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iPhone 13 What is the fastest way you communicate on iPhone?

HappyDude20

HappyDude20

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Jul 13, 2008
3,688
1,479
Los Angeles, Ca
My brother uses Siri almost exclusively.

My folks type on the keyboard ever so slowly using their thumbs whenever a keyboard pops up.

My sister uses the swipe feature that iOS introduced in iOS 14 or iOS 13 I believe.

And here I am like a dunce using all 3.

How do you best and most quickly communicate?


I am in awe that my brother uses Siri for everything. And when Siri isn’t an option he ALWAYS taps that keyboard dictation microphone icon and speaks everything into his iPhone. I’ve seen him do this from messages, to even entire essays using Pages.

It’s very impressive how quickly and fluid my sister using the swiping on the keyboard feature.

I’m currently typing with my thumbs. Curious as to what the best and fastest is.
 
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bpeeps said:
Definitely not by using Siri, that's for sure. I have never had a pleasant experience with Siri translating anything to text. I just type regularly, never really got into the swiping.
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I feel that swiping just gives the illusion that it’s faster. Or maybe it really is. Or maybe having an iPhone for the past decade has made me a thumb typing pro.
 
HappyDude20 said:
My brother uses Siri almost exclusively.

My folks type on the keyboard ever so slowly using their thumbs whenever a keyboard pops up.

My sister uses the swipe feature that iOS introduced in iOS 14 or iOS 13 I believe.

And here I am like a dunce using all 3.

How do you best and most quickly communicate?


I am in awe that my brother uses Siri for everything. And when Siri isn’t an option he ALWAYS taps that keyboard dictation microphone icon and speaks everything into his iPhone. I’ve seen him do this from messages, to even entire essays using Pages.

It’s very impressive how quickly and fluid my sister using the swiping on the keyboard feature.

I’m currently typing with my thumbs. Curious as to what the best and fastest is.
Click to expand...
I can't tell you what the best and fastest way is. And who knows if that would be the best and fastest way for ME - or YOU.

I can tell you how I use my phone…hold in left hand, use right index finger to press keys.

Anything more than a simple text message or quick email means I put down the phone and get on one of the many computers I have sitting in front of me all day. I prefer computer keyboards for typing.
 
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Clix Pix said:
Fastest way I communicate on iPhone is....by talking on the phone with whomever I have called or who has called me. it's a phone, first and foremost!

Second fastest way is texting.
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I’m going to assume for everyone that texting means classically using both thumbs on a digital keyboard.

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised this will be the most popular answer.
 
I swipe most of the time, especially for writing texts. If I’m writing something longer or something I need to think about I generally fall back to one or two thumb typing, and every so often I’ll try dictate to Siri before getting frustrated with the results and retyping it myself using one of the previous methods.

Oh, and on my iPad I almost exclusively use the scribble/handwriting to text feature with the Apple Pencil. It’s buggy as hell and often needs a lot of correcting but I find it really enjoyable and natural.
 
HappyDude20 said:
So just one thumb, or just an index finger? I ask cause I had no idea a large amount of people do this. It just seems so slow.

Swiping or two thumbs seem the way to go.
Click to expand...

Actually, most of the time I'm at home anyway and on the computer when I get a text/message and can simply respond by typing on my regular keyboard.

When out-and-about with the iPhone, though, and needing to text, I do use just my right index finger.
 
If both my hands are free, I type with both thumbs. If not, I use the microphone for input (if I'm not in a public place where it would be inconsiderate) and make sure it's correct before I hit send. If I'm at home, I use the keyboard on my iMac.
 
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The most natural way that humans communicate with each other - speaking. I use Siri all the time unless it’s private information.
 
I also find myself using dictation a lot. I ask Siri to send most of my texts and now I’m glad it says “sent using Siri” in iMessage so if there’s goofy typos people will understand why
 
Typing with both thumbs. I only used swiping when I had a 12 mini, which was too small for both my thumbs and it wasn't faster or more accurate.
 
azhava said:
If both my hands are free, I type with both thumbs. If not, I use the microphone for input (if I'm not in a public place where it would be inconsiderate) and make sure it's correct before I hit send. If I'm at home, I use the keyboard on my iMac.
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Can’t believe there are so few acknowledgments of using mic dictation in this thread.

A separate thread could be, of those who use dictation, who speaks out the desired dictation. :)
 
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Voice call, FaceTime Audio preferably, but as soon as detailed information needs to be exchanged (address, number, name) it has to be typed in whatever messaging app is most convenient
 
I can't use dictation because I have to augment lots of words with additional charactersss. ;D I'm right handed; I hold my Mini in my left hand, and use my left thumb and my right index finger to type. I've never been able to really dual-thumb type.
 
Two thumbs whenever possible.

Siri is fastest in that I don’t have to get into the app. “Text my wife that …”

But Siri is also slowest in that I usually have to then correct whatever I want transmitted to my wife, and that is a huge pain because it generally means either re-dictating the whole thing or tapping into the message and changing directly.

Dictating is my next option, but can come with the same challenges of Siri.

Swiping is quickest on the move when I can’t dictate in that I can do it from the app with one hand.

But swiping is also slowest in that my brain doesn’t think of words in that way (a smooth roll from one position on the keyboard to another) but rather as a collection of taps on individual keys. I am coded for typing. Also, I usually have to then correct whatever the iPhone thought I was trying to swipe, and that is a huge hassle with the way iOS parses the dictated content, and I’ve been increasingly frustrated with what I perceive as a decline in how tapping around existing text happens.

Typing with two thumbs is fastest and best in that, despite having to open the app and requiring both hands, I can generally get things written correctly the first time.
 
HappyDude20 said:
So just one thumb, or just an index finger? I ask cause I had no idea a large amount of people do this. It just seems so slow.

Swiping or two thumbs seem the way to go.
Click to expand...
Reminds me of this article from back in the day “Man has thumbs altered to improve iPhone dexterity”

northdenvernews.com

Surgically alters thumbs to better use iPhone

Surgically alters thumbs to better use iPhone Thomas Martel, 28, of Bonnie Brae is a big guy. So he has a hard time using the features on ever-shrinking user interfaces on devices like his new iPhone.
northdenvernews.com northdenvernews.com
 
I almost exclusively text. Hate talking on the phone. If it’s simple or I’m not in a hurry I two thumb type. Otherwise I use voice to text and send that way. I never use Siri for anything.
 
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Phone call first if important. Then I dictate on my AW for any messages I send. I do not type or swipe on phone as I am way to SLOW!
 
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