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iphone keyboard

onthecouchagain

onthecouchagain

macrumors 604
Original poster
Mar 29, 2011
7,382
2
Hi folks. New iPhone 4 user and I'm trying to get acclimated to the iPhone 4 keyboard and I'm honestly having a hard time. I'm wondering if I'm the only one. I come from an android phone and prior to that a blackberry so you can imagine I type quite fast.

Has anyone else experienced missed keys when typing fast? And particularly missed space bars? I'm wondering if its just my phone or not. I recall typing once on a friends 3gs and it was blindingly fast. Somehow I don't feel the same way with the iPhone 4. And is there any way to customize words and auto corrections?

Any help would be great. Typing is a big deal for me on my mobile. I love almost everything else on this phone so I'd really like to try to make this work.
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_2 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8H7 Safari/6533.18.5)

Start using the keyboard with your index finger only and once you get used to the placement of keys you can begin using your thumbs to type.
 
macingman said:
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_2 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8H7 Safari/6533.18.5)

Start using the keyboard with your index finger only and once you get used to the placement of keys you can begin using your thumbs to type.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the response. The issue isn't a matter of getting used to the placement of keys. They are actually very similar to the android stock keyboard keys. I think the issue with my phone is that it doesn't seem to register everything I type when I'm typing quickly. It seems to miss the spacevsr especially but it happens with letters as well. Am I the only one experiencing this?
 
onthecouchagain said:
Hi folks. New iPhone 4 user and I'm trying to get acclimated to the iPhone 4 keyboard and I'm honestly having a hard time. I'm wondering if I'm the only one. I come from an android phone and prior to that a blackberry so you can imagine I type quite fast.

Has anyone else experienced missed keys when typing fast? And particularly missed space bars? I'm wondering if its just my phone or not. I recall typing once on a friends 3gs and it was blindingly fast. Somehow I don't feel the same way with the iPhone 4. And is there any way to customize words and auto corrections?

Any help would be great. Typing is a big deal for me on my mobile. I love almost everything else on this phone so I'd really like to try to make this work.
Click to expand...

When i had an iPhone i hated typing on it. Hated the word correct and how it worked so i cant help ya.
 
Auto correction is really a blessing and a curse. You'll just have to try it out and see if you like it or not. As far as the missed keys go, the more I type on the phone (rotated horizontally) the less keys I miss. I guess the old adage "practice makes perfect" applies, at least for me.
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8J2 Safari/6533.18.5)

I love the keyboard on my iPhone. For me, it's easily the best virtual keyboard on the market.

That said, I came from a blackberry and then an android phone before my iPhone. It did take me a few weeks to fully acclimate. I remember missing the space bar very frequently. I don't really do that anymore.

As far as the speed thing goes.. I have noticed that sometimes I have to throttle my typing back as it chokes on my input after a certain speed. Hopefully better hardware and/or a software update will take care of this.
 
I know you said you are pressing the correct place but is it possible that the keys you are missing are the ones that are slightly differently placed in Android? Maybe just try typing out a long note a few times and see if it improves over time.
 
onthecouchagain said:
Thanks for the response. The issue isn't a matter of getting used to the placement of keys. They are actually very similar to the android stock keyboard keys. I think the issue with my phone is that it doesn't seem to register everything I type when I'm typing quickly. It seems to miss the spacevsr especially but it happens with letters as well. Am I the only one experiencing this?
Click to expand...

My suggestion would then be to practice typing slowly letter by letter and slowly beginning to type faster, it would help you get used to the way the iPhone auto corrects.
 
Thanks for the many suggestions.

It's been a few days of use, and I'm not very happy that I have to slow down my own typing speed to accommodate the phone; the phone seems to not register presses whenever I type quickly. Also, the lack of customization (like custom-auto corrections and dictionary) is sorely missed. I didn't think it would be a big deal to lose those features, but I'm feeling it now.

Otherwise, I am enamored by this phone. Despite a few sore spots (better notifications immediately comes to mind), everything about this phone is a dream. The battery life, for one, is unbelievable.

I am hoping iOS 5 will not only improve on notifications, but also on the keyboard speed as well. It needs to be more responsive. I am surprised I am the only one that feels this way. Surely there are other BB and Android migrants... I could've also sworn typing on the 3GS was near flawless, but that may be my memory playing tricks on me.
 
I'm sorry but the keyboard is probably your own fault. You're used to a slightly different keyboard, of course you're going to have to adapt to a new keyboard before you can type quickly on it. I've never seen a more responsive screen than on the iPhone/iTouch.

Maybe you've got superhuman typing abilities and you can usually pick up a new phone and type as quickly as with your old phone, but I'm going to assume you don't.
 
Exhumed said:
I'm sorry but the keyboard is probably your own fault. You're used to a slightly different keyboard, of course you're going to have to adapt to a new keyboard before you can type quickly on it. I've never seen a more responsive screen than on the iPhone/iTouch.
Click to expand...

This doesn't explain the keyboard missing space bar presses (resulting in words "likethis" for example). How often can I repeatedly miss the space bar key in a single message or email?
 
I agree with the general sentiment... just give it some time and you will get used to it.

As for the space bar issue, the only way that could be anything other then you needing to get used to it is if you had a bad spot on your screen that wasn't detecting your touch.... but you would know that because it would consistently not work every time you tried to use that area.
 
I'm in the same boat. I get the space bars, random capital letters, periods and missing keys in general. I loved the iP3G keyboard I thought it was the best on screen keyboard around, I can still type like a champ on it, but the iP4 can be a real headache at times. I've also used the droid and droid incredible's for awhile and those were decent enough.
 
you will get used to it. I now use my thumb on my left hand and my index and middle fingers on my right to type, always in portrait
 
Flake said:
you will get used to it. I now use my thumb on my left hand and my index and middle fingers on my right to type, always in portrait
Click to expand...

When I try typing like that, it's very awkward and uncomfortable. I'm gonna stick with using my thumbs to type.

But anyway, if the screen size on your old android phone was different than the iPhone 4 screen, then that would mean that virtual keyboard would have different sized keys. I switch back and forth between my 4.3" WP7 device and the 3.5" iPhone 4, I notice that I sometimes hit the screen above the keyboard because the keys are taller on my WP7 device. Like everyone has said, with a little time and practice, your muscle memory will get used to the key placement. And to address you're missed spacebar, you said you type very quickly. It is possible you aren't actually touching the screen but rather just moving your finger above the spacebar and not realizing it. But really apart from that I don't have any other suggestions.
 
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