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Apr 12, 2001
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Your iPhone has multiple touch and gesture capabilities that can enhance how you interact with apps. Some, like pinch and zoom, are well known enough to be considered second nature, but others are less obvious, like the one we're about to explain.

multiple-select-gesture.jpg


Two-Finger Drag to Select Items

If you have apps where you habitually tap on each individual item in a list to select them – emails in your Mail inbox, for example – it's time to dial in some efficiency and embrace this faster method.

This gestural feature allows you to easily select (or deselect) multiple items in apps like Contacts, Mail, Messages, Voice Memos, Notes, and indeed any Apple app that lists multiple items. Here's how it works.
  1. Open an app where multiple item selection is supported.
  2. Touch and hold the screen with two fingers at the same time.
  3. While keeping both fingers on the screen, drag them down (or up) to select multiple items. As you drag, items will be highlighted to indicate they are selected.
  4. Once the desired items are selected, you can perform actions such as moving, deleting, or organizing them.
two-finger-select-gesture.jpg


That's all there is to it. This simple yet powerful feature streamlines your workflow, saving you time and effort when handling multiple items. Looking to speed up your iPhone text editing skills? Check out our favorite hidden trick by following the link.

Article Link: Select Faster on iPhone With This Two-Finger Trick
 
I use it all the time, that's why I posted my answer
I'd like to see you use it all the time, because I'm pretty much 100% sure it doesn't work. Go on and select 20 images from the conversation attachments, let me know how it goes.

I just went ahead and tried it just to be sure you're not pulling my leg, and as I said, you have to tap and select each picture individually. No gestures work here, you simply can't select more than one picture at a time.
 
I'd like to see you use it all the time, because I'm pretty much 100% sure it doesn't work. Go on and select 20 images from the conversation attachments, let me know how it goes.

I just went ahead and tried it just to be sure you're not pulling my leg, and as I said, you have to tap and select each picture individually. No gestures work here, you simply can't select more than one picture at a time.
It works. Actually two gestures work:

Assuming you are already on the grid showing multiple photos in iMessage.
You have clicked on the 'Select' or 'Edit' button (I'm on another language, so I don't know the actual term)

1) Tap on a photo with two fingers, stay for a second, and then drag from there.

2) Tap on a photo with one finger, and immediately drag from there (with one finger).
 
It works. Actually two gestures work:

Assuming you are already on the grid showing multiple photos in iMessage.
You have clicked on the 'Select' or 'Edit' button (I'm on another language, so I don't know the actual term)

1) Tap on a photo with two fingers, stay for a second, and then drag from there.

2) Tap on a photo with one finger, and immediately drag from there (with one finger).

I need a video at this point because I think you're trolling, sorry
 
No, within the iMessage app, when a message contains multiple photos
Not when a message contains multiple photos, but when you tap on the person you have the conversation and want to delete multiple attachments from the conversation with that person, you can't select multiple with any sort of a gesture. You need to tap one by one and then delete.
 
Too bad this doesn't work for selecting attachments (especially photos) in Messages. I gave it a chance for years, but eventually switched back to WhatsApp last year because of this. It's honestly ridiculous that you have to select each photo one by one — no 'Select All' button, no swipe gesture like in the Photos app. Nothing. Just endless tapping through a long list
 
Too bad this doesn't work for selecting attachments (especially photos) in Messages. I gave it a chance for years, but eventually switched back to WhatsApp last year because of this. It's honestly ridiculous that you have to select each photo one by one — no 'Select All' button, no swipe gesture like in the Photos app. Nothing. Just endless tapping through a long list
Finally a person to know what I'm talking about
 
I don't understad. I can do this with just one finger, at least in mail and voice memos. What's the difference?
In Mail it works without having to go into Edit mode first. Put another way, dragging with two fingers activates Edit mode. As soon as it is registered, you can actually lift the second finger and continue dragging with just a single finger. Same in Notes. In apps like Contacts where there is no Select mode to begin with, it’s the only way to select multiple items, I think.
 
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If only Apple could make it easy to select all text in iOS. I know it's super advanced and harder to do than fixing Siri. But we can dream of a day that basic high utility features are focused on again instead of chasing hyped up slop generators. Pray to Saint Jobs for us all.
 
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