iPad and iPad Pro For Dummies. Bob LeVitus
the left of the three alternative word suggestions on various keyboards, you’ll see icons for undoing or redoing your last steps, plus a third icon that pastes the last selected word or passage that you copied. Such options are visible in both images that make up Figure 2-8, but they may differ depending on the app you're using.
What you see also varies by what you do. For example, after you select text in the Mail app, a scissors icon appears on the top row of the virtual keyboard; when you tap the icon, it cuts the selected text.
Choosing an alternative keyboard
Good as the keyboards that Apple supplies to your iPad are, you can choose an alternative keyboard from a third-party app developer, including SwiftKey, Swype, and Fleksy keyboards. You can fetch new keyboards in the App Store. Some are free; others require a modest sum.
After you’ve downloaded a keyboard, visit Settings ⇒ General ⇒ Keyboard ⇒ Keyboards ⇒ Add New Keyboard and select the keyboard of choice. Then press and hold down on the international keyboard key (globe icon) on the iPad’s own keyboard, and select your new keyboard from the list that appears. Alternatively, keep tapping the globe icon until the keyboard you want takes over.
Finger-typing on the virtual keyboards
The virtual keyboards in Apple’s multitouch interface just might be considered a stroke of genius. Or they just might drive you nuts. If you’re patient and trusting, in a week or so, you’ll get the hang of finger-typing — which is vital to moving forward, because you rely on a virtual keyboard to tap a text field, enter notes, type the names of new contacts, and so on.
Apple has built intelligence into its virtual keyboard, so it can correct typing mistakes on the fly or provide helpful word choices by predicting what you’re about to type next. The keyboard isn’t exactly Nostradamus, but it does an excellent job of coming up with the words you have in mind. Apple is also increasingly relying on deep neural network technology to improve accuracy even more.
See what letter you’re typing. As you press your finger against a letter or number on the screen, the individual key you press darkens until you lift your finger, as shown in Figure 2-11. That way, you know that you struck the correct letter or number.
Slide to the correct letter if you tap the wrong one. No need to worry if you touched the wrong key. You can slide your finger to the correct key because the letter isn’t recorded until you release your finger.FIGURE 2-11: The ABCs of virtual typing.
Tap and hold down to access special accent marks, alternative punctuation, or URL endings. Sending a message to an overseas pal? Keep your finger pressed against a letter, and a row of keys showing variations on the character for foreign alphabets pops up, as shown in Figure 2-12. This row lets you add the appropriate accent mark. Just slide your finger until you’re pressing the key with the relevant accent mark and then lift your finger.FIGURE 2-12: Accenting your letters.Meanwhile, if you press and hold down the .? key in Safari, it offers you the choice of .us, .org, .edu, .com, or .net with additional options if you also use international keyboards.
Tap the space bar to accept a suggested word, or tap the suggested word to decline the suggestion. Alas, mistakes are common at first. Say that you meant to type a sentence in the Notes app that reads, “I am fixing an important …” But because of the way your fingers struck the virtual keys, you actually entered “I am fixing an importsnt …” Fortunately, Apple knows that the a you meant to press is next to the s that showed up on the keyboard, just as t and y and e and r are side by side. So the software determines that important was indeed the word you had in mind and, as Figure 2-13 reveals, places it front and center among the three predictive text buttons. Note that the suspect word is highlighted. To accept the suggested word, merely tap the space bar. And if for some reason you actually did mean to type importsnt or maybe imports to, tap those choices instead among the predictive buttons that appear.FIGURE 2-13: Fixing an important mistake.If you don’t appreciate these features, you can turn off Auto-Correction and Predictive in Settings. See Chapter 15 for details.
Putting the @ in an email address: If you’re composing an email message (see Chapter 5), a dedicated @ key pops up on the main Mail keyboard when you’re in the To: field choosing whom to send a message to. That key disappears from the first view when you tap the body of the message to compose your words. You can still get to the @ by tapping the 123 key.
Switching from letters to numbers: When you’re typing notes or sending email and want to type a number, symbol, or punctuation mark, tap the 123 key to bring up an alternative virtual keyboard. Tap the ABC key to return to the first keyboard. This toggle isn’t hard to get used to, but some may find it irritating. Meanwhile, after tapping the 123 key, the shift key shifts into a #+= key. Tap #+= to summon additional character and symbol keys.
Adding apostrophes and other punctuation shortcuts: If you press and hold down the exclamation mark/comma key, a pop-up offers the apostrophe. If you press and hold down the question mark/period key, you’ll see the option to type quotation marks.
We already mentioned that iPads don’t need a stylus, but sometimes you might want to use one anyway. If the Apple Pencil is too pricey for you, check out some of the many third-party options. Wacom sells various Bamboo Stylus models, starting around $15. It’s a potentially useful tool for those with too broad, oily, or greasy fingers, or those who sketch, draw, or jot notes. You can find lower-priced styluses as well.
Editing mistakes
We think typing with abandon, without getting hung up over mistyped characters, is a good idea. The self-correcting keyboard can fix many errors (and occasionally introduce errors of its own). That said, plenty of typos are likely to turn up, especially in the beginning, and you have to correct them manually.
And with that, you are hereby notified that you’ve survived basic training. The real fun is about to begin.
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