Pressing and holding the “123” key on the iPhone is one of the shortcuts that I didn’t know about and will now use every day.

I’ve lost count of how many people I’ve helped understand how the iPhone works, its iOS 17, and the countless tricks the system hides. This makes me mistaken in thinking that I know all of Apple’s secrets… until there’s something so simple that I completely missed.

It turns out there is a way to write numbers and symbols on the iPhone keyboard very quickly and easily that I had no idea about. And no, I’m not talking about sliding your finger down while writing. This time the secret is in the “123” key..

Don’t press, leave pressed

The “123” key is present on the keyboard of all languages ​​offered by iOS and allows us to switch to the number and symbol keyboard. If you press it, we switch from the standard keyboard to this one:

To return to the standard keyboard, we just need to press the “123” key again. There is now an easier way to write numbers if you do this by holding down this key. That is, instead of doing a sequence of clicks before and after, you can:

1. Press and hold the “123” key.
2. Write the required numbers with another finger
3. Stop pressing the “123” key.

This way you can write numbers on the fly, only bringing up the number pad when you hold down the “123” key. You are getting more speed and ease letter.

Moreover, you can even press the “123” key and from there drag your finger to the desired number without stopping touching the screen. That is, you slide your finger from the “123” key to the number. Another very simple and easy way to enter a number without having to press with three fingers or bring up the number pad.

The Big Brother of this Trick: Swipe to Write on iPhone

I’ll admit, I didn’t know these very specific gestures, but I’m sure I’ll start using them almost always because they’re so consistent with the way I write on my iPhone. What I do know is that there are ways to write text quickly on iPhone that are unfairly underappreciated.

I mean Write by dragging your finger across letters rather than touching each key individually.. This is what I use whenever I have to write a long text and in the long run my thumbs don’t hurt as much. It’s active by default on all iPhones, so you can try it right now. Instead of pressing each key individually, simply slide your finger from letter to letter to form the word you’re looking for. It’s a relief for me.

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