If you’re like most people, you probably type a period on your iPhone when you’re done with a sentence. But there’s a better way to do this—and it’s not just for women. Here are three tips to type a period on an iPhone without having to fumble around in your text editor:
- Type the period key twice, then press the spacebar. This will create a new line in your text editor, and will add a space between each letter of the word “period.”
- Type “,” then press the spacebar again. This will insert a comma after the “period.”
- Type “,” then press the spacebar again, and then type “y” (for yes). This will create a new line that includes both periods and y’s.
The “default” iPhone keyboard layout does not have the period key next to the spacebar like many other virtual keyboards. You need to tap the “123” key to find the period key on the secondary layout. That’s pretty annoying for such a frequently used punctuation mark.
Why does Apple do this? There’s actually a simple trick that makes the period key much less necessary. All you need to do is double-tap the spacebar to automatically enter a period. Check it out in action below.
This shortcut should be enabled by default, but if it’s not, we can easily turn it on. Open the “Settings” app to get started.
Next, go to the “General” section.
Select “Keyboard.”
Now make sure “.” Shortcut” is toggled on.
That’s all there is to it! Who knew such a simple little shortcut could make typing on the iPhone so much easier? The period key shows up in the main keyboard layout when you’re typing in an address bar, but that’s the only place. You’ve now solved one of the few iPhone keyboard annoyances.
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