Faster Typing on the iPhone X

By Edward C. Baig, Bob LeVitus

The iPhone X offers two ways to help you type faster: by helping you type more accurately and by enabling you to type punctuation and numerals faster than ever before.

The iPhone X has so many gestures: tap, double-tap, double-tap with two fingers, pinch, unpinch, and press with 3D Touch. Now, check out another gesture, this one called the slide.

Now here’s the best part: The slide saves you time when you need a punctuation mark or numeral. Here’s how:

  1. Start a slide action with your finger on the 123 key.

    The 123 key is to the left of the space key when the alphabetical keyboard is active. This is a slide, not a tap, so don’t lift your finger just yet.

  2. When the punctuation and numeric keyboard appears on-screen, slide your finger onto the punctuation mark or number you want to type.
  3. Lift your finger.

The cool thing is that the punctuation and numeric keyboard then disappears and the alphabetical keyboard reappears — all without having to tap the 123 or ABC key again.

If you had tapped the 123 key instead of beginning the slide on it, the punctuation and numeric keyboard would have remained on-screen. So, when you need to type more than one punctuation mark or numeral, tap the 123 key instead of using it to begin a slide.

If you slide onto certain characters and your finger lingers for a couple of seconds without lifting, your slide will be spoiled. A set of alternate characters will appear, preventing you from continuing the slide action. The keys that react this way are all vowels and some consonants, including N, Z, and L.

faster typing iPhone X
Press certain keys for too long and your slide will end in a flurry of alternate character options.

Practice the slide for typing letters, punctuation, and numerals. If you remember not to pause when your finger is pressing a character with pop-up alternatives, you’ll be typing faster and more accurately in a few days. The trick is to get in the habit of sliding your finger fast enough that the alternate characters don’t pop up. Just practice until it feels natural; you won’t be sorry.