

Typing on the iPhone or iPad virtual keyboard can be cumbersome for many. Associating shortcut keywords with phrases that you type often can significantly improve your typing speed on these platforms.

What other keyboard shortcuts have you discovered that help improve your productivity using iOS platforms? Also, please let me know what keyboard shortcuts are available on the Android platform so I can pass that information along.