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Help me improve my iPhone typing.....

I

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macrumors 65816
Original poster
Dec 11, 2009
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All over the place but mostly Somewhere in England
Well, almost two weeks into iPhone ownership and my iPhone typing seems to have reached something of a plateau. I can just about type fast enough to blog from it at the moment but I've noticed the ebb and flow of my iPhone typing is very different to typing on a normal keyboard......

1. It tends to start a little slowly.
2. From here it speeds up quite rapidly, going well beyond my Blackberry typing speed as the iPhone quickly auto corrects common mistakes.
3. Then it suddenly all goes wrong so I pause, undo the sudden cluster of errors and start at 1.

I think at this stage I'm the iPhone equivalent of the amateur golfer who needs to completely re-build his swing to get to the next level...... Does anyone have any tips for techniques, methods or exercises for more consistent iPhone typing? I'm quite productive at the moment but think I could be more productive.
 
I don't think it is anything to do with technique. As long as you're using both thumbs to type, all you can do is give it a couple of months to get used to typing on the screen and you'll see constant improvements. It took me about a year to get to an error-free very fast speed at typing on the iPhone. Make sure you've got the typing noise turned off (not only is it irritating, it also makes the phone lag). Practice, practice, practice! :)
 
Here's the problem. You're practicing for acuracy and hoping your speed will improve.

That's backwards. It's like trying to learn to ride a racing bike by practicing on a tricycle. If you start on a tricylce all you're doing is learning to ride a tricycle.

You need to practice on the actual racing bike.

Go the other way and turn it around. Practice typing fast. A lot. You'll make a lot of mistakes, but as you practice you'll get more and more accurate. That's like practicing on the racing bike...yeah, you'll fall at first, but over time you get better.

So when you practice and you type fast DON'T STOP to fix mistakes. Just keep going and you'll learn from those mistakes.
 
I couldn't agree more with small white car, but first learn and know where all the keys are
 
Use a Bluetooth keyboard. Alternatively, type slower. Soon, you will increase your pace in typing.
 
I've been typing on the iPhone for over a year now and can go pretty darn fast. But I do have my "bad days" where I make a lot of mistakes. When that happens, I refocus myself on where my thumbs are landing and slow down a bit. That usually helps.

Typing on the iPhone is the opposite of typing on a computer. On a computer, if you are touch-typing properly, you look at the screen the whole time and "trust" your fingers to hit the right keys. On the iPhone, you need to watch the keys you are tapping pretty carefully and only glance at the screen occasionally to verify it is coming out right. As you are typing, if you tap a letter or two incorrectly, the autocorrect feature will usually take care of it as you go. But if it's a proper name, acronym, or very short word like "if" or "on", you need to slow down a tad, type carefully, and glance at the screen to verify it came out right. You might also have to pause at the end of the word to cancel the autocorrect if it's not what you want. Once you get used to typing on the phone, all this will be more intuitive.

Generally I accept some potential for inaccuracy as I type, and go back and reread it before I send and fix any mistakes.

Of course, if you are just completely annoyed with typing on the iPhone in general, you could always pick up the Dragon Dictation app and just speak it. I'm finding that to be a very useful option for longer writing, though I don't like using it in public places.
 
redman042 said:
On the iPhone, you need to watch the keys you are tapping pretty carefully and only glance at the screen occasionally to verify it is coming out right.
Click to expand...

I actually do and have heard to do the opposite. I watch the box and type it out. After learning location of keys on the iPhone it is rather simple to allow your fingers to tap naturally, allowing the iPhone to correct mistakes. I have found out that if I focus on the keys too much I slow down and ultimately end up messing up anyway because I am concentrating too much on what I touch instead of trusting the iPhone.
 
iPhone Savvy said:
I actually do and have heard to do the opposite. I watch the box and type it out. After learning location of keys on the iPhone it is rather simple to allow your fingers to tap naturally, allowing the iPhone to correct mistakes. I have found out that if I focus on the keys too much I slow down and ultimately end up messing up anyway because I am concentrating too much on what I touch instead of trusting the iPhone.
Click to expand...

Wish I could pull that off, but unlike a computer keyboard, I don't have different fingers positioned over different keys, so I would find that method extremely difficult on the iPhone. But if you can do it, more power to you!
 
just ignore trying to "get it right" at all... just tap away as fast as you can.

as long as you are hitting the spacebar in the right places, and getting SOMEWHERE in the right vicinity of the keys, it will come out 98% correct.

it's like real typing... don't look at your fingers.

the only thing that gets me is that damn delete key when i'm going for "m". damn that delete key!

really, i find hitting the spacebar in the right spots at least half the battle.

but, who is this Noe person the phone thinks exists? i've NEVER heard of ANYONE named "Noe" ... and yet the stupid phone thinks that's what i mean EVERY time i misspell "now" . i mean... which is more common? the word "now" or a NAME I'VE NEVER HEARD OF? is like steve job's mom named "Noe" or something? stupid phone. :D
 
muskratboy said:
just ignore trying to "get it right" at all... just tap away as fast as you can.

as long as you are hitting the spacebar in the right places, and getting SOMEWHERE in the right vicinity of the keys, it will come out 98% correct.

it's like real typing... don't look at your fingers.

the only thing that gets me is that damn delete key when i'm going for "m". damn that delete key!

really, i find hitting the spacebar in the right spots at least half the battle.

but, who is this Noe person the phone thinks exists? i've NEVER heard of ANYONE named "Noe" ... and yet the stupid phone thinks that's what i mean EVERY time i misspell "now" . i mean... which is more common? the word "now" or a NAME I'VE NEVER HEARD OF? is like steve job's mom named "Noe" or something? stupid phone. :D
Click to expand...

I have the same problem with "Noe" haha it really bothers me.
 
BlownJetta said:
I have the same problem with "Noe" haha it really bothers me.
Click to expand...

Same here. Apple really needs to give us some control over the auto-correct dictionary. Between noe and fir (instead of "for), it drives me nuts sometimes. We should be allowed to do some customization of the dictionary to suit our needs.
 
I believe you become better at typing on the iPhone the same way the one joke goes..

How do you get to Carnegie Hall?
Practice practice practice
 
I think the iphones spelling is getting worse with each software update. At times it gets my name wrong. It should be tim and I get tom or tin.

Tim
 
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